Superscript: A Psalm of Asaph. “Upon Shoshannim-eduth”[1]
translated here in the ESV as “According to Lillies”. A testimony (Hebr. eduth
[2]-
reference to the contents of the Psalm as a public testimony in regard to the
dealings of God with his people)
Psalm 79 closes with - “we
your people, the sheep of Your pasture” (79:13) while Psalm 80 begins with these words, “Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock”
(80: 1). As NT believers we are
immediately reminded of John 10
where Jesus refers to Himself as the Good Shepherd.
Some commentators think that the background for Psalm 80 is
the Assyrian invasion and deportation of the northern tribes in 722 B.C. (see 2 Kings 17:6)- the reference to the
northern tribes of Joseph – Ephraim and Manasseh; The name of Joseph is applied to the whole nation in other Asaph
psalms (Psalm 77:15; Psalm 81:5). Others
think that it refers to the later Babylonian captivity in 587 BC with reference to the broken walls in 80:12. It is impossible to determine with certainty
the time or the occasion of its composition.
What is clear is that this Psalm is written by Asaph at a time when Israel wasn’t doing well – spiritually, morally or physically. The glory days had gone. The heavens were like brass. This is seen in 80:4: “how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?” God seemed distant and absent. The world was laughing at them (80:6).
The modern evangelical church can identify with these words in Psalm 80. While sports stadiums and shopping malls are springing out of the ground, bursting with enthusiastic sports supporters and shoppers, most churches struggle to keep their people focussed on the kingdom of God. Those churches that appear to thrive are often pandering to the present culture and by entertaining the people. When people walk their dogs past our church on a Sunday morning and evening, and when they hear the sounds of our singing, what do they think? “I am missing out on something here!” Somehow, I don’t think so. So, what is God doing in the world? The straight forward answer is this: He is still building His kingdom in the midst of this fallen humanity.
So how come we don’t see it? The answer to that is more complex and it is reflected in this 80th Psalm.
The Psalm divides into three parts. Each part ends with this refrain:
“Restore us oh God…” : see 80:
3,7,19. This is essentially an appeal for restoration
1. 80:1-3 An Appeal to God to hear and save Israel
2. 80:4-7 Agony
over the lack of God’s manifested
presence among his people
3. 80: 8-19 An Appeal to God’s historical involvement and a renewed call for the restoration of Israel
Expository Notes
1. 80:1-3
An appeal to God to hear and save Israel
80:1 “Give ear O Shepherd of Israel”. It is the nature of a shepherd to hear the cries of his sheep. God is still the Shepherd of His people, even when they do not feel like He is….
“ you who lead Joseph like a flock”. The reference is here made to Joseph the second youngest son of Jacob, the firstborn to Rachel. Joseph became a second father to the tribes of Israel when they were in Egypt. He was the human agent by which Israel was saved from certain death in that great famine. See Jacob’s blessing upon Joseph in Gen. 48:15,16 and 49:22-26.
Asaph appeals to the God of the holy of holies: “you who are enthroned upon the
cherubim shine forth ”- a depiction
of God enthroned in the temple above the
golden cherubim on the mercy seat of the ark of the covenant. Remember that the
mercy seat (the ark of the covenant with its atoning function) in the
tabernacle / temple was the place of God’s manifested presence, and here Israel
always found her final court of appeal. In her darkest times Israel would appeal to the mercy seat. Here at the mercy seat God heard His people’s
prayers and here He revealed His grace to them. As NT believers we remember that Jesus is our atonement. He is the true mercy seat and we
may appeal to Him boldly. Our greatest fear ought to be the withdrawal of the
Lord’s presence which happens when sin invades
the church.
80:2 “Before Ephraim
and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up your might and come to save us!” Rachel’s sons Joseph (v.1) and Benjamin (v.2)
represent the Northern and the Southern kingdoms, respectively. Ephraim and
Manasseh were Joseph’s sons. They became the dominant tribes of what was later
known as the northern kingdom. In Numbers 2:17-24 these three tribes were
always camped together on the western side of the tabernacle.
80:3 “Restore us (lit.
turn us), O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved” (so also vv. 7, 19). God’s people in desperate
days need the restoring and refreshing of their souls
that only the Shepherd can provide (Psalm
23:3 “He restores my soul”). God’s face “shining upon” someone is symbolic
of His favour. (see the Aaronic blessing
in Numbers 6:24-26)
2. 80:4-7 Agony
over the lack of God’s manifested
presence among his people
80:4 “O
LORD God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers? God is angry with the nation, and the question
is “how long?” (cf. Psalm 13:1ff) This question is asked in 79:5.
80:5 “You
have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full
measure”. The absence of God causes grief. This is the same dilemma which
troubles many people today. Prayers are unanswered
for reasons they do not fully understand. All they knew was that life was harsh
and painful. Tears were their daily diet, tears were given them to drink
in full measure.’
80:6
Worse still, their neighbours and
enemies (Edom, Moab) were laughing and
jeering at them. Where is your God? (Psalm 42:3,10)
80:7
Refrain repeated
3. 80: 8-19 An appeal to God’s
historical involvement and a renewed
call for restoration of Israel
80:8 - 10 “You
brought out a vine from Egypt” „ Genesis 49:22 is probably in
view here. Other such metaphors include the vineyard in Isaiah 3:14-15; 5:1-7; 27:2-6; Jeremiah 2:21; 12:10; Hosea 10:1;
Matthew 21:33-46; and John 15:1. The
vine is a metaphor for Israel. This vine settled and established in the promised land by God. The
purpose of this vine was to flourish and produce fruit.
80:11 “It
sent out its branches to the sea . . . the River”. These geographical
references identify western and eastern limits of the Promised Land: the Mediterranean
Sea and the River Euphrates.
80:12-13 These boundaries were now invaded and disregarded by “a boar from the forest”. The boar might symbolize Assyria and her invasion of Israel and Judah. Assyria carried the northern ten tribes into captivity (722 B.C.). It could also refer to the Babylonian exile.
[Interesting fact: According to the Talmud, the middle letter in
the Hebrew word translated “forest” as the middle letter of the Psalter.]
80:14 -16
“O God of hosts” (cf. vv.
3, 7, 19). Their prayer is that the God of hosts (He can summon all the
powers of heaven and earth to do His will, to help His people—will look down
from heaven and take care of “this vine”… “turn
again now” - the crux of the Psalm: a plea that in his mercy God will look
on this vine again, and thus do for this
vine something that it cannot do for itself.
This Shepherd of Israel must bring the straying
sheep back, for they will never come back of their own accord.
80:17 “the
man of Your right hand”. This could be
a reference to Benjamin (whose name means, “son
of my right hand”), “the son of man”. Some
commentators take this as a reference to the Messiah. This was also the view of
the early rabbis.Such
phraseology in this verse could also refer to Israel (cf. v. 15; Ex 4:22) or to
their king, but from a NT perspective we know that only
the Son of God can fix this
broken generation. Our hope is in Him alone.
We learn from the Scriptures
and from history that a people who has received God’s Word and His favours, and who are
then despising the means of His grace, ignoring God’s call
to holy living in favour of the pursuit of their pleasures and idols – that such people are
left behind by God, and they are left exposed to their enemies (see 80:6,13,16)
The Shepherd of Israel, who is also the good Shepherd of the church (Ps. 80:1; Jn. 10) has brought this
nation, this people, this vine out of
Egypt to be planted in Canaan (80:8).
In pursuit of that goal He drove out the nations from Canaan. He made
this nation to grow and prosper (80: 10,11),
particularly under the reigns of David
and Solomon. But it all ended – first
with the divided kingdom under Rehoboam,
and then with the exile of the
respective kingdoms- the northern
kingdom under the prophetic ministry of Isaiah (around 722 BC) and the southern kingdom under the prophetic ministry of Jeremiah (around 586 BC).
In 80:12 all hangs in the balance: “Why then have you broken down its
walls….?“. It is at this low point
in Israel’s history that Asaph
calls upon God in prayer (Psalm
80:14-19). From the Scriptures we
know that God hears His people’s
prayers when they cry out to Him with truly repentant hearts. He never
forsakes His people- even when they sin.
Though He cannot ignore their sin because of
His holiness (He must punish
all their sin to remain holy and just),
yet He is also committed to delivering His people from their sin. Those are twin truths about God that must never be separated!
With that as our background 80:17&18 become truly
meaningful: “But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of
man whom you have made strong for yourself!
Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will
call upon your name!
Our man is the Lord Jesus Christ! And brothers and sisters, the church of these last 2000 years has gone
through prosperity and adversity, according to her faithfulness or faithlessness to God her Saviour, and then being restored at various times (in revival and reformation)
according to the mercy of God, and through pleadings like this Psalm. This Son of man is our only hope: But
let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have
made strong for yourself! Then we shall
not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name!
We have entered the season of Advent. We shall now enter into a period of remembering the Lord Jesus, the Son of God who became the Son of man, so that the sons of men might become the sons of God.
Let us use this season then to seek Him afresh, trusting Him for another restoration of the church of our day.
O may He shine His face upon us that He will no longer be angry with His people’s prayers - and that we may be saved.
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