The Book of Psalms
Psalm 80
Psalm LXXX · Vol. II, p. 1040
1 The psalmist in his prayer complaineth of the miseries of the church. 8 God's former favours are turned into judgments. 14 He prayeth for deliverance.
To the chief musician upon aShoshannim-Eduth, A psalm of Asaph.1
1 Give ear, bO cShepherd of Israel, thou that dleadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwelleste between the cherubims, gshine2 forth.
A.M. cir. 2967 or 2983. B.C. cir. 1037 or 1021.
1 Or, for Asaph.
c Ps.23.1. Is.40.11. Ge.49.24.
d Ps.77.15,20; 81.5; 78.55. 2 Sa.6.2.
e 1 Sa.4.4. Ex.25.20,22; 30.6.
g Ps.4.6; 50.2; 94.1. De.33.2.
2 Allusion is here made to the Shechinah glory, or visible presence of God, upon the mercy-seat, between the cherubims. From that place God gave responses to the high-priest; to that place the Israelites always turned in prayer.—P.
2 Beforeh Ephraim, and Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up thy strength, and come and save us.3
h Nu.2.18-24; 10.21-24. Ps.44.23,26; 74.11. Is.51.9,10.
3 Heb. come for salvation to us.
7 Turnn us again, O God of hosts, and ocause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
n ver.3,19. 1 Ki.18.37. Ps.126.1. La.5.21. Lu.1.16.
o Nu.6.25,26. Ps.4.6; 67.1.
9 Thour preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
r Ex.23.28. Jos.24.12; vi.-xxi. Ps.136.17-22; 105.44. Ne.9.22-25.
10 Thes hills were covered with the shadow of it:8 and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.9
s 1 Ch.21.5. 1 Ki.4.20,25. 2 Ch.xvii.
8 That vines were trained to be summer shades for eating or reposing, is evident from 1 Ki. 4. 25. Mi. 4. 4; a beautiful emblem of Christ, the true vine, under whose providential headship the whole church reclines, Ep. 1. 22.—C.
9 Heb. cedars of God.
11 Shet sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.1
t Ge.15.18. Ex.23.31. 1 Ki.4.21. Ps.72.8. Jos.24.11-13.
1 From the Mediterranean on the west, to the Euphrates on the east.—C.
12 Why hast thou then ubroken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
u Ps.89.40; 78.62. Is.5.2,5. Ju.2.14,15. Ne.9.27,28. Na.2.2.
14 Return, xwe beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
x ver.3,7,19; Ps.7.8-11; 90.13; 119.132. Zec.1.12,16,17. Is.63.15. Da.9.16-19.
15 And the yvineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
17 Let thy hand be upon the aman of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
Notes
Ver. 1. Leadest Jacob. In the pastoral countries of the East, the flock intrusted to a shepherd is generally under a hundred (see Mat. 18. 12); because it must be sedulously watched, and kept within the view of the shepherd, for fear of the predatory bands by whom these countries are infested. The shepherd accordingly teaches his flock to know his voice, come at his call—he leads them, and they follow his movements, Jn. 10. 27. C.
Ver. 2. Before Ephraim—Joseph's first-born, by divine election; before Benjamin, Joseph's beloved brother; before Manasseh, his first-born in point of time, but placed last by divine appointment, to teach families that the Lord reigneth in all their arrangements. These three tribes marched immediately before the Kohathites who carried the ark, Nu. 2. 17-24; 10. 21-24. C.
Ver. 13. The boar, &c. This is a literal representation of fact at this day in some of the vine districts of the East, especially in Mesopotamia. In the lips of a Jew, the words had a meaning doubly emblematic of the persecutors of the church, as represented not merely by a destructive but an unclean animal. C.
Ver. 17. Man of thy right hand. Let thy hand, anointing him to office and power, by the Holy Ghost, be upon Messiah, the man who is to be exalted to thy 'right hand'—the 'Son of man' who comes to redeem the world. C.
Reflections.—Great is the mercy that God is the shepherd, leader, and protector of his people—that he is a God reconciled in Christ, to the everlasting wonder of angels and men—and that now it is not the Jewish tribes who marched after the ark in the desert, but multitudes of Gentiles, that see his salvation. Awakened souls ardently desire reconciliation with God, and repeated manifestations of his favour. And if we are turned to God by faith, we cannot fail to inherit his eternal glory. But through seeming rejection of prayers and angry frowns from God, and through tears, griefs, and reproaches, must we sometimes go thither. With what kind care did God settle the Israelites in Canaan and make them flourish there! With how much more did he gather, found, and increase his gospel church! But, alas! the misery and ruin that sin draws down upon the best-constituted churches and nations. Enemies, furious as wild beasts, waste them when God withdraws his protection. Yet the design hereof is not his people's ruin; but to excite their prayers, quicken their repentance, and magnify the wonders of his power and grace in their deliverance. It is impossible for his church to be ruined when her help is laid on her almighty Redeemer, the man of God's right hand. God's love for us is the source of all our salvation, quickening, and blessedness of grace. Through him strengthening us, we can do all things. No wonder then that prayer is the daily employment of such as are spiritually alive; and that a sense of God's favour is more earnestly desired than the removal of any affliction.