LHC Midday Word: PSALM Eighty

For the director of music.

To the tune of ‘The Lilies of the Covenant’.

Of Asaph.

A psalm.

Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock.

You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,

shine forth

before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.

Awaken your might;

come and save us.

Restore us, O God;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

How long, Lord God Almighty,

will your anger smoulder

against the prayers of your people?

You have fed them with the bread of tears;

you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

You have made us an object of derision to our neighbours,

and our enemies mock us.

Restore us, God Almighty;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

You transplanted a vine from Egypt;

you drove out the nations and planted it.

You cleared the ground for it,

and it took root and filled the land.

The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches.

Its branches reached as far as the Sea,

its shoots as far as the River.

Why have you broken down its walls

so that all who pass by pick its grapes?

Boars from the forest ravage it,

and insects from the fields feed on it.

Return to us, God Almighty!

Look down from heaven and see!

Watch over this vine,

the root your right hand has planted,

the son you have raised up for yourself.

Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;

at your rebuke your people perish.

Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,

the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

Then we will not turn away from you;

revive us, and we will call on your name.

Restore us, Lord God Almighty;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

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Word by Word Meditations

by Fred Ursell

Psalm 80: “vine” (vv.8, 14 & 16)

The cry, “hear us, O Shepherd of Israel” (v.1) demonstrates the unselfish nature of Asaph’s prayer to God, not just for himself but for the whole nation. He uses the 1^st person plural, not just once but in three separate places “restore us” (vv.3, 7 & 19).

He pictures his people as a “vine” brought initially “out of Egypt” (v.8) during the Exodus under Moses, and “planted” (vv.9 & 15), where it “took root” (v.9) in the Promised Land. Now he asks the LORD to “watch over this vine” (v.14), because it is “cut down” (v.16).

Struggling congregations and individual believers, pray, “revive us!” (v.18). It works!

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READINGS

PSALM 80

Read by Sir David Suchet