Psalm 80
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph.
This is the ninth of twelve Psalms bear the name of Asaph

1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leads Joseph like a flock; thou that dwells between the cherubims, shine forth.

2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.

3 Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

4 O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

5 Thou feeds them with the bread of tears; and gives them tears to drink in great measure.

6 Thou makes us a strife unto our neighbors: and our enemies laugh among themselves.

7 Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.

9 Thou prepares room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.

11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.

12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;

15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou made strong for thyself.

16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou made strong for thyself.

18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.

19 Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. (KJV)

This psalm written by Asaph is a prayer to the Shepherd of Israel. It is a prayer to come and save us. It is also a prayer to restore them so that His former glory is upon them. Yet at this time God is making them struggle in everything that they attempt to pursue. As I read this psalm, I realize a simple truth that we sometimes seem to forget in our pursue of growing closer to God. That truth is our incomplete nature without God, the void that we feel when we are not in God’s presence. In verses four through thirteen Asaph writes how God anger smolders against them, how God has provided them with things of sorrow, and made them a source of contention to their neighbors. If my friends or even my family turns and treats me like this then I would probably discontinue my relationship and live life without them. However, in my pursuing a relationship with God the truth is that these events should bring me closer to Him. The impulse to pursue God must come from a desire to fulfill that missing relationship I have in my life for God. Therefore, the impulse not to purse God must come from a desire to fulfill this missing relationship with the things of this world.

As I look at verse seventeen, I am reminded that the phase Son of Man was a title that the Lord used refer to himself. This title is used 80 times in the New Testament by the Lord. When we consider the phase “son of man” we must also consider these verses found in Daniel 7:13,14: “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”. This son of man is also my savior and the savior to all who believe. The riches of our relationship to our savior can never been measured to the fullest upon the day we shall see him face to face.