Daily Devotional Friday 31st March 2023
by William MoodyPsalm 80
Restore Us, O God
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm.
80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might
and come to save us!
3 Restore us,1 O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
4 O LORD God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.2
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, O God of hosts!
Look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
15 the stock that your right hand planted,
and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
16 They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your face!
17 But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
18 Then we shall not turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call upon your name!
19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!(ESV)
In this community lament, the people call on their great shepherd who is enthroned upon the cherubim to act (v1). This immediately gives us a sense of the greatness and power of God which gives an expectation of what the Lord can do.
The repeated call is for God to restore His people and for His face to shine upon them in favour (v3, 7, 19). The people realised that the answer to their situation of great need, had to be the Lord and not primarily anything they did themselves. Their problem was beyond their own meagre efforts.
Israel is pictured as a vine that the Lord has brought from Egypt and planted it in the promised Land (v8). The Lord cared for it and it grew, flourished and brought much blessing (v9-11).
The walls that protected the vine have been broken down and it has been ravaged by a wild boar (v12-13).
Asaph calls on the Lord to intervene for the sake of his son (v15) and the man on his right hand, the son of man (v17). These references probably referred initially to the people of Israel, but they find ultimate fulfilment in Christ.
It is only through Jesus that God’s people can and will be restored. Only in Christ can our hope as God’s people be found. Is this where your hope is for yourself? Is this where your hope is for the restoration of the church?
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