Psalms

Psalms 80: Only God can restore His people

Begin in prayer

Before we hear the flock's repeated cry, let us consider our need for God to turn our hearts toward Him. Pray that God would turn our hearts to Christ and give us life that calls faithfully on His name.

I will be like the dew to Israel. He will blossom like the lily, and send down his roots like Lebanon.

Hosea 14:5

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word, and help us to see Christ. Show us that God must restore His people and give them renewed life to call on His name. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

Asaph calls upon Israel's Shepherd to shine out and stir His might to save the people He leads. Three times the song asks God to turn them again and cause His face to shine for their salvation. His anger has given them tears as their food and drink, while their enemies laugh at their distress. The nation is pictured as a vine God brought out of Egypt, planted and made to spread across the land. Now He has broken its protective walls, leaving it ravaged, burned and cut down. The prayer asks Him to visit His planting and uphold the man He made strong. Renewed life will enable His people to call on His name.

As you read Psalms 80, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

Only God can turn His people back and shine His favour on them, giving them new life.

Calling God the Shepherd of Israel appeals to the care by which He has led Joseph and the tribes as His own flock. His throne above the cherubim recalls the ark, where He made His presence known and met with His people. Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh had marched together in the wilderness, giving their prayer for His saving might the memory of earlier guidance. The repeated request for His shining face asks for favour, reaching from God to God of Armies and finally the LORD God of Armies. Their tears and neighbours' laughter are traced to His anger, so the needed rescue must come from the same God who has disciplined them. The vine is Israel, taken from Egypt and planted by God's power after He drove out the nations and cleared its ground. Its great spreading branches picture the prosperity He gave, while the broken walls expose the protection He has now withdrawn. The wild creatures ravaging the vine picture hostile destruction, and its burning and cutting answer to God's own rebuke. His hand must uphold the man He has made strong, and His reviving grace must sustain the people in their promised faithfulness.

How does Psalm 80 show us that only God can turn His people back and shine His favour on them, giving them new life?

God's people need their Shepherd to turn them back.

The flock asks God to shine out and come to save them. Even their tears are traced to His angry discipline. His favour must turn toward them, and their hearts need the restoring work they ask Him to give.

God's planting can flourish only beneath His faithful care.

God took the vine from Egypt and made room for it to fill the land. When He broke its walls, hostile creatures ravaged it. The people ask Him to visit the planting that only His care can restore.

God gives the renewed life by which His people call on Him.

The prayer seeks His strong hand upon the man He has upheld for Himself. The people ask for revival so they will call on His name. Their faithfulness depends on God's sustaining gift, which gives the repeated cry its urgency.

Memorise

Turn us again, Yahweh God of Armies. Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved.

Psalm 80:19

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, what part of my heart do I need Jesus to turn back to God?

The flock prays, “Revive us, and we will call on your name.” Their broken vine cannot restore its own protection or life. They need the God who planted them to turn them back and shine His favour upon them.

Our sinful hearts likewise cannot earn the holy God's welcome. Jesus died for His people as their substitute, receiving the punishment that their rebellion deserved. God raised Him from the dead. His finished work forgives His people and turns them back to God, with nothing more for them to pay.

Turn from your self reliance and ask Jesus for mercy. He forgives all who come to Him in faith. Bring Him the heart that has wandered, asking for the renewed life that calls on His name. Those who belong to Him depend on His grace to keep them faithful and may seek His restoring care through every season of discipline.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God must restore His people and give them renewed life to call on His name. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that His restoring grace gives His people the life and faithfulness they need. Bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

He said, “For this cause I have said to you that no one can come to me, unless it is given to him by my Father.”

John 6:65

Shepherd of Israel, please turn our hearts from sin and bring us to trust Jesus for mercy. Thank You for the saving work He has completed. Restore Your people when they wander and give them renewed life to call on Your name. Shine Your favour upon Your suffering flock and sustain the faithfulness that depends on Your grace. Amen.