Psalms 80:4

O Lord Godof hosts Jehovah Elôhîm Tsebâôth, as in Psalms 59:5. For the meaning see note on Psalms 46:7. There is a special significance in the repeated appeals to Jehovah (4, 14, 19) by the title which denotes His universal sovereignty, and therefore His ability to help Israel in its humiliation, and also recalls the days when He went forth with Israel's armies to victory.

how long wilt thou be angry Lit. hast thou been fuming. For the verb cp. Psalms 74:1. The tense denotes -how long hast Thou been and wilt Thou continue to be angry," and implies that Israel's distress has already lasted long. Cp. Psalms 74:9-10; Psalms 79:5.

against the prayer of thy people As the punishment for the sins of their ancestors (Proverbs 1:28 ff.; Lamentations 3:8). Perhaps the smoke of the divine wrath is thought of as a thick cloud which interposes between them and God; see Lamentations 3:44. We might render in spite of the prayer, but the rendering of A.V. and R.V. is the more forcible. God's indignation against His people is so intense, that even their prayers are an offence to Him. On the wrath of God as the manifestation of His holiness see Oehler's O.T. Theology, § 48.

The LXX and Syr. read thy servantor thy servantsfor thy people.