Day 356: Turn us, O God - Psalm 80
1-2 Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock. O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display your radiant glory to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Show us your mighty power. Come to rescue us! 3 Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.
4-6 O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, how long will you be angry with our prayers? You have fed us with sorrow and made us drink tears by the bucketful. You have made us the scorn of neighbouring nations. Our enemies treat us as a joke. 7 Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.
8-11 You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine; you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land. You cleared the ground for us, and we took root and filled the land. Our shade covered the mountains; our branches covered the mighty cedars. We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea; our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River. 12-15 But now, why have you broken down our walls so that all who pass by may steal our fruit? The wild boar from the forest devours it, and the wild animals feed on it. Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven’s Armies. Look down from heaven and see our plight. 16 Take care of this grapevine that you yourself have planted, this son you have raised for yourself. For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies. May they perish at the sight of your frown.
17-18 Strengthen the man you love, the son of your choice. Then we will never abandon you again. Revive us so we can call on your name once more. 19 Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. Psalm 80 New Living Translation paraphrase (English Standard Version link)
Did you pick up the threefold prayer of vs 3, 7 and 19? The Psalm writer pleaded for God to turn the people back to Himself, for only then would they be saved from enemies who were pecking away at the nation and plundering it. The three tribes he refers to were descendants of Jacob's wife, Rebekah, and represented the Northern part of the Kingdom which had been drifting faster and further from God, and suffering the consequences. (vs 4-6) What reason did he offer why God should come to their aid? (vs 8-11)
He 'reminds' God that the nation was like a vine that He Himself had taken out of Egypt and tenderly planted in Palestine. The Kingdom had spread and prospered under God's hand. Then in vs 12-15 he pleads with God to take note of their misery, and says this vine was like a son that God had Himself brought up. In another Psalm the same writer says to God: “Remember that we are the people You chose long ago, the tribe You redeemed as your own special possession! And remember Jerusalem, your home here on earth.” (Psalm 74:2) This is something believers can cling to when our circumstances go pear-shaped because of our backsliding. But we can't get out of the pits we've dug by our own strength. What do vs 17-19 tell us about the help Israel needed then, and the help we need when we've fallen?
He asks GOD to 'revive them'. They needed the breath of God's Spirit. And he asked GOD to 'turn them'. They needed God's power to have the strength to turn from everything that was wrong in their life. The grip sin has on men and women is so strong that they are unable to save themselves. The gospel's first command is 'repent', which means 'turn away from sin and turn to God'. But we are so weak that we need to cry out like the Psalmist: “Turn us again to yourself, O God, make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.”
A last thought. The writer also prayed “Strengthen the man you love, the son of your choice.” He was likely thinking of Israel being the son of God's choice, or even Israel's King. But in the New Testament Jesus referred to Himself as being the 'true vine'. And when He was praying in agony in Gethsemane's garden we are told “an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him.” (Luke 22:43) Now Jesus is able to turn our hearts back to God and to give us the strength so we won’t abandon our faith.