#811 Face Shine

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock.

You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth.

2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh,

stir up your might

and come to save us!

3 Restore us, O God;

let your face shine, that we may be saved!

4 O Lord God of hosts,

how long will you be angry with your people's prayers?

5 You have fed them with the bread of tears

and given them tears to drink in full measure.

6 You make us an object of contention for our neighbors,

and our enemies laugh among themselves.

7 Restore us, O God of hosts;

let your face shine, that we may be saved!

8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;

you drove out the nations and planted it.

9 You cleared the ground for it;

it took deep root and filled the land.

10 The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches.

11 It sent out its branches to the sea

and its shoots to the River.

12 Why then have you broken down its walls,

so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?

13 The boar from the forest ravages it,

and all that move in the field feed on it.

14 Turn again, O God of hosts!

Look down from heaven, and see;

have regard for this vine,

15 the stock that your right hand planted,

and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.

16 They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down;

may they perish at the rebuke of your face!

17 But let your hand be on the man of your right hand,

the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself!

18 Then we shall not turn back from you;

give us life, and we will call upon your name!

19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts!

Let your face shine, that we may be saved! Psalm 80 ESV

A Psalm set to "the Lilies", a testimony of Asaph.

- “A later Asaph we should suppose, who had the unhappiness to live, like the ‘last minstrel,’ in evil times. If by the Asaph of David’s day, this Psalm was written in the spirit of prophecy, for it sings of times unknown to David.” (Spurgeon)

Restore us, O God - Turn us, lead us, take us not in the direction of temptation, but deliver us. God's countenance brings light, but we must be restored, or turned toward it. No one walks in the direction of God naturally, for all fall short of His glory, but in the light of His grace we are saved by His mercy. We have to stop putting up the word revival on the signs of our churches, and instead, like Asaph, we must appeal to God.

iii. Cause Your face to shine: “There must be their turning back, their restoration to God; and that must be by the act of God. Then there must be the lighting up of the face of God. That is, there must be given to them the clear showing of His reconciled favour.” (Morgan)

Angry with Your people's prayers - This is a strange arrangement of the words, for Asaph is still praying all the more. Since I am uncertain of what angered God about their prayers and or if was the appearance of it to them, then I shall look at examples of unacceptable prayer and words before God.

…7 You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you: 8‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain; they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’”… Matthew 15: 7-9

…2 You crave what you do not have; you kill and covet, but are unable to obtain it. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask. 3 And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures. 4 You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God.… James 4: 2-4

…22 But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.” 1 Samuel 15: 22-23

…15 And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail. 17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.… James 5: 15-17

A vine out of Egypt - Israel was brought out of captivity and transplanted in a place that was promised to Abraham. The picture of Israel as the vine carries throughout Scripture. She was removed from slavery to the world's system in Egypt, and God cleared the worldly from Canaan to make a place for her to take root. These are a foreshadowing of the true vine.

…20“For long ago you broke your yoke and tore off your chains, saying, ‘I will not serve!’ Indeed, on every high hill and under every green tree you lay down as a prostitute. 21 I had planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How could you turn yourself before me, into a rotten wild vine? 22 Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me,” declares the Lord GOD.… Jeremiah 2: 20-22

1 I am the TRUE vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. 2 He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful.… John 15: 1-2

…4 Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me. 5 I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.… John 15: 4-6

The boar from the forest ravages it - Boars will not only take the grapes, but will damage the vine and tear at roots. Rooting groups of wild hogs can do a great deal of damage in very little time. The hedge of God's protection is no longer here. If we look back at Sodom, cry for the tastes of Egypt, wish for the pleasures of sin, then we beg for it's tyranny as well, for they are inseparable twins. The northern kingdom fell to the Assyrian captivity, and then Judah was taken captive to Babylon. Asaph must wonder, was it all for not that Abraham was called from the East, that Moses led Jacob out of Israel? 

iii. Visit this vine… and the branch that You have made strong: “A prayer for the leader whom the Lord had raised up, or for the Messiah whom they expected. Though the vine had been left, yet one branch had been regarded of the Lord, as if to furnish a scion for another vine; therefore, is the prayer made in this form.” (Spurgeon)

The stock that Your right hand planted -

i. “Nations rise or fall largely through the instrumentality of individuals: by a Napoleon the kingdoms are scourged, and by a Wellington nations are saved from the tyrant. It is by the man Christ Jesus that fallen Israel is yet to rise, and indeed through him, who deigns to call himself the Son of Man, the world is to be delivered from the dominion of Satan and the curse of sin.” (Spurgeon)

19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked through them, confirming His word by the signs that accompanied it.… Mark 16: 19-20

1 A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” 2 The LORD will extend Your mighty scepter from Zion: “Rule in the midst of your enemies.”… Psalm 110: 1-2

…61 But Jesus remained silent and made no reply. Again the high priest questioned Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?” 62“I am,” said Jesus, “and you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” 63 At this, the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “Why do we need any more witnesses?… Mark 14: 61-63