The Meaning of Psalms 80:4 Explained

Psalms 80:4

KJV: O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

YLT: Jehovah, God of Hosts, till when? Thou hast burned against the prayer of Thy people.

Darby: Jehovah, God of hosts, how long will thine anger smoke against the prayer of thy people?

ASV: O Jehovah God of hosts, How long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

KJV Reverse Interlinear

O LORD  God  of hosts,  how long wilt thou be angry  against the prayer  of thy people? 

What does Psalms 80:4 Mean?

Context Summary

Psalms 80:1-7 - "turn Us Again, O God"
The ten tribes were in captivity, and the hearts of their brethren, still living at Jerusalem under the reign of David's line, seem to have turned with great longing toward them. This psalm is full of intercession on their behalf. Three times, at the turning-points of the psalm, the refrain is repeated that God would turn them again and cause them to be saved, Psalms 80:3; Psalms 80:7; Psalms 80:19. Note the ascending climax: God; God of Hosts; Jehovah, God of Hosts.
In Jacob's blessing of Joseph, God is appealed to as Shepherd, Genesis 48:15; Genesis 49:24. To sit enthroned above the cherubim is an emblem of omnipotence. Notice how the gentleness of the Shepherd blends with His almightiness. In the Wilderness march the three great tribes of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh immediately followed the Ark, which was borne by the priests. This ancient litany surely befits the present condition of the Church, when she is rent by internal divisions, or infected with a spirit of skepticism and unable to exorcise the demons that possess society. Let us plead with God to enlighten us by His face and quicken us by His Spirit.' God must defend His cause, else there is no help for it. [source]

Chapter Summary: Psalms 80

1  The psalmist in his prayer complains of the miseries of the church
8  God's former favors are turned into judgments
14  He prays for deliverance

What do the individual words in Psalms 80:4 mean?

Yahweh God of hosts long how will You be angry Against the prayer of Your people
יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהִ֣ים צְבָא֑וֹת עַד־ מָתַ֥י עָ֝שַׁ֗נְתָּ בִּתְפִלַּ֥ת ؟ עַמֶּֽךָ

יְהוָ֣ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
אֱלֹהִ֣ים  God 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: אֱלֹהִים  
Sense: (plural).
צְבָא֑וֹת  of  hosts 
Parse: Noun, common plural
Root: צָבָא 
Sense: that which goes forth, army, war, warfare, host.
עַד־  long 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַד  
Sense: as far as, even to, until, up to, while, as far as.
מָתַ֥י  how 
Parse: Interrogative
Root: מָתַי  
Sense: when?.
עָ֝שַׁ֗נְתָּ  will  You  be  angry 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, second person masculine singular
Root: עָשַׁן  
Sense: to smoke, be angry, be wroth.
בִּתְפִלַּ֥ת  Against  the  prayer 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: תְּפִלָּה  
Sense: prayer.
؟ עַמֶּֽךָ  of  Your  people 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct, second person masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.