I. (80:1–3) Stir Up Your Might to Save Us. The psalm opens by setting out the basic request: a portion of the people needs God to “stir up” (or awaken) his “might” and “come to save” the portion. (The second stanza will spell out the specifics of the situation.)

Verse 1 calls God the “Shepherd of Israel” and likens Joseph (and, by extension, all Israel) to a “flock” (cf. comments on 23:1–4; 74:1–3; 77:10–20 [at v. 20]; 78:40–55 [at v. 52]).

Also in 80:1 the Lord is “enthroned upon the cherubim,” which depicts him in the sanctuary. The “cherubim” (plural of kerub) first appear as guardians to prevent humans’ return to the tree of life (Gen. 3:24); they apparently are powerful angelic beings. When Moses had the ark of the covenant built, figures of the cherubim occupied the two ends of the mercy seat, the gold cover of the ark, with outspread wings overshadowing the ark (Ex. 25:17–22). This was to be the place where the Lord would meet with Moses and speak to him, and thus it came to be seen as the Lord’s earthly throne. The Lord is King of his people and is present in the sanctuary, where he is “enthroned” (cf. 1 Sam. 4:4; 2 Sam. 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; Pss. 22:3; 99:1).

The term “shine forth” is a request for God to manifest in presence by helping his people (cf. Deut. 33:2; Pss. 50:2; 94:1).

Psalm 80:2 mentions the tribes Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, to go along with Joseph in verse 1. Ephraim and Manasseh were the two sons of Joseph (Gen. 41:50–52), and Joseph and Benjamin were the two sons of Jacob’s wife Rachel. When the people of Israel split into two kingdoms, the northern (Israel) and the southern (Judah), the northern included the “Joseph tribes” and the southern included Benjamin (cf. 1 Kings 12:16–24). The psalm envisions the people of Israel as a whole—even after the split of the kingdom, this is a vision worth preserving.

On the word “save” (Ps. 80:2), cf. comments on 3:1–2; 20:1–5; 20:9.

Psalm 80:3 is the first instance of the refrain in this psalm (cf. Section Overview and Outline). The clause “Let your face shine” recalls the words of Aaron’s blessing for the people (Num. 6:25); the prayer is for God to show his kindness and to restore the people to blessing. If God is “angry” (Ps. 80:4), it is because of the people’s unfaithfulness, which will need to be dealt with—though, as in other psalms in this vicinity, this is left for the worshipers to conclude.

II. (80:4–7) How Long Will You Be Angry with Us? Now the psalm takes up the reason for the cry of distress: God is “angry with” his “people’s prayers,” which implies that the people have been unfaithful (cf. 74:1). This is why he has brought sorrows upon them, especially in making them an “object of contention for [their Gentile] neighbors” (cf. 79:4). As the next stanza will make clear, this means that these Gentiles have ravaged the land and people of Israel. Underlying this is the idea that faithful Israel ought to be the envy of the Gentiles, drawing them to the light via their moral purity, social justice, and political stability (cf. Psalm 79). Hence the current situation is a reversal of how things should be. The stanza concludes with the refrain (80:7), which is the same as verse 3, except for the added words “of hosts.”

III. (80:8–15) We Are Your Vine, Which They Have Ruined. This is the longest stanza, and its version of the refrain is also different (thus drawing attention to it). Here the psalm uses an extended metaphor of God’s people as a “vine,” for which God has cared and provided.538 The arms of this vine were to give “shade” to the “mighty cedars” (much taller trees, esp. associated with Lebanon—which reminds us that this is a metaphor being stretched) and were to extend “to the sea” (either the Red Sea or the Mediterranean) and “the [Euphrates] River,” the ideal borders of the Promised Land (Ex. 23:31), which always included Gentile nations. The branches and shoots are therefore an image of the benefits that come to all who are under the rule of this people.

It is God who has “broken down its walls,” which had protected the “vine” from “all who pass [by]” and from the “boar [of] the forest,”—that is, he removed from his people his own protection against marauding and empire-building Gentiles (similarly, Isa. 5:5). In such a case “Why?” is a question inviting the singers to ponder: If God has shown such care for his vine, would he lightly allow such violence against it? Psalm 80:4 has already admitted that the people’s unfaithfulness may be the reason. Verse 14 appeals to God to “look down from heaven, and . . . have regard for this vine” again, to restore it to its proper role in the world.

The version of the refrain in this stanza (vv. 14–15) varies from the other instances: the word “turn again” is related to the word “restore us” elsewhere (vv. 3, 7, 19), which might also be rendered “turn us again” (ESV mg.). This changes the focus from the people’s restoration to the renewal of God’s care for them; these are two sides of the same coin, of course, but here the focus is on the other side. Further, the rest of the refrain portion here is much longer than in the other stanzas, with heightened description and earnestness: “Look down from heaven and see; have regard for this vine” is a paraphrase for “stir up your might and come to save us” (and both involve vivid pictures for God). The “vine” is further described as the “stock that your right hand planted,” building on the picture of verse 8. The “son whom you made strong for yourself” is another description of Israel, which is God’s “son” (Ex. 4:22–23; but cf. comment on 80:16–19). At this point the song has reached its peak intensity.

IV. (80:16–19) Make Us Faithful! The final stanza continues the vine imagery from the previous section, describing the monstrous deeds of these Gentile marauders: “they have burned [the vine] with fire; they have cut it down.” For such an outrage against God’s own plant the singer says, “May they perish at the rebuke of your face!”

The terms in verse 17 (“man of your right hand” and “son of man”) could refer to the Davidic king (cf. 110:1) but more likely refer to the people of Israel. First, “man of your right hand” looks like a play on the name Benjamin (80:2), which means “son of the right hand” (cf. Gen. 35:18 ESV mg.). Here Israel is at God’s right hand, called to carry out his purpose in the world. Second, the epithet “Son whom you made strong for yourself” was applied to Israel in Psalm 80:15; the additional “of man” here is to emphasize Israel’s frailty and dependence on God. At the same time, one easily thinks of the job description of Davidic king: to represent the people and embody the ideal of covenant faithfulness. He is, in fact, like Israel, God’s son (cf. comment on 2:7–9).539 The restoration of the people and the well-being of their king are tightly bound together.540

In 80:17 the congregation as a whole pledges itself to God: if he will let his “hand be [upon]” Israel—if he will put forth his power on their behalf, especially in protecting them from the ravaging Gentiles—then Israel will “not turn back [again] from you [God]” but “will call upon your name” (i.e., will exercise true faithfulness).

The closing version of the refrain (v. 19) is just like that of verse 7, except the name “Lord” has been added.