"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!"
Pslam 80
The first stanza (1-3) is a simple appeal for help, and God is asked to give ear (1), to stir up strength and save His people (2), and to turn them back to Himself (3). It is the association of ideas in what is said that is striking. The 'Shepherd' picture is a characteristic one: it goes back, in fact, to the patriarchal words in Genesis 49:24 (which see), 'the shepherd, the stone of Israel'. These are words included in Jacob's blessing upon Joseph, and it is Joseph that is mentioned in 1. The Psalmist is using an evocative association of ideas in remembering the days of old, and God's wonderful works on His people's behalf in those days - the tabernacle days, when the Lord was known to dwell between the cherubim, and the wilderness times when Israel's march was gladdened by God's Presence. The three tribes mentioned in 2 were those who, on the march, followed immediately after the Ark as it went forward, and they had the best view, so to speak, of the pillar of cloud and fire as it led God's people on. The reference in 3 to the shining of God's face may also be to the pillar of cloud and fire, in which God looked in favour upon Israel. The idea here is that one gleam of God's face would be sufficient to change the entire situation, shrivelling up their foes and bringing salvation to them. The second stanza (4-7), with its piteous recounting of the distress of the situation, seems to underline how very different the Psalmist felt the reality of the situation to be, and how needful for the shining of that Face. The phrase 'wilt Thou be angry...?' literally reads 'Wilt Thou smoke...'. God's anger is like a smoking fire, and He is smouldering in anger against them. Hence the reiterated prayer in 7.