For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Psalm 80

1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
    shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Awaken your might;
    come and save us.

3 Restore us, O God;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.

4 How long, Lord God Almighty,
    will your anger smoulder
    against the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;
    you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbours,
    and our enemies mock us.

7 Restore us, God Almighty;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.

8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;
    you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it,
    and it took root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
    the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,
    its shoots as far as the River.

12 Why have you broken down its walls
    so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
13 Boars from the forest ravage it,
    and insects from the fields feed on it.
14 Return to us, God Almighty!
    Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
15     the root your right hand has planted,
    the son you have raised up for yourself.

16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
    at your rebuke your people perish.
17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
    the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18 Then we will not turn away from you;
    revive us, and we will call on your name.

19 Restore us, Lord God Almighty;
    make your face shine on us,
    that we may be saved.

A. Find Out:

1. How did the Psalmist describe Israel ? v.8-11
2. What had now happened to it? v.12-16
3. What did he see as the cause of this? v.4-6
4. What does he ask the Lord to do? v.3,7,19
5. How does he refer to the Lord? v.1
6. What did he see as the necessary order? v.17,18

B. Think:

1. Why was the Psalmist in anguish?
2. What did he recognise about their position?
3. What did he therefore see as the answer to their position?

C. Comment:

In this psalm the writer again pleads with God to restore Israel . Again it obviously applies to the Exile but this psalm uses much allegorical language to catch the feeling of it all.

First he acknowledges the power and the might and holiness of the Lord who, in the past, has led them like a shepherd, caring for them, protecting them and providing for them (v.1,2). He sees what has happened as the result of the anger of the Lord but he appears to question why that is (v.12). He speaks of Israel as a vine taken from Egypt (v.8), made into a fruitful, flourishing vineyard (v.9-11). Now as he looks on Israel, all he sees is a picture of destruction. His natural question is “Why?” How often do we come to the same perplexing question?

From our perspective, through the eyes of the historians of Israel and the prophets of Israel, we now know that God was purging Israel of its idolatry, using the ungodly invaders from afar, but for the Psalmist in the midst of it, the question is still there, “Why?”.

Sometimes we are almost too close to the situation to be able to see clearly and we say “Why Lord?” and as we have seen today, we have to wait, but in the meantime God does not chide us for asking.

D. Application?

1. Sometimes we can have only partial understanding and have to wait until all is made clear.
2. Rest in the Lord who is sovereign.