"To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Testimony. Of Asaph, a Psalm.
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,
stir up your might
and come to save us!
3 Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
4 O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 You make us an object of contention for our neighbours,
and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
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!"
Psalm 80
The difference between the theme of this Psalm and that of the two previous ones is that, whereas there the distress expressed was due to a single catastrophic crisis, Psalm 80 reflects a condition which is more or less of long standing, if not permanent. It is a desolate scene, that has long been in existence, and which promises no immediate change, except through the direct intervention of God. This is one of the pointers to interpretation and application, and as we have applied the previous two psalms to our more immediate national predicament, so also we may now apply this Psalm to the long-standing condition of spiritual and moral deterioration that has characterised our post-war era. As to the structure of the Psalm, we may take the thrice repeated refrain in 3, 7, 19 as dividing the Psalm into three unequal parts, 1-3, 4-7, and 8ff. If we were to take 14 to be the same sort of refrain, this would make another division, with 15-19 as a final stanza. The Psalm is therefore a prayer for the nation, looking back to the purposes of God for His people, as expressed in ancient deeds of deliverance, and asking that these purposes be fulfilled again, in spite of the present distresses. It is not difficult to apply this in particular to the Church, as a prayer that the Divine purposes might yet be fulfilled for her, present distresses and barrenness notwithstanding.