Psalm 80
לַמְנַצֵּ֥חַ אֶל שֹׁשַׁנִּ֑ים עֵד֖וּת לְאָסָ֣ף מִזְמֽוֹר
BSB
Hear Us, O Shepherd of Israel
For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph.
1Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,
who leads Joseph like a flock;
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth 2before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.
Rally Your mighty power
and come to save us.
3Restore us, O God,
and cause Your face to shine upon us,
that we may be saved.
4O LORD God of Hosts,
how long will Your anger smolder
against the prayers of Your people?
5You fed them with the bread of tears
and made them drink the full measure of their tears.
6You make us contend with our neighbors;
our enemies mock us.
7Restore us, O God of Hosts,
and cause Your face to shine upon us,
that we may be saved.
8You uprooted a vine from Egypt;
You drove out the nations and transplanted it.
9You cleared the ground for it,
and it took root and filled the land.
10The mountains were covered by its shade,
and the mighty cedars with its branches.
11It sent out its branches to the Sea,
and its shoots toward the River.
12Why have You broken down its walls,
so that all who pass by pick its fruit?
13The boar from the forest ravages it,
and the creatures of the field feed upon it.
14Return, O God of Hosts, we pray!
Look down from heaven and see!
Attend to this vine—
15the root Your right hand has planted,
the son You have raised up for Yourself.
16Your vine has been cut down and burned;
they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
17Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand,
on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.
18Then we will not turn away from You;
revive us, and we will call on Your name.
19Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts;
cause Your face to shine upon us,
that we may be saved.
Introduction
Psalms 80
This psalm is much to the same purport with the foregoing. Some think it was penned upon occasion of the desolation and captivity of the ten tribes, as the foregoing psalm of the two. But many were the distresses of the Israel of God, many perhaps which are not recorded in the sacred history some whereof might give occasion for the drawing up of this psalm, which is proper to be sung in the day of Jacob's trouble, and if, in singing it, we express a true love to the church and a hearty concern for its interest, with a firm confidence in God's power to help it out of its greatest distresses, we make melody with our hearts to the Lord. The psalmist here, I. Begs for the tokens of God's presence with them and favour to them (Psa 80:1-3). II. He complains of the present rebukes they were under (Psa 80:4-7). III. He illustrates the present desolations of the church, by the comparison of a vine and a vineyard, which had flourished, but was now destroyed (Psa 80:8-16). IV. He concludes with prayer to God for the preparing of mercy for them and the preparing of them for mercy (Psa 80:17-19). This, as many psalms before and after, relates to the public interests of God's Israel, which ought to lie nearer to our hearts than any secular interest of our own.
To the chief musician upon Shoshannim, Eduth. A psalm of Asaph.
Cross-references: Ps 80:1 · Ps 80:4 · Ps 80:8 · Ps 80:17