Psalms 80:14

“Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;”

The recurring theme of the prayer of Psalms 80 is once again at the front as the Psalmist asks again, “Return!”

As we have previously noted, while one could perhaps see the questioning of why God allowed such tragedy to befall the nation as described to be impudent, it is clear when in context that is not at all the attitude with which this prayer is made.

The entire prayer is made in the attitude of imploring and begging. It’s very well summed up in the word ‘beseech’ It’s a word that means ‘implore, earnestly request, to beg for’.

It brings to mind the story of the Good Shepherd, where He goes to find the lost sheep. No matter how hard the sheep tries, it can’t find its way back, so stuck and lost it waits bleating for help until the Good Shepherd finds it. So too here, find we God’s people having lost their way are left with no option but to call out for their God to ‘find them’ or all is lost.

Salvation is of the God of armies. If we look to any other place we will end up in ruin.

“look down from heaven“

In Ecclesiastes 5:2 it says, “for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few.” It is of note that Psalms 80 does not have many words. It’s a constant repetition for God to come save them. Very well could they question further why would God allow such horrors to overtake them? Why does a good God allow such evil and suffering? We could spend hours discussing, arguing, explaining all that, or we could cut out some of the pain if we were to heed the Word of God and understand, we are on earth and God is in heaven What qualifies us to be judges?

It is in this phrase that we see the position once again that God is given. He is in heaven, looking down. Earth is below Heaven. Earth should be subject to the will of Heaven. It’s a privilege for Heaven to look down on Earth, not a right. We live in a right-centered society, where we all have ‘rights’. God HAS to save us. God HAS to accept us. It reeks of pride and it’s back-to-front. What matters is not that you make a sacrifice, it’s that God accepts the sacrifice. Earth does not look down on Heaven. Heaven looks down on Earth so then should we on Earth look up and let our words be few.

“and behold, and visit this vine;“

In the word ‘behold’ we have yet another rendition of ‘Cause Thy face to shine!’. It’s from God’s perspective. He sees. We see this imagery play out time and again. I’ll give two examples:

1. Zechariah 9:8  And I will encamp about mine house because of the army, because of him that passeth by, and because of him that returneth: and no oppressor shall pass through them any more: for now have I seen with mine eyes.
   Here we find the Lord speaking of the coming of Christ that He would step in to save His house and there would be no more oppression because His eyes would be watching.
2. Isaiah 59:16  And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
   The Lord acted to save His people once He saw.

When God is beholding, there is safety.

The ending of the verse I believe begins to direct our vision to the coming Messiah.

Visit this vine, implores the Psalmist. In Matthew 21:33-40, Jesus tells the parable of the vineyard, in which the Son is sent to visit the vineyard. That is an answer to this prayer. As the people of God suffered under foreign oppression and internal corruption and false teachers, the LORD himself would come to visit the vine. It brought judgement and salvation. Judgement to those who had corrupted their way, salvation to those who prayed as did the Psalmist in Psalms 80 for God to intervene.

The parable of Matthew is not over yet, for there is another visitation on the way. May we make sure we keep our candles burning and be faithful in service when He comes again.