Psalms 80:1-19
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and comea and save us.
3 Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
4 O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?
5 Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.
6 Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
9 Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodlyb cedars.
11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Contents: The tokens of God's favor besought and the former blessings cited as a basis for present deliverance.
Characters: God, Asaph.
Conclusion: There is no obtaining favor with God until we are converted unto Him and there will be no turning unto Him except as we submit to His grace, for it is He who turns us. When we confess that it is our own sinful ways which have provoked God to hide His face, we are beginning at the right end and are on the road to victory.
Key Word: Turn us again, Psalms 80:3; Psalms 80:7; Psalms 80:14; Psalms 80:19.
Strong Verses: Psalms 80:17.
Striking Facts: Psalms 80:17. Their king is called the man of God's right hand, as he was also under-shepherd under Him who was the Great Shepherd of Israel (Psalms 80:1) Christ is the Great Shepherd to whom we may commit His sheep in faith.