Verse 2 of Psalm 80 shows us that this song of testimony belongs to the time following the end of the northern kingdom, and the Asaph mentioned here is not the Asaph whom David appointed to serve in the temple, but a later Asaph who may also have written Psalms 74 and 79. Those two psalms are about the the destruction of the temple and of the city of Jerusalem. All three psalms are lamentations for the desolation brought on God’s people by the righteous judgments of God.
The psalm is entirely given to prayer, and its primary purpose is to plead with God for the restoration of his people to their former prosperity and glory. It has four stanzas, each of which ends with a strong petition for return (3, 7, 14, 19). The NKJV does not bring this out, but the ASV uses the translation “turn again” for the first petition of each. That is correct; the Hebrew has the same verb each time.
These closing petitions almost become a chorus. In stanzas 1, 2 and 4, the words are almost exactly the same. The only difference is the name by which Asaph addresses God: first “God,” then “God of hosts,” and finally “LORD [Yahweh] God of hosts.” Each name brings to mind a new thought about God. First, he is simply God, the one who made and governs all, the supreme power in heaven and on earth. Then he is God of hosts, the God who has armies at his command and can use them as he wills. Finally, he is LORD God of hosts, the God who has made covenant with his people, who does not change, and who will surely use his hosts to save.
The closing petition of stanza 3 is different. Though Asaph uses the same name as in stanza 3, the petition changes. Instead of asking that God cause his people to turn again, it asks that God himself turn again. He has abandoned his people, but Asaph hopes that it will not be for good.
The primary metaphor of the psalm is that of Israel as God’s vine, a common enough figure for God’s people in the Old Testament. This figure appears in stanzas 3 and 4. Stanza 3 begins with a description of the tender care God had bestowed on his vine. He had taken it from Egypt, cleared away the nations from the land of Canaan, and planted his vine there. It had taken root and grown to fill the land and, in fact, to spread its shade over the nations around. Its growth had reached the sea (probably the Mediterranean in the west), the river (probably the river Euphrates in the east), the cedars (probably the cedars of Lebanon in the north), and the hills (perhaps a reference to the hill country of Judah in the south). It had been a mighty vine.
But now the vine is destroyed. God has broken down its protective hedge, and wild beasts from the field and forest (they represent hostile nations), uproot and devour it. The vineyard is burned, cut down and perishing. Thus, the prayer for restoration.
But note too, the prophetic Christological prayer of verse 17. Though the first reference may be to the successor of the house of David (Zerubbabel?), the man of God’s right hand, the Son of Man whom God strengthen for himself, is our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who can and will restore the vine to its former glory, not by again building a hedge around the Jewish nation but by grafting the nations into the vine of Israel (see Romans 11 and Ephesians 2).
In the New Testament, therefore, this prayer becomes a prayer for the church of God in the world, and for the return of our Lord Jesus in glory to perfect the work that God has been doing throughout the ages of the world. It is a prayer very necessary in our own time, when so much of the church has become unfaithful and lives to be like the world, rather than calling the world to live like Christ and in obedience to him. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel… Stir up Your strength, And come and save us! Restore us, O God; Cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved!