To the Chief Musician. Set to “The Lilies.”[fn] A Testimony[fn] of Asaph. A Psalm.
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!
Psa 80:2
Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
Stir up Your strength,
And come and save us!
Psa 80:3
Restore us, O God;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
Psa 80:4
O LORD God of hosts,
How long will You be angry
Against the prayer of Your people?
Psa 80:5
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in great measure.
Psa 80:6
You have made us a strife to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
Psa 80:7
Restore us, O God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
Psa 80:8
You have brought a vine out of Egypt;
You have cast out the nations, and planted it.
Psa 80:9
You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
Psa 80:10
The hills were covered with its shadow,
And the mighty cedars with its boughs.
Psa 80:11
She sent out her boughs to the Sea,[fn]
And her branches to the River.[fn]
Psa 80:12
Why have You broken down her hedges,
So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
Psa 80:13
The boar out of the woods uproots it,
And the wild beast of the field devours it.
Psa 80:14
Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
Psa 80:15
And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong for Yourself.
Psa 80:16
It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
Psa 80:17
Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
Psa 80:18
Then we will not turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
Psa 80:19
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!
Psa 80:2
Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
Stir up Your strength,
And come and save us!
Psa 80:3
Restore us, O God;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
Psa 80:4
O LORD God of hosts,
How long will You be angry
Against the prayer of Your people?
Psa 80:5
You have fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in great measure.
Psa 80:6
You have made us a strife to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
Psa 80:7
Restore us, O God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
Psa 80:8
You have brought a vine out of Egypt;
You have cast out the nations, and planted it.
Psa 80:9
You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
Psa 80:10
The hills were covered with its shadow,
And the mighty cedars with its boughs.
Psa 80:11
She sent out her boughs to the Sea,[fn]
And her branches to the River.[fn]
Psa 80:12
Why have You broken down her hedges,
So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
Psa 80:13
The boar out of the woods uproots it,
And the wild beast of the field devours it.
Psa 80:14
Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
Psa 80:15
And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong for Yourself.
Psa 80:16
It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
Psa 80:17
Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
Psa 80:18
Then we will not turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
Psa 80:19
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
Your Thoughts
My Thoughs
First of all, this Psalm is a song set to the music of the "Lilies". We've had this before in the Psalms and it just sparks my curiosity to wonder what that must of sounded like.
Secodly, I also love the term lilies because it reminds me of our "Lily of the Valley" Jesus Christ. Let's see just look inside this Psalm and see what sweet blessings we can find.
Verse 1
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!
This is song that is a call for God to hear.
Do you know God hears you? Do you know He is more accessable to you today then the Asaph who wrote this Psalm 1,000's of years ago? It's true
Here the Psalmist talks about how God dwells between the Cherubim. This is refernce to the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testment where the Cherubim stretched with wings over the Mercy Seat and Ark of God. Did you know the High Priest could only enter that area called the HOLY of HOLIES only once a year? That's is just once. But did you know when Jesus came He opened full access to God just to call on Him through prayer?
Hebrews 4:15-16 states
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
God doesn't dwell like that any more. He is High and lifted up and comes to reside in the hearts of us who open them up to receive Him in.
Oh let us be thankful that our prayers ascend right to the throne of God without hindrance without dely.
Verses 3,7,19
Restore us, O God;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
One thing that I look for when studying scripture is repetition. Repeptition is definately a call to impact the reader. A lot of worship songs use repetition in their lyrics to help get the words to "stick" in the mind and heart. No different here: verse 3, 8, 19 are repeated. So in keeping with with song writing this was their chorus for this song.
Verse 4-7
This Psalm talks about the suffering the Israelites were going through as a Nation. You can see in their history periods of great prosperity and great suffering. Why? because certain generation worshipped Him and others did not. Certain generation followed after Him; certain did not.
We have a choice as a Nation to follow God's ways or not, too.
May this year as a new President comes on the scene may we pray for our President to hear God's voice and follow His leading.
Chorus
Verses 8-18
It's amazing of all the work the Lord did for the Israelites, they that continued to fall prey to the enemies around them. Here the Psalmist speak of them as a vine that had been planted out of Egypt. I think this is in reference to Israel being lead by Moses and finally conquering the promise land through Joshua. God had His hand in building such a wonderful Nation. Yet again, God alows free will to prevail and the generations after choose to not to follow His laws. Over and over again has been the cycle of the Israelites.
Let's pray that this year that God would save Israel and that He would turn their hearts to Him once again.
Verse 17
Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
Christ arises to the scene. He is mighty to save.
I am so thankful that Christ is still here to save us. He is so wonderful so Amazing and is praying for you and I to stay faithful in this life. How's that for a blessing.
Times can get very hard yet He is always there for us.
He loves you so much you can count on Him to come through.
Blessings.
Secodly, I also love the term lilies because it reminds me of our "Lily of the Valley" Jesus Christ. Let's see just look inside this Psalm and see what sweet blessings we can find.
Verse 1
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
You who lead Joseph like a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!
This is song that is a call for God to hear.
Do you know God hears you? Do you know He is more accessable to you today then the Asaph who wrote this Psalm 1,000's of years ago? It's true
Here the Psalmist talks about how God dwells between the Cherubim. This is refernce to the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testment where the Cherubim stretched with wings over the Mercy Seat and Ark of God. Did you know the High Priest could only enter that area called the HOLY of HOLIES only once a year? That's is just once. But did you know when Jesus came He opened full access to God just to call on Him through prayer?
Hebrews 4:15-16 states
For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
God doesn't dwell like that any more. He is High and lifted up and comes to reside in the hearts of us who open them up to receive Him in.
Oh let us be thankful that our prayers ascend right to the throne of God without hindrance without dely.
Verses 3,7,19
Restore us, O God;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
One thing that I look for when studying scripture is repetition. Repeptition is definately a call to impact the reader. A lot of worship songs use repetition in their lyrics to help get the words to "stick" in the mind and heart. No different here: verse 3, 8, 19 are repeated. So in keeping with with song writing this was their chorus for this song.
Verse 4-7
This Psalm talks about the suffering the Israelites were going through as a Nation. You can see in their history periods of great prosperity and great suffering. Why? because certain generation worshipped Him and others did not. Certain generation followed after Him; certain did not.
We have a choice as a Nation to follow God's ways or not, too.
May this year as a new President comes on the scene may we pray for our President to hear God's voice and follow His leading.
Chorus
Verses 8-18
It's amazing of all the work the Lord did for the Israelites, they that continued to fall prey to the enemies around them. Here the Psalmist speak of them as a vine that had been planted out of Egypt. I think this is in reference to Israel being lead by Moses and finally conquering the promise land through Joshua. God had His hand in building such a wonderful Nation. Yet again, God alows free will to prevail and the generations after choose to not to follow His laws. Over and over again has been the cycle of the Israelites.
Let's pray that this year that God would save Israel and that He would turn their hearts to Him once again.
Verse 17
Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
Christ arises to the scene. He is mighty to save.
I am so thankful that Christ is still here to save us. He is so wonderful so Amazing and is praying for you and I to stay faithful in this life. How's that for a blessing.
Times can get very hard yet He is always there for us.
He loves you so much you can count on Him to come through.
Blessings.