Psalm 80 is a psalm of three movements or stanzas of unequal length. The first stanza (vv. 1–3) is introductory and calls on God to hear, stir up his strength and come to save Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. The second stanza (vv. 4–7) asks God how long he will be angry with his people. The third stanza (vv. 8–19, the longest) first describes Israel’s inheritance of the land of promise (vv. 8–11). Then in verses 12–19 it mixes description of the destruction of the land by Israel’s enemies (vv. 12–13, 16) with renewed prayer for restoration (vv. 14–15, 17–19).
Though some commentators argue that this is a prayer for the whole nation of Israel in some time of great distress and defeat at the hands of enemies, it seems to me more likely, given the names of the tribes in verse 2 (Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh) that it is a prayer for the restoration of the northern kingdom after Assyria had taken the ten tribes into captivity.
Each of the stanzas ends with the chorus: Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved. But the names of God change in it. In the first recitation of the chorus the name “God” appears, in the second “God of hosts,” and in the third “Yahweh God of hosts.” The prayer for restoration is the central idea of the psalm, and the changing names of God intensify this petition and demonstrate an increasing confidence that God will indeed hear. He is simply God, the only God, the creator of heaven and earth in the first. There is in that name no hint of an answer to the question, “Will he hear?” In the second he is God of hosts. He has at least the power to save, for all the hosts of heaven and earth are at his command. In the final petition he is Yahweh God of hosts, the eternal and unchangeable God of the covenant. Surely he will not forget his promises even though Israel has been wayward.
The third stanza develops in detail the metaphor of Israel as a vine of God. It reminds us of the song of the vineyard in Isaiah 5. God brought the vine out of Egypt, made room for it by casting out the nations in the land of Canaan and planted it in their place. The vine took deep root and filled the land by sending out branches all the way to the Mediterranean Sea and the River Euphrates (vv. 8–11). But then God broke down the hedges surrounding his vine so that passersby raided its fruit, boars uprooted it and wild beasts devoured it (vv. 12–13). It was burned with fire and cut down. They perished at his rebuke (v.16).
Why? That is the question of verse 12. The psalm gives no direct answer, but there are three clear indications. The first is the acknowledgement of God’s anger in verse 4. The second is that oft-repeated word “restore.” It can mean turn back, restore, or convert from sin. Though the other connotations are not absent, conversion is certainly the main idea. The third indication is the word “rebuke” in verse 16. He rebuked his vine and it was only then that its enemies were able to invade successfully. Of course, the history of Israel that gave impetus to the writer is the background against which the psalm must be interpreted, and that history is a history of sin and judgment.
Notice that all the events referred to in the psalm are the work of God. He gave the vine its prosperity, because he brought it from Egypt and planted it in the land. He caused its destruction, for he broke down its hedges. He alone can restore it: Restore us…, Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved. The blessing, judgment and salvation of the vine belong to him alone.
But he has also put its salvation into the hands of a man. Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself (v. 17). The man of God’s right hand and the son of man whom he makes strong is our Lord Jesus Christ, now exalted to the right hand of his Father and holding all authority and power in heaven and on earth.
When the church is in trouble, when she has forsaken her God, when the nations attack and oppress her, when she is under judgment for her sins, always her only help is in Yahweh God of Hosts and her savior king. Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; Cause your face to shine, And we shall be saved!