Psalm 80

1. The poet of this great psalm is begging God to act for His people and to restore His blessings which only come through the covenant. It is quite possible that this psalm was written from the city of Jerusalem after the 10 northern tribes had been taken into captivity. If that is the case, the psalmist is pleading in behalf of two groups of people: one that has already been taken away, and another that is in great danger of the same.

2. The psalmist brings up the covenant idea in a subtle way in verse 1. He addresses God as “You Who are enthroned above the cherubim.” God’s presence was known to the people as being above the 2 cherubim that were engraved on top of the Ark of the Covenant. The verse asks God to “give ear” and to “shine forth,” both due to the relationship the people had (have at the time of the writing??) with God.

3. Verse 3 admits wrongdoing by the people, but begs for the forgiveness of God. As he has done several times, Asaph asks God to “save” His people; admitting that only God can do such a thing.

4. In this difficult time, the poet wonders if God is even hearing the prayer of His people (verse 4). The wording is curious, though. Is Asaph saying that God is angry because the people are praying, or because of what they are praying? I do not know, but God has shown His anger and Asaph wonders if prayer is doing any good now that the relationship has been hurt.

5. Verses 5-7 suggests that Asaph’s people are now the laughing-stock of all the nations. People know that this is supposed to be God’s nation, and now they have been overrun. Again in verse 7, Asaph asks God to save, so this embarrassment with end.

6. Verses 8-11 rehearse, in greatly poetic fashion, the taking of the Promised Land. This “vine from Egypt” (the nation of Israel) was able to take over the land and greatly prosper only because God continually blessed her.

7. So, Asaph wonders, why has now the tide completely turned (verses 12-13)? Even animals are able to take advantage of the people (although these animals are probably representative of enemy nations).

8. In the final section (verses 14-19), Asaph bursts forth, begging God to take care of His people. In many ways, these verses simply reiterate what has already been said in the first 13 verses, but in a more dramatic way. It is almost as if Asaph has tried to write a longer, more fact-filled poem, but he simply cannot. The final two verses sound much like what the prophets tried to get the nation to do: turn to God and praise Him.