What is the meaning of Psalm 80:5?

You fed them

- The psalmist points straight to God’s hand: “You fed them …” (Psalm 80:5). Nothing Israel endures sits outside His sovereign care (Job 2:10; Deuteronomy 32:39).

- As Shepherd (Psalm 80:1), He once supplied manna (Exodus 16:4); now He allows distress to land on their table (Amos 4:6–11).

- This is fatherly discipline, not abandonment (Hebrews 12:6). Similar language appears in Psalm 42:3, “My tears have been my food day and night,” confirming that even grief is divinely apportioned.

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with the bread of tears

- “Bread” signals a daily staple. Sorrow has replaced ordinary meals (Psalm 102:9).

- The plural “them” shows communal pain—nationwide lament, not merely private anguish (Joel 2:17).

- Grief, like bread, can push hearts to recognize total dependence on the Lord (Psalm 119:67, 71; Deuteronomy 8:3).

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and made them drink the full measure of their tears

- The picture intensifies: from eating to drinking, from portion to overflow. Their cup brims with tears (Psalm 69:21; Isaiah 51:17).

- “Full measure” echoes Psalm 75:8, where God hands a cup of judgment; here, discipline spares the people from harsher ruin later (Jeremiah 25:15–17; Hosea 2:14–15).

- Yet hope threads through: the same Lord will one day replace this bitter cup with “the cup of salvation” (Psalm 116:13) and wipe away every tear (Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 21:4). Christ Himself models this in John 18:11 when He accepts the Father’s cup.

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summary

Psalm 80:5 shows God deliberately allowing grief to become Israel’s daily diet so they will turn back to Him. The Shepherd feeds tears, not to destroy, but to discipline and ultimately restore. Even in the fullest measure of sorrow, His covenant love aims at future joy, promising a coming day when the cup will overflow with salvation instead of tears.