Psalms 80:8 - Meaning and Application

The psalmist is pleading for the Israel of God, bringing their cause before the throne of grace and asking God for mercy and grace. He pictures the church as a vine (Psalm 80:8, Psalm 80:14) and as a vineyard (Psalm 80:15). Christ is the root of this vine (Romans 11:18), and believers are the branches (John 15:5). A vine is weak and needs support, and it can look plain or unattractive at first, yet it spreads, bears fruit, and its fruit is excellent. So the church is a choice and noble vine, and we should thank God that he planted such a vine in the wilderness of this world and has preserved it to this day.

Notice, first, how the vine of the Old Testament church was planted at the beginning. God brought it out of Egypt with his mighty hand, and he drove out the nations in Canaan to make room for it, seven nations for one. Some read Psalm 80:9 this way, “You cleared the way before it,” meaning God made room by removing what stood in the way. The nations were swept away like dirt with the broom of destruction. After making room and planting it, God caused it to take deep root by firmly establishing their government in both church and state, so solidly that their neighbors often tried, but could not pull it up.

Second, see how it spread and flourished. The land of Canaan was fully populated. At first, Israel was not numerous enough to fill it (Exodus 23:29), but in Solomon’s time Judah and Israel were as many as the sand on the sea, and the land was filled with them, yet it was still a fruitful land and not overcrowded (Psalm 80:10). The hills of Canaan were covered by its shadow, and its branches spread far. They were not weak like a vine’s branches, but strong like the branches of fine cedars. Israel had not only many people, but also mighty warriors.

They also extended their rule to nearby lands (Psalm 80:11). “It sent out its branches to the sea,” meaning the Great Sea to the west, “and its shoots to the river,” either the river of Egypt to the south, the river of Damascus to the north, or more likely the Euphrates to the east (Genesis 15:18). Nebuchadnezzar’s greatness is also pictured as a flourishing tree (Daniel 4:20-21). But here it is striking that the vine is praised for its shade, its boughs, and its branches, yet nothing is said about its fruit. That is because Israel was an empty vine (Hosea 10:1). God came looking for grapes, but found wild grapes instead (Isaiah 5:2). If a vine does not bear fruit, no tree is more useless or worthless (Ezekiel 15:2, Ezekiel 15:6).

Third, the psalmist laments how it was wasted and ruined. “Lord, you have done great things for this vine, so why should it all be undone again?” If it were a plant God had not planted, it would not be surprising to see it uprooted. But will God abandon what he himself brought into being? (Psalm 80:12). Why, then, have you broken down her hedges? There was good reason for this change in how God dealt with them. This noble vine had become the degenerate plant of a strange vine (Jeremiah 2:21), bringing shame on its great owner. So it is no wonder that he took away its hedge (Isaiah 5:5). Still, the psalmist uses God’s former favor as a reason to pray and as encouragement to trust that God would not completely cast them off.

Notice the hatred of the Gentile nations toward Israel. As soon as God broke down their hedges and left them exposed, enemy troops rushed in, waiting for a chance to destroy them. Those who passed by plucked at them, and the boar from the woods and the wild beast of the field were ready to tear it apart (Psalm 80:13). But notice also how limited those cruel enemies were. Until God broke down the hedge, they could not pull off even a leaf from this vine. The devil could not hurt Job as long as God kept a hedge around him (Job 1:10). So it is in the interest of any people to stay in God’s favor, and then they need not fear the wild beast of the field (Job 5:23). If we provoke God to withdraw, our protection is gone and we are ruined.

Israel’s sad condition is described in Psalm 80:16: it is burned with fire, cut down, and the people are treated like thorns and briers, near to being cursed and destined to be burned, no longer like vines that are guarded and cared for. They do not perish simply because the wild beast and the boar attack them, but because of the rebuke of God’s face. That is what they feared, and to that they traced all their troubles. Things go well or badly for us according to whether we are under God’s smile or his frown.

From this, the psalmist brings his requests to God. First, he asks God to help the vine (Psalm 80:14-15). He wants God to take notice of its condition and do what seems right to him: “Return, we beg you, O Lord of hosts, for you seem to have gone away from us. Look down from heaven, where you have withdrawn, from the place where you can see all the wrong done to us, from the place of power where you can send real help, from the place where your throne of judgment stands, to which we appeal, and where you have prepared a better country for true Israelites. From there, give a gracious look and a gracious visit to this vine. See our sorrowful condition with compassion, and we leave the exact form of your help to you.”

He asks God to look at the vineyard, or rather the root that his right hand has planted and should therefore protect, and at the branch that he made strong for himself, to show his praise (Isaiah 43:21). The point is that God formed it for himself and should therefore be trusted to care for it himself. God’s work is perfect. The Hebrew word here is sometimes read as “branch,” and sometimes as “son,” meaning the son whom God has made strong for himself in his counsel. That branch was to come from the line of Israel, the servant and branch spoken of in Zechariah 3:8. So until he came, Israel as a whole, and David’s house in particular, had to be preserved and kept alive. He is the true vine (John 15:1; Isaiah 11:1). “Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it” (Isaiah 65:8).

Second, the psalmist asks God to help the vine-dresser, the man of God’s right hand, that king from David’s line who was to lead them out and in (Psalm 80:17-18). “Let your hand be on him,” he says, meaning let God’s hand protect him, own him, strengthen him, and give him success. We see this kind of language in Ezra 7:28, “I was strengthened because the hand of the Lord my God was upon me.”

Their king is called the man of God’s right hand because he stood for the whole nation, which was dear to God, like Benjamin, “the son of my right hand.” He was the chief in their affairs and an instrument in God’s hand to do them much good. He defended them from their own folly and from their enemies, and he guided them in the right way. He was also an under-shepherd under the great Shepherd of Israel.

Rulers, who have real power, should remember that they are sons of Adam, that is, mere human beings. If they are strong, it is because God has made them strong, and he has made them strong for himself. They are his servants, meant to serve the interests of his kingdom among people. If they do this sincerely, his hand will be upon them. We should pray in faith that this may be so, and then add this promise: if God stays with our rulers, we will stay with him. We will never turn away from a cause that we see God supports and favors. If God leads, we will follow.

We should also pray, “Give us new life, put strength into us, revive our dying interests, revive our discouraged spirits, and then we will call on your name.” We will keep doing this in every situation, because we have found it is not wasted effort. We cannot call on God rightly unless he gives us life. He is the one who breathes life into our souls and gives energy to our prayers.

But many interpreters, both Jewish and Christian, understand this passage to point to the Messiah, the Son of David, who is the church’s protector and Savior and the keeper of the vineyard. First, he is the man of God’s right hand, the one whom God has sworn to with his right hand, as the Chaldee puts it. God has exalted him to his right hand, and he is truly his right hand, the arm of the Lord, because all authority has been given to him.

Second, he is that son of man whom God made strong for himself, for the glory of his name and the advance of his kingdom among people. Third, God’s hand is on him through his whole work, to support and carry him, to protect and encourage him, so that the Lord’s purpose may succeed in his hand. Fourth, the steady faith of believers comes entirely from the grace and strength stored up for us in Jesus Christ (Psalm 68:28). In him our strength is found, and by him we are able to continue to the end. Let your hand be upon him, let our help be placed on him who is mighty. Let him be made able to save completely, and that will be our security. Then we will not turn back from you.

At last, the psalm ends with the same request that has already been made twice: “Turn us again” (Psalm 80:19). The name given to God rises each time: “O God” (Psalm 80:3), “O God of hosts” (Psalm 80:7), and “O Lord, God of hosts” (Psalm 80:19). When we come to God for his grace, his favor toward us, and his work in us, we should pray earnestly, keep on praying, and pray even more earnestly.