Psalms 80:8-15

PSALM—NOTE ON Psalms 80:8 This is the longest stanza, with its image of God’s people as a vine for which God has cared and provided (see notes on Jer. 2:21; Ezekiel 15:1). The branches of this vine were to give shade to everything within the borders of the Promised Land (see Exodus 23:31), which always included Gentile nations. The branches and shoots are therefore an image of the benefits that come to all who are under the rule of this people. It is God who has broken down the walls that had protected the vine from marauding and empire-building Gentiles (the boar). Psalms 80:14 appeals to God to look down from heaven and have regard for this vine again, that is, to restore it to its proper role in the world.