Psalm Eighty

by Dr. Henry M. Morris

(taken from the Defender's Study Bible)

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To the chief Musician upon Shoshanni-Meduth, A Psalm of Asaph.

Shoshannim-Eduth. See note on Psalm 69 (Title). Shoshannim means “lilies,” but may also refer to a sort of trumpet shaped like a lily. Eduth means “witness.”

Psalm 80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.

Psalm 80:2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.

come and save us. As in Psalm 79, the psalmist is foreseeing difficult times for his people in the post-Davidic future, and praying for God's deliverance in that day.

Psalm 80:3 Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Psalm 80:4 O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

Psalm 80:5 Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.

Psalm 80:6 Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.

Psalm 80:7 Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Psalm 80:8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

vine out of Egypt. The symbolic representation of Israel as a great vine planted by God is found in both Old and New Testaments. Note, for example, Isaiah 5:1-7; Jeremiah 2:21; Luke 20:9-18.

Psalm 80:9 Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

Psalm 80:10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.

Psalm 80:11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.

Psalm 80:12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

Psalm 80:13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

Psalm 80:14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;

Psalm 80:15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

Psalm 80:16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

Psalm 80:17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.

Psalm 80:18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

Psalm 80:19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.