Psalm 80

Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph’s descendants like a flock. O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display your radiant glory to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Show us your mighty power. Come to rescue us! Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, how long will you be angry with our prayers? You have fed us with sorrow and made us drink tears by the bucketful. You have made us the scorn of neighboring nations. Our enemies treat us as a joke. Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine; you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land. You cleared the ground for us, and we took root and filled the land. Our shade covered the mountains; our branches covered the mighty cedars. We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea; our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River. But now, why have you broken down our walls so that all who pass by may steal our fruit? The wild boar from the forest devours it, and the wild animals feed on it. Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven’s Armies. Look down from heaven and see our plight. Take care of this grapevine that you yourself have planted, this son you have raised for yourself. For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies. May they perish at the sight of your frown. Strengthen the man you love, the son of your choice. Then we will never abandon you again. Revive us so we can call on your name once more. Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭80‬:‭1‬-‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

 


We need God’s help in every area of our lives. This psalm was written in
response to experiencing sorrow, scorn, and destruction (vv.5-6, 16), possibly after the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians in 722BC (v.2; cf. 2 Kings 17). Three times the psalm cries out “turn us again to yourself, O God” (vv.3, 7, 19). We even need the Lord’s help to repent and desire to come back home to the Father’s love.

We are saved by God’s grace. Jesus died and rose to save us from sin—not just the punishment for sin. This means transformation so that we no longer desire to sin. This heart transformation takes time, and we cannot do it without God Himself living in us. Grace is not only the forgiveness for the punishment but the presence of God’s Spirit within us changing our desires. The Lord is not a coach on the sidelines, giving us advice on what we could do on our own. If we accept Him in, the Holy Spirit lives in us and transforms our desires—this is grace and what it truly means to be saved from sin. We need God’s help every minute, in every area of our lives.

Why is it important to be saved from the desire for sin, not just the punishment? What desires is the Lord working in you to change?