From the Pastor
Psalm 80:14-19
O God of hosts,
turn again now, we beseech Thee;
Look down from
heaven and see, and take care of this vine,
Even the shoot
which Thy right hand has planted,
And on the son
whom Thou hast strengthened 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 didst make strong for Thyself.
Then we shall not
turn back from Thee;
Revive us, and we
will call upon Thy name.
O Lord God of hosts,
restore us;
Cause Thy face to
shine upon us, and we will be saved.
I have mentioned before the desire of God’s people, and the great blessing that is,
to have God’s face shine upon us. This is seen in the priestly blessing given
to the people of God in Numbers 6:22-27, which I read over our congregation after each members
meeting on the second Sunday evening of the month. The people of God understand
that to have God’s face shining upon them is to be living faithfully in His
sight, and yet much of life’s hardships can lead us to believe that we are outside
of His watch and care because of the difficulties that we so often encounter in
this fallen world. This is why the words of the Psalmist are so comforting and
important for us to read, understand, and follow.
This section of
the Psalm reads like a prayer. It begins with a recognition of who God is, and petitions
the Lord to turn, look down from heaven, and see over His people. It furthers
the imagery by comparing the people of God to a vine that He has planted, and also
interestingly on the Son who assists the father in cultivating and
strengthening the vine. This idea must certainly have been in the mind of
Christ when he used similar imagery in John 15 where he tells his disciples, “I
am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” Of course, looking back at
the Psalm the writer mentions the vine being burned, cut down, and even perishing
at the rebuke of the one planted it, and this certainly did occur to non-believing
and unfaithful Israel, but it is also similar to the language once again used
by Christ in John 15 when he warns that any branch not truly abiding in Him,
the true vine, would be gathered and burned. In other words the Bible makes
clear that all who are not in the vine and under the care of the vinedresser
will be rejected for their unbelief and ultimately cast out.
The Psalmist then
asks again for the hand of the Lord to be upon his people, perhaps even
prophesying of the necessity of God’s people to look to the Son of Man for
their strength and power, because that is whom the Lord God has given all
authority and power to. For God’s people to have certainty that God’s gaze,
favor, and hand are upon them; they must be in Christ Jesus. If they are in
Christ, God will never turn his back on them. He will revive them in moments of
distress and pain. He will restore them after season of hardships. There is undoubtedly
assurance of salvation when our faith is completely abiding in the person and
work of Christ as our strength and protector. In Christ we can be certain that
God’s face is always upon us.
