PSALM 80

Cause Your face to shine upon us

PLEA FOR GOD’S BLESSING OF RESTORATION/REPENTANCE (vv.1-3)

1 Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel,	You who lead Joseph like a flock;	You who are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth!
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin (Binyamiyn) and Manasseh, stir up Your power		And come to save us!
3 O God, restore us		And cause Your face to shine upon us,[1] and we will be saved. [2]

FEASTING ON BREAD AND TEARS (vv.4-7)

4 O Yahweh God of hosts,		How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your people?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears,		And You have made them to drink tears in large measure. [3]
6 You make us an object of contention to our neighbors,		And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 O God of hosts, restore us		And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.

FROM EXODUS TO SOLOMON (vv.8-11)

8 You removed a vine from Egypt;		You drove out the nations and planted (Ex.15:17) it.
9 You cleared the ground before it,		And it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shadow,		And the cedars of God with its boughs.
11 It was sending out its branches to the sea		And its shoots to the River. (Psalm 72:8)

PLEA FOR GOD’S RESTORATION/REPENTANCE (vv.12-16)

12 Why have You broken down its hedges,		So that all who pass that way pick its fruit?
13 A boar from the forest eats it away		And whatever moves in the field feeds on it.
14 O God of hosts, turn again/restore[4] now, we beseech You;		Look down from heaven and see, and take care of this vine,
15 Even the shoot which Your right hand (yāmı̂n) has planted, [5]		And on the son (bēn) whom You have strengthened for Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down;		They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance/face.

RESTORATION & BLESSING THROUGH THE MAN OF GOD’S RIGHT HAND (vv.17-19)

17 Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand (yāmı̂n),[6]		Upon the son (bēn) of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we shall not turn back (sûg)[7] from You;		Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 O Yahweh God of hosts, restore us;		Cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved. [8]

[1] Make/cause Your face to shine occurs five times in the Psalms (Psalm 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 119:135; cf. Psalm 45:12). After Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit they hid themselves from the face of Yahweh God (Gen.3:8). Jacob wrestled with God, was blessed by God and he could say “I have seen God face to face” (Genesis 32:28-30).

[2] Repetition of refrains in Psalms are found in: 42:5,11; 43:5; 46:7,11; 49:12, 49:20; 56:4,11; 57:5,11; 59:6,14; 59:9,17; 67:3,5; 80:3,7,19; 99:5,9; 107:8,15,21,31; 107:6,13,19,28 (see also Psalm 8:1,9). It is also found in Israel’s “first Psalm” (Exodus 15:1,21). The repetition in Psalm 80 is like a ladder: “O God…O God of hosts…O Yahweh God of hosts”.

[3] Michael Card helpfully reminds us that human tears are older than the rain (cf. Genesis 2:5).

In Eden the darkening garden was still
Unwet by all the tears from the sky
The burden of that disobedient bite
Brought all the tears the fall world
Would cry

The unwelcomed tears that
They never had known
Coursed down their fallen faces
In surprise
All they ever had seen
Was the light of His face
But now that sin entered in
Their tears would fall like rain

Falling tears from fallen eyes
Our faces with an unaccustomed stain
We were driven from the garden
Beneath a cloudless sky
For human tears are older than the rain

And so we all were driven
From His presence and His peace
To stumble all along
This long lamenting race
From the deepest darkest shadows
He joins us on our way
And we recognize our fallen tears
Upon that human face

(“Older Than the Rain” from the album The Hidden Face of God)

[4] Biblical Hebrew has only about 5,000 words while English has about 1,500,000. It is common, but regrettable, for translations use synonyms when the Hebrew language is repetitive. The Hebrew word “restore” (šûb) is used 4x in Psalm 80. But you wouldn’t know that from the translation. The NASB95 translates šûb as “restore” 3x and 1x as “turn again.” A classic example of translator’s overuse of synonyms is the Hebrew noun for “word” (dâbhâr). It occurs some 1,400 times in the OT and in the KJV is translated by about 85 different English words!

[5] Israel as Yahweh’s plant echoes the song of Moses (Israel’s first Psalm): “You planted them” (vv.8,15 with Exodus 15:17); so does mention of Yahweh’s “right hand” (vv.15,17 with Exodus 15:6,12).

[6] The man of God’s right hand is the Messiah (Psalm 20:6; 110:1).

[7] Even though “turn back” (sûg) is a different Hebrew word from “turn again/restore” (šûb) it is similar in sound and meaning.

[8] To hear Psalm 80 sung listen to Sons of Korah.