Psalms 80

God Implored to Rescue His People from Their Calamities.

1 Oh, give ear, ¹Shepherd of Israel, You who lead ²Joseph like a flock; You who ³are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!

2 Before ⁴Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, ⁵stir up Your power And come to save us!

3 O God, ⁶restore us And ⁷cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

4 O ⁸LORD God of hosts, ⁹How long * will You be angry with the prayer of Your people?

5 You have fed them with the ¹⁰bread of tears, And You have made them to drink tears in large measure.

6 You make us an object of contention ¹¹to our neighbors, And our enemies laugh among themselves.

7 O God of hosts, restore us And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

8 You removed a ¹²vine from Egypt; You ¹³drove out the nations and ¹⁴planted it.

9 You ¹⁵cleared the ground before it, And it ¹⁶took deep root and filled the land.

10 The mountains were covered with its shadow, And the cedars of God with its ¹⁷boughs.

11 It was sending out its branches ¹⁸to the sea And its shoots to the River.

12 Why have You ¹⁹broken down its hedges, So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?

13 A boar from the forest ²⁰eats it away And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.

14 O God of hosts, ²¹turn again now, we beseech You; ²²Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,

15 Even the ²³shoot which Your right hand has planted, And on the son whom You have strengthened for Yourself.

16 It is ²⁴burned with fire, it is cut down; They perish at the ²⁵rebuke of Your countenance.

17 Let ²⁶Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You ²⁷made strong for Yourself.

18 Then we shall not ²⁸turn back from You; ²⁹Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.

19 O LORD God of hosts, ³⁰restore us; Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

Psalms 80 Commentary

Chapter 80

The psalmist complains of the miseries of the church. (1-7) Its former prosperity and present desolation. (8-16) A prayer for mercy. (17-19)

Verses 1-7 He that dwelleth upon the mercy-seat, is the good Shepherd of his people. But we can neither expect the comfort of his love, nor the protection of his arm, unless we partake of his converting grace. If he is really angry at the prayers of his people, it is because, although they pray, their ends are not right, or there is some secret sin indulged in them, or he will try their patience and perseverance in prayer. When God is displeased with his people, we must expect to see them in tears, and their enemies in triumph. There is no salvation but from God's favour; there is no conversion to God but by his own grace.

Verses 8-16 The church is represented as a vine and a vineyard. The root of this vine is Christ, the branches are believers. The church is like a vine, needing support, but spreading and fruitful. If a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree is so worthless. And are not we planted as in a well-cultivated garden, with every means of being fruitful in works of righteousness? But the useless leaves of profession, and the empty boughs of notions and forms, abound far more than real piety. It was wasted and ruined. There was a good reason for this change in God's way toward them. And it is well or ill with us, according as we are under God's smiles or frowns. When we consider the state of the purest part of the visible church, we cannot wonder that it is visited with sharp corrections. They request that God would help the vine. Lord, it is formed by thyself, and for thyself, therefore it may, with humble confidence, be committed to thyself.

Verses 17-19 The Messiah, the Protector and Saviour of the church, is the Man of God's right hand; he is the Arm of the Lord, for all power is given to him. In him is our strength, by which we are enabled to persevere to the end. The vine, therefore, cannot be ruined, nor can any fruitful branch perish; but the unfruitful will be cut off and cast into the fire. The end of our redemption is, that we should serve Him who hath redeemed us, and not go back to our old sins.

Cross References

• 1. Psalms 23:1
• 2. Psalms 77:15; Psalms 78:67; Amos 5:15
• 3. Exodus 25:22; 1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 6:2; Psalms 99:1
• 4. Numbers 2:18-24
• 5. Psalms 35:23
• 6. Psalms 60:1; Psalms 80:7, 19; Psalms 85:4; Psalms 126:1; Lamentations 5:21
• 7. Numbers 6:25; Psalms 4:6; Psalms 31:16
• 8. Psalms 59:5; Psalms 84:8
• 9. Psalms 79:5; Psalms 85:5
• 10. Psalms 42:3; Psalms 102:9; Isaiah 30:20
• 11. Psalms 44:13; Psalms 79:4
• 12. Psalms 80:15; Is 5:1, 2, 7; Jeremiah 2:21; Jeremiah 12:10; Ezekiel 17:6; Ezekiel 19:10
• 13. Joshua 13:6; 2 Chronicles 20:7; Psalms 44:2; Acts 7:45
• 14. Jeremiah 11:17; Jeremiah 32:41; Ezekiel 17:23; Amos 9:15
• 15. Exodus 23:28; Joshua 24:12; Isaiah 5:2
• 16. Hosea 14:5
• 17. Genesis 49:22
• 18. Psalms 72:8
• 19. Psalms 89:40; Isaiah 5:5
• 20. Jeremiah 5:6
• 21. Psalms 90:13
• 22. Psalms 102:19; Isaiah 63:15
• 23. Psalms 80:8
• 24. 2 Chronicles 36:19; Psalms 74:8; Jeremiah 52:13
• 25. Psalms 39:11; Psalms 76:6
• 26. Psalms 89:21
• 27. Psalms 80:15
• 28. Isaiah 50:5
• 29. Psalms 71:20
• 30. Psalms 80:3

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "that we may"
• [b]. Lit "smoke against"
• [c]. Lit "a third part of a"
• [d]. Lit "a strife to"
• [e]. Or "that we may"
• [f]. Or "Gentiles"
• [g]. Or "its boughs are like the cedars of God"
• [h]. Or "walls, fences"
• [i]. Or "root"
• [j]. Or figuratively: "branch"
• [k]. Or "secured"
• [l]. Or "that we may"

Chapter Summary

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph. Of the word "shoshannim," See Gill on "Ps 45:1," and of "shushaneduth," See Gill on "Ps 60:1" which seems to be the same with this here, and is thought by some to be the name of a musical instrument now unknown, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; though these two words are not to be read together as one, for there is a dividing accent on "shoshannim," and which may be rendered "concerning the lilies" {a}; and so may denote the subject matter of the psalm, or respect the people of God, comparable to lilies for their beauty, purity, and holiness in Christ, Song of Solomon 6:2, and to lilies among thorns, Song of Solomon 2:2, being in great afflictions and persecutions, as appears from Psalm 80:5, the word "eduth" is to be read not along with "shoshannim," but with what follows, thus, "Eduth unto Asaph a psalm"; some render the word "eduth" an ornament or glory, as R. Marinus in Aben Ezra; and take the sense to be, that the psalm was a glorious one, and desirable to Asaph; but it rather signifies a testimony, and is by the Targum interpreted of the testimony of the law; but it is rather to be understood of the testimony of the Gospel, which is the testimony of Christ, and bears witness of him; and there is a testimony of him in this psalm, Psalm 80:17, and there seem to be in it many breathings after his coming and appearance in the flesh. Some take this psalm to be of the same argument with the foregoing, and think it refers to the destruction of the Jews, the two tribes, by the Chaldeans; so Theodoret; but there is no mention made of the temple, nor of Jerusalem, as in the preceding psalm; and besides, why should Manasseh and Ephraim be mentioned? wherefore others are of opinion that it has regard to the captivity of the ten tribes by Salmaneser; but then it may be asked, why is Benjamin taken notice of, which had no concern in the affliction? this has led others to conclude that it respects some time of affliction before either of these captivities, or between them both; and it may be applied to any affliction of the people of God in any age or period of time; and no doubt was written by Asaph, or by David, and put into his hands before the distress was, under a spirit of prophecy. Kimchi interprets it of the present captivity of the Jews, and Jarchi of their three captivities.

{a} Mynvv la "super liliis," Tigurine version, Cocceius; "pro liliis," Musculus.