Praying the Psalms With Hope With N.T. WrightSample

The God of Resurrection

Psalm 80 is another form of lament, but with a notable sense of hope that other psalms don’t necessarily contain. Psalm 80 presents a classic form of Old Testament prayer: Remind God of God’s past, call on God to remember the characteristics this past suggests, and ask God to once again act in accordance with this past.

The opening of this psalm revolves around the familiar image of God as a shepherd. The shepherd is supposed to take the sheep to where they can find plenty to eat and drink and prevent predators from harming them. That’s what the psalmist is asking of God. We’re your sheep, he’s saying. You're supposed to be looking after us. Things aren’t going well right now, so please come and be our shepherd.

One of the striking elements of Psalm 80 is the repeated refrain of “Restore us, O Lord, God of hosts.” This is a lament, but at the heart of the lament, it's crying out to God for the true King to come at last. When that happens, the psalmist says, then we will never turn back from you. If we have that strong leadership from the Lord, our shepherd, giving us a king to be the instrument of that shepherding work, then we will never turn back.

The great news of Psalm 80 is that God can, in fact, be relied on to act for restoration. The intertwined images of the vine and the king should remind us how God enacts that restoration.

Jesus, the vine, is the restoration in person. If you pray for God's face to shine, Jesus is the one in whose human face we see the shining of the face of God. As Paul says in Second Corinthians 4, we see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus. Jesus answers the prayer for restoration, declaring, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me.” The answer to Psalm 80’s prayer to the shepherd for restoration is that the shepherd comes in person, willing to give his life for his sheep.

Because of this, whatever situation we are in, whatever situation our church is in, whatever situation our world is in, we can bring those situations to God, the good shepherd, whose human face we now know in and as Jesus, and we can pray, Restore us, O Lord. Let your face shine upon us, and we shall be saved.

Reflect:

What is the effect of the repeated refrain in this psalm? Is there any sense in which you need God to “restore” something in your life? What refrain would characterize your prayer to God at this moment in your life?