Rex H. Henderson

PSALM 80

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us. Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it. Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river. Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine; And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. (Psalm 80, KJV)

Psalm 80

May Your Face Shine upon Us

What a happy remembrance gone by;
Israel was one in the days of Joseph,
The tabernacle and wilderness times.
Israel was happy to that extent for
The present of God hallowed the time.

There was no division. Twelve tribes
Made up the kingdom united under
One Shepherd, and the Vine spread
From the Great Sea to the Euphrates.

But friction divided them into two
Groups, the Northern and Southern
Kingdoms. Sin divided them, and nations
Contributed to an unhappy sojourn.

A three fold problem: God was angry,
The nation was weeping, and the foes
Were mocking. “Bring us back again
…. shine upon us.” They prayed indeed.

They requested God to look upon them.
     “Restore us, O Lord God Almighty;
            Make your face shine upon us,
             That we may be saved.”

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