Psalms 80:16

“It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.”

 After the recollection of the days of old, of the wondrous works God did to establish the nation, now the Psalmist brings us back to the current state: the nation, the vine, is burnt with fire and cut off. It’s perishing.

In the series on Psalms 80, we’ve previously noted that there is no direct mention of the people’s sin which caused the calamity and God to ‘depart’ as it were, however it is once again strongly implied when it says, “They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.”
God was chiding His people. This now brings a contrast to the repeated prayer in this Psalm of ‘Cause Thy face to shine’. The request is not simply that God would turn His face upon His people once again, but that it would be in mercy and love to save. The word for rebuke means to chide. In simple language: disapprove. Something had happened in their relationship and now God disapproved of His people. The end consequence was that they were perishing.

It’s important that we understand God is fine without us; we will perish without God. That’s why we ought to pray, ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ And that’s how we ought to live.

Despite all the wondrous works of the past, when the people of God backslid and displeased Him, there was no bargaining chip that they held over God. We need Him. He doesn’t need us. The perspective is important because it leads to the right mindset of humility instead of pride.

May we never forget that God is the most important part of our life. Without Him, there is no hope.