Psalm 80
This is another Psalm written by Asaph that can be described as a prayer to God to help those who felt oppressed or that God has turned his back on them.
If you think about it, verses 1-7 are probably what many of us ask or think about in our prayers quite often. This small, simple prayer might sum it up a bit:
‘Father, please help me. Shine Your light on me and keep me safe through the trials that I am going through. I know there are things that I do that don’t always make You happy, but please don’t ignore me and leave me all alone. Life can be so difficult. Help me to not embarrass myself by my actions in front of my loved ones so that those with ill intentions can use it against me. Please restore me and bring me closer to You.’
The rest of the Psalm is Asaph describing how previously God cleared the promise land, drove out the evil nations, and planted a vine. This vine did very well while it was in the protection of God. But then to the fault of its own, the vine became no longer healthy. The wall that was there before had been torn down. Anyone or thing that wanted to do harm to this vine was allowed to do so.
This vine was a depiction of Israel. God cleared the way for Israel to be safe, to thrive and to be protected. Once the people of Israel rebelled, God took the walls down. He let all nations that wanted to oppress Israel go ahead and crush them.
Asaph’s prayer was simple. ‘God, please come back. You’ve seen what has happened. Your people are devastated as if a fire has burnt everything to the ground. Please restore the vine and make it strong once more. If you do this, we promise we won’t turn away from you again.’
Now how many times have we prayed in similar ways like this? “God, if you do this, then I promise to do that.” We know that our intentions are good and just, He knows our intentions are good and just, but how often do we actually hold up our end of the bargain? I certainly can’t tell you the exact date this Psalm was written by Asaph but Google says it was at least 586 B.C to 722 B.C. And yet, here in 2025, some of us make promises to God just like they did back then.
Don’t get me wrong, as I said earlier, our intentions are good! We just need to do a better job of not forgetting who cleared the way for us. Who planted the vine for us. And who keeps the walls up and protects us. At those times when our walls start to break and the outside world starts to bust through, it is only our Creator that can truly help restore us, save us and make us shine again!