Restore Us, O Lord: Psalm 80-Supplication through the Scriptures

Restore Us, O Lord

Psalm 80

It is not so much said, "turn our captivity, "but "turn us." All will come right if we are right. The best turn is not that of circumstances but of character.

Charles Spurgeon

Psalm 80 is a cry to the Lord, the Shepherd of His people, for His deliverance and restoration. Three times the psalmist prays, “Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!” The people have suffered harm. Their walls have been broken down. The vine, representing the people of Israel, has been burned with fire and they are perishing. So the psalmist is crying in desperation for the Lord to “have regard for this vine” (80:14), to give them life (80:18), and restore them to His favor (80:19).

In our spiritual lives, sometimes we are flourishing and growing. We’re gaining strength and communing with our Savior. Other times, we are not flourishing spiritually, but rather we seem to be dry and wilting, uncommitted or lacking zeal for the things of God. At these times, we must cry to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls, “Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!”

In Psalm 80, the psalmist refers to Israel as God’s vine. Picking up the picture of a vine, I think we can make a few correlations between how a vine is nourished and how to nourish ourselves spiritually away from dryness and lack of vitality to health and flourishing.

When a plant appears dead, we ought to look closely for any signs of life. Spiritually, when we are in a hard season, look carefully for those signs of life. Is there a hunger still for that intimacy with Christ? Are prayers still bring directed to our Savior? Is there any fruit being produced? Look carefully for those signs of life and ask God to increase them and make them more fruitful.

Next, a wilting plant or vine could be a result of lack of water. Is our spiritual life suffering because we aren’t watering it with the Word of God? Have we neglected fellowship with the Lord? Jesus said that we must abide in Him in order to bear fruit because apart from Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). At times the Lord Himself will provide us with what He knows is necessary for our growth. In Psalm 80, He had fed them “with the bread of tears,” and He had given them “tears to drink in full measure” (80:5). And He does that for us also. But those who belong to the Lord can pass through the Valley of Baca (Trouble), which may cause many tears, and they can make it a place of springs which the Lord uses to nourish and strengthen them (Psalm 84:6).

Also, in order for a plant to thrive, the dead leaves must be removed and the stems cut back. In other words, pruning is required. The writer of Hebrews encourages us to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,” (Hebrews‬ ‭12:1‬). Sin can cause us to be in a spiritually dry place. Distractions or lack of commitment to the pursuit of God can be the reason we aren’t flourishing spiritually. These things we must prune from our lives so that we can run with endurance the race that is set before us. We need the Lord’s help in laying those things aside. He, too, is committed to pruning us, “every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John‬ ‭15:2‬).

Also, a vine needs proper lighting. Without adequate sunshine, a plant withers. This again harkens back to the question, “where are we positioning ourselves?” Are we walking in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7)? Are we trusting Him in our circumstances, or are we complaining and fighting against Him? Our psalm today beseeches the Lord for His face to shine on them that they may be saved. We need to be seeking the light of His countenance. “Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes” (Psalm‬ ‭119:135‬). Our trust in Him and our obedience to Him will make us radiant with His light because we will be turned toward Him.

Additional nourishment may be necessary for a vine that is lacking to thrive. What additional nourishment might we need in our dry season? Extra time gathering with the saints, biblical counseling, careful attention to our physical needs, or seeking help from praying friends are things that are going to help us reorient ourselves to the Lord.

And finally, while doing what we can to nourish our spiritual lives, we must wait. Intimacy with the Lord and spiritual revitalization does not happen quickly or overnight. The Lord produces His fruit in us in His timing. We are not to be idle, but we must depend on Him, trust Him, wait on Him. He has promised to complete the work He started (Philippians 1:6). We work because He is at work in us. “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians‬ ‭2:12-13‬).

And none of these things will themselves be the key to spiritual vitality and nearness to the Lord. We must have Christ Himself as our aim and as our focus, as the very center of our lives. And Psalm 80 is filled with pointers to Christ. He is our good Shepherd who leads us. He is the One sitting at the right hand of God the Father pleading for us. He is the One who came to save us from our sin and is coming again in glory and power. In our seasons of tears, He is the One who has walked the path before us and has borne our sorrows and carried our griefs. He Himself is the Vine and we are His branches, bearing fruit as we abide in Him. He is the Son of Man whose strength is ours for all He has called us to.

Let’s pray through Psalm 80 that the Lord would restore us, turn our hearts back toward Himself in order to know Christ more deeply and flourish spiritually.

Restore us, O God

80:1-3 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your might and come to save us! Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Let’s pray:

▫️The Lord would give ear to our cries for a renewed fervency and steadfastness to Him. He would hear our cries of desperation for Him.

▫️The Lord would lead us to intimacy with Himself and He would shine forth in the place we currently find ourselves. He would enlighten our spiritual eyes that we would have wisdom to know what we must do to persevere through this spiritually dry season.

▫️The Lord would stir up His might and save us from our apathy, disobedience, lack of trust, discouragement, or weariness, and restore us.

Let Your Face Shine on Us

80:4-7 O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers? You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure. You make us an object of contention for our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Let’s pray:

▫️When it feels like the Lord is angry with our prayers because they go unanswered, we would lean into the truth of His Word that He is always working for us what is good, and He hears our prayers and will respond.

▫️When we are fed the bread of tears, those tears and the cause of them would actually be used to help us taste and see that the Lord is good, and the time of sorrow would be equipping us for fruitfulness.

▫️The Lord’s face would shine on us, giving us peace.

We are Your Vine

80:8-13 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River. Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.

Let’s pray:

▫️We would abide in Him, and His Word would abide in us and we would bear much fruit.

▫️We would trust His pruning process. In His love, He will prune us so that we will bear more fruit.

▫️We would lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and we would run with endurance the race that is set before us (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Have Regard for this Vine

80:14-19 Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted, and for the son whom you made strong for yourself. They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your face! But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself! Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name! Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Let’s pray:

▫️The Lord of hosts would turn toward us, look down from heaven and see our languishing. He would have regard for us and come to our help.

▫️He would revitalize us, and we would turn back to Him and call upon His name continually. He would renew our hearts to pursue Him, enjoy His presence, and walk humbly with Him.

▫️The Lord would restore us, His face would shine, and we would be saved!

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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