Read chapter in full: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?version=ESV&search=Psalms+080

 

Psalm 80 (ESV)

Restore Us, O God

To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm.

1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
² Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might
and come to save us!

³ Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁴ O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
⁵ You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
⁶ You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷ Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!

⁸ You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
⁹ You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
¹⁰ The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
¹¹ It sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
¹² Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
¹³ The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.

¹⁴ Turn again, O God of hosts!
Look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
¹⁵     the stock that your right hand planted,
and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
¹⁶ They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your face!
¹⁷ But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
¹⁸ Then we shall not turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call upon your name!

¹⁹ Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

 

REFLECTION:

1. The psalmist appealed to God to deliver and restore as the Shepherd of His people Israel. The title “Lord of hosts” suggests God’s ability to deliver His people whenever He chooses to do so. But the Lord’s silence implied that He was angry with them. As a shepherd, God had fed His people, but He had given them tears to eat and to drink rather than nourishing food. Their condition led their neighboring nations to mock them.
2. Starting in verse 8, the psalmist pictured Israel as a vine that God had transplanted from Egypt to Canaan. He cleared the land of Canaan for her by driving the native people out. Israel had taken root in the Promised Land and, as a vine, had spread out in all directions. It had become strong and luxuriant under God’s blessing. However, God had broken down the wall that protected it, and its neighbors were now consuming it.
3. God’s people are similar to a grapevine, in that God has called us to be a blessing to others. However, if we do not walk in trust and obedience, God may PRUNE us back and limit our fruitfulness in order to increase our ultimate productivity. We experience blessings as we become a blessing to others. If we depart from God, we need to call on Him to restore our fruitfulness and commit ourselves to Him again.
4. Have you experienced God’s pruning in your life? Have those experiences helped improve the productivity of the fruit of the Spirit in your life?

PRAYER:

Stay with God for a little longer.  Continue to converse with God and listen to what He wants to tell you.  Then write down any thought and/or prayer in your spiritual journal.

 

HYMN:

Revive Us – www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2ZOfuO-z_o