Psalms 80:9

9 Thou were leader of the way in the sight thereof; and thou plantedest the roots thereof, and it filled the land. (Thou madest a place for it on the way; and it planted its roots, and it filled the land.)

Psalms 80:9 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 80:9

Thou preparedst room before it
By sending the hornet before the Israelites, and driving the Canaanites out of the land, ( Exodus 23:28 ) and so the Targum,

``thou didst remove from before thee the Canaanites;''

which made way and room for them: and thus the Lord prepared room for his interest, church, and people, in the Gentile world, in the first times of Christianity, by sending the Gospel into all parts of it, and making it successful, and still there is room, ( Luke 14:22 )

and didst cause it to take deep root;
which denotes the settlement of the people of Israel in Canaan, in church and state, as a body ecclesiastic and politic; so believers, being rooted in Christ, are grounded, settled, and established in him, and in a Gospel church state, and so become fruitful; see ( Colossians 2:7 ) ( Isaiah 27:6 )

and it filled the land;
with people, who, in the days of Solomon, were as the sand of the sea, ( 1 Kings 4:20 ) and so the Gentile world was filled with Christian converts in the first times of the Gospel; and the interest and church of Christ will fill the whole world another day, ( Isaiah 11:9 ) ( Daniel 2:35 ) .

Psalms 80:9 In-Context

7 God of virtues, turn thou us (again); and show thy face, and we shall be safe. (God of hosts, bring us back; and shine thy face upon us, and we shall be saved.)
8 Thou translatedest a vine from Egypt; thou castedest out heathen men, and plantedest it. (Thou broughtest up a vine out of Egypt; thou threwest out the heathen, and then thou plantedest that vine, that is, us.)
9 Thou were leader of the way in the sight thereof; and thou plantedest the roots thereof, and it filled the land. (Thou madest a place for it on the way; and it planted its roots, and it filled the land.)
10 The shadow thereof covered hills; and the branches thereof filled the cedars of God. (Its shadow covered the hills; and its branches were thick, like the cedars of God.)
11 It stretched forth his scions till to the sea, and the generations thereof till to the flood. (It stretched out its branches unto the Mediterranean Sea, and as far as the Euphrates River.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.