Sunday, July 7, 2024

A Restored Vine


Psalm 80:14 Turn again, O God of hosts!
    Look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
15     the stock that your right hand planted,
    and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.
16 They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;
    may they perish at the rebuke of your face!
17 But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,
    the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!
18 Then we shall not turn back from you;
    give us life, and we will call upon your name!
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!
    Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Like the psalm before it, this psalm laments the devastation of Jerusalem, having been invaded, defeated, leveled, and left by the exiles.  The psalmist looks back on the Exodus and Entrance into the land, when God planted Israel as a vine there, flourishing and surrounded by neighboring nations that held them in awe.  Now they are mocked and scorned.  The psalm has a messianic tone, as the psalmist calls out to God: let Your hand to be on the Man of your right hand, the Son of Man Whom You have made strong for Yourself. Three times in the psalm he repeats the chorus, including the final verse: Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!  Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

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