Psalm Chapter 80

To the chief Musician upon Shoshannimeduth, A Psalm of Asaph.

Psalm 80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.
3 Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Surely turning to God in repentance and giving our life totally to Him, will bring us true salvation. Israel failed God many times but when they would repent and turn back to God, He saved them from their enemies. The enemies were then severely judged or destroyed by God.

Psalm 80:4 O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

The reason God may take such a long time is perhaps we have sin in our lives that we have not repented of. Also, it could be a trial of faith to see if we are going to trust in Him.

This happened many times in the Old Testament. God would help Israel escape one crisis and they would go awhile basking in God's love. When another crisis would arise instead of trusting God, they would start complaining, murmuring and blaming God.

If this doesn't sound like us in the United States, I don't know what does. We have good times and then just as soon as the economy takes a bad turn and there are layoffs, we don't necessarily blame God but the poor president gets all our complaints. It is scary that we look to the president for answers instead of God.

I personally think that if people would be thankful for what they do have and trust God for what they don't have, He would take care of them.

When the prophets of Israel prayed for help from their enemies, God sent an answer, but when that answer came they did not recognize Him. They had literally.. God in the flesh, that came to them to save them from their sins. What sin? That was what stumped Israel. They were not looking for a savior from sin, they were looking for a conquering king.

That conquering king will come but at His second coming. The first coming of Jesus was to make the way to save all them from sin. Not only is this salvation for Israel but for any and all who would believe in Jesus as the very Son of God, repent of sin and become a new creature in Jesus Christ. God gave us the only way. He sent Jesus to save us from sin. We have to repent of sin and receive Jesus to be saved.

Without Jesus and faith in the sacrifice He made on our behalf, there is no way to get rid of sin and inherit eternal life. "Born again, Free from sin" that is life through faith in Jesus Christ. Human nature resists this concept. Human nature desires to justify self, preach self-esteem and avoid the message of repentance. Yet, repentance has to come first in order to be saved. Sin separates us from God, Jesus reconciles us back to God.

Psalm 80:5 Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.
6 Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
8 Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
9 Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
11 She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
12 Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?

That vine out of Egypt was the whole nation of Israel. Jesus our savior also is referred to as a vine in the New Testament but it was still connected strongly to Israel.

God saved Israel out of Egypt and they became a vine in the land of Canaan after the heathen were cast out because the iniquity of the heathen had gotten to the point where they was beyond repentance.

Verse 12 speaks of a hedge that is broken. This is what happens when we allow sin to overcome us as individuals and as a nation. Our hedges of protection are broken down. God will not stay were He is not welcome. If we choose sin instead of dwelling in God's presence, His presence will depart leaving us prey to all the devil has to destroy not only our nation but our souls.

Remember 9/11. That could not have happened if the United States would have been living in the right relationship with God. In God's mercy, what the enemy planned for America that day was not fulfilled. I believe that plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was headed for somewhere where even more lives would have been lost. A group of brave people gave their lives to stop the intent of the enemy. I have heard also that more planes were supposed to be in the sky that day taken over by terrorists but they were somehow stopped. So although the enemy succeeded in part, God's mercy saved us from it being so much worse. However we see that it would not have happened at all if we were living for God.

Look what we have done in this country to deny God:

Public schools teach evolution and forbid the creation to be taught.
Children are harassed if they pray in school.
Teachers are harassed if they place a bible on their desk.
The ten commandments are being removed from court houses.
We have left the bounds of marriage God ordained to that which is right in our own eyes. To oppose this we are counted at hate mongers when all we want to do is keep things holy and acceptable to God as marriage has been since the beginning of creation.
The murder of unborn children is allowed and millions of babies are aborted every year.

The church is not preaching against sin like it once did. People want to hear funny sermons if any at all. People want a feel good religion that does not warn against sin.

Psalm 80:13 The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
14 Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
15 And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
17 Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
18 So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

In order for God to turn again and save us, we must first turn to Him by repenting of sin and asking His Holy Spirit to return to us again. His word must be our roadmap instead of this world's philosophy of political correct agenda with no absolutes. We must follow God instead of man. DC

Psalm 81

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