Psalm 80: Restore Us

 Okay, fathers, brothers, mothers, sisters, daughters, sons friends. Would you please grab a Bible? You can take a seat for just a minute. Grab a Bible and turn with me to Psalm 80. Psalm 80. If you're using the Bibles and the chairs beneath you, it is on page 581. Psalm 80 for the past 10 years. Every summer, Trinity has preached through the Psalms.

Not the whole Salter, not all 150, of course, but we've taken Psalms one by one, and we have preached them over the course of our summers. This is our 10th year to do it, and we come now to the Psalms that are in the eighties and the early nineties that are in the end of book three of the Salter and the beginning of book four of the Salter.

We want you as a church to know the Psalms because prayer is one of the most important aspects of your spiritual growth, and wouldn't it be amazing? Oh Lord, would you teach us to pray? How are we to pray that the Lord had such a simple answer? I have given you an entire book in the Bible right in the middle, where almost if you open the new T, the Bible, now, it almost instinctively opens to the Book of Psalms to teach us where we can pray.

And the psalm that we are about to read and look at together is Psalm 80. In Psalm 80 is an important Psalm because it is a Psalm that was written by those who followed the tradition of asap, who was one of the Levitical singers. You can read about the history of that in two Chronicles, chapter five and verse 12, and those who stood in as a's tradition as the Levitical singer wrote beautiful poetry.

How did Jesus learn how to pray? He grew in stature and in favor with God and man. He learned how to pray because he knew. The Psalms and undoubtedly Jesus probably had the wholesaler memorized as a good rabbi. In fact, it wasn't until about a hundred years ago that the requirements for ordination in the church were that ministers of the gospel and the Anglican tradition, and in some parts of the Presbyterian tradition were to have the entire salter memorized so that in their ordination exams you could ask any Psalm and they had to recite it.

You know that the resuscitation of Psalms was actually also a synonym for early classical education that most children memorized a great portion of the Psalms, and so. We are gonna read Psalm 80 together, and as we do, I want you to know that you stand on the shoulders of giants who have had this psalm.

Like many others memorized, have made it their prayer, and I invite you this morning to also make it yours. Would you stand with me? As we read Psalm 80, it is given to you in love. It is God's inherent infallible word, and the Holy Spirit intends to change you through it. So please give attention. To its reading to the choir master according to lilies.

That is probably a tune that we don't have today, but that's what lilies means in the inscription. A testimony of ASAP a Psalm. Give ear, oh, shepherd of Israel. You who lead Joseph like a flock. You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth. Before F RM and Benjamin and Manasses, stir up your might and come to save us.

Restore us. Oh God. Let your face shine that we may be saved. Oh 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 them an object of contention for our neighbors and our enemies laugh among themselves, restore us oh God, of hosts.

Let your face shine that we may be saved. You brought out 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 recovered with its shade. The mighty Cedars with its branches, it sent out its branches to the sea and it 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 and the field feed on it. Turn again. Oh god, of hosts. Look down from heaven and see. Have regard for this vine. The stalk that your right hand planted and for the sun 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, oh Lord God of hosts. Let your face shine that we may be saved.

The grass withers and the flowers fade. That God's word stands forever. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated, please. Oh, father, would you restore us? Oh God, Lord of hosts. Let your face shine upon us that we. May be saved. Amen.

There is a special kind of heartbreak reserved for those who have had a loved one walk away from the faith.

Some of you know this pain firsthand. It is an ache that comes when someone you love may be a child. It may be a parent, it may be a friend, chooses a path that leads them far from God and far from you. It's a sorrow that can almost be unbearable, can't it? Jack Miller in a book that I highly recommend called Comeback Barbara, put it plainly.

He says, there is no pain so deep as that which comes from watching your own child walk away from the Lord, the Lord that you love. Oh, friends. A child who walks away from the faith is a story of intense sorrow and parents, many parents even in this room, have been crushed many, many times by events that are beyond their control.

Jack and his wife Rose Marie Miller. Had a daughter named Barbara and they felt the full weight of the sorrow when their daughter, Barbara left their home and their faith. And Rosemarie describes what it was like for her when Barbara announced that she was not a Christian and didn't want to be one. My world came crashing.

In on me. I reacted with anger and fear. I simply couldn't handle it. My own barriers were too high for me to be able to open up and deal calmly with what she was saying. I felt humiliated and betrayed, and Jack recalls the relentless heartbreak this way. He said repeatedly, I get the stuffing kicked out of me in the conflict with my daughter, I did not like.

To live year after year with the tension of the battle and the constant feeling that things were completely out of my hands. Oh, friends, some of you can relate to those words. I could have substituted other names, even in this place in Jack and Rosemary's. Place, and some of you, it's not your daughter, it's your mother.

It's your father. If you've ever prayed for a return of a prodigal or felt the helplessness of watching someone that you love, drift away, you know the tension that they described, the sleepless nights, the tears, the desperate prayers, and sometimes the echo back of silence, that longing, that ache is not just the story of one family called the Millers.

It is the story of God's people throughout history. In Psalm 80, we hear the voice of God's people crying out for their loved ones in exile for their nation to be restored to the Lord. They know what it's like to weep over wandering loved ones and to plead with God for restoration, and yet they just seem powerless, and yet they still look to God for their hope in God's grace.

In Psalm 80 is their prayer, and it is our prayer too. And you hear, did you hear the common refrain? It said it three times. This common refrain, like the chorus trickling through the psalm, restore us. Oh, again, oh God. Of hosts, let your face shine, that we may be saved. And as we open Psalm 80 together this morning, I want to invite you to think of the person who is left of faith.

Could be a friend, could be a son, could be a daughter, could be a mother, could be a father. And I want you, I wanna teach you through the Salter how to pray for them that the Lord may return them to his embrace for He can surely do it. Amen. Let's look together. First, let's look to see where the psalmist begins.

Number one, pray for Christ the good shepherd to restore the wandering sheep. This is what he says in verses one to three, isn't it? Give ear o Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, a raw a in Hebrew to be a shepherd, meant to be one that protects, that provides that, that comforts, that watches over the sheep.

The sheep where their valuable possession. They cared about every one of the sheep. And so here the psalmist says. Be for us a shepherd. You say that you're a shepherd, where are you? Go and get your sheep. You who lead Joseph like a flock. To say that they lead Joseph like a flock is to say that they lead the sons of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and Manasses like a flock.

And Ephraim and man NASA were part of the northern kingdom of Israel and they were the ones who were taking. Into exile by the Assyrians in 7 22 BC and for about 12 years, three successive Assyrian Kings came and attacked the northern kingdom of Israel, and they took the northern kingdom of Israel into exile.

The tribes disappeared. All the tribes, except for Judah and portions of Benjamin were taken into exile. And here are these sympathetic. Southerners and Judah, or perhaps a remnant in the North are praying, Lord, would you restore our nation? Not only has it been divided after Solomon, but now you've taken the better part of us into exile.

What are you doing? You promised us that you would lead us like a shepherd. If you told Jacob in Genesis 49 that you would do that, you told Joseph that you would indeed watch over us. Where are you?

You who were enthroned upon the cher of him shine forth. He's taking them back to when they were in wandering in the wilderness and God said, I want you to build for me a tabernacle. And I wanted that tabernacle to have the. Holy of Holies and in the Holy of Holies, I want you to build me an ark. And on that ark I want you to build cherubim whose wings cover the Ark as a symbol of my protection and my care over you.

You who are enthroned upon the cherubim in the Holy of Holies, shine forth. You gave Moses the words to tell Aaron to bless the people. The Lord bless you, and keep you to make your face shine upon. Shine forth.

Before Ephraim and Benjamin, and man, this is a nod to the tribes of the north. Stir up your might and come to save us. Christopher Ash and his commentary on the psalm says this, Psalm accompanies all of the spiritual Rachels of the church who in every age, weep. For their lost children. When he says in verse two, before Ephraim, do you see that in your text in Benjamin and Manas?

Those, remember, Rachel had two children. She had Benjamin and Joseph. Joseph's two children were Efram and Manas. So when it says Benjamin and Ephraim and Manas, those are Rachel's children weeping, weeping for their return. And some of you mothers in the room and some of you fathers know that pain. It's interesting, even in the eighth century before Christ, you see echoes, don't you of us as Christians today longing for Jesus.

Give ear, oh, good shepherd. He says that he is the good shepherd in John 10. You who lead Joseph like a flock. You are enthroned. Jesus is the one who's at the father's right hand enthroned. Even now as the covenant warrior, the covenant champion, the one to whom we pray for, our wandering loved ones, he says also that you would shine forth.

Isn't it interesting that Jesus describes himself how he says, I am the light. Of the world shining forth God's presence into a dark world. And so, oh friend, would you join me in praying for those of us in our families lives that have wondered from the faith that we would look to Christ our good shepherd, would you come protect, be true to your word?

Would you do it? Would you be the covenant warrior who comes to protect and reclaim his own enthroned upon the cheer of him? And would you Lord shine forth? Jesus, would you show yourself to indeed be the light of the world? Would you open the eyes of those of our family and friends who have walked away from the faith?

Friends? The Psalms are incredibly practical. I wonder if you would be willing to use them in that way as they point you to Jesus. You see this chorus that goes throughout. It divides the psalm into thirds almost. It says, restore us. Oh God, let your face shine that we may be saved. Look down in verse seven, it says it again.

Restore us oh God, of hosts. Let your face shine that we may be saved. Not only should we pray for Christ the good shepherd to restore his wandering sheep, but we also should pray for Christ the great high priest. To remove God's anger verses four seven, oh Lord God of hosts. When you see the word, Lord, there it is.

The word Yahweh. It is the divine name. Oh, Yahweh, Elohim, oh Lord God of hosts Sava Oat. How long will you be angry? Literally, in Hebrew it says, how long will you smoke in your anger? With your people's prayers. It's as though the smoke had had put a canopy between earth and heaven where the people's prayers couldn't reach the Lord.

He was so angry with them. Do you remember the history of Israel? How many? There were several good kings in the southern kingdom of Judah who were faithful to the Lord, but how many good kings were there class in Israel who were faithful to the Lord? Zero. And so God smoked with anger toward them. He'd give them every privilege, and yet they walked away.

They built ASRA poles. They worshiped to Baal. How long will you be angry with your people? You have fed your people with the bread of tears internally. They felt the deep suffering. And the anger of the Lord. You make us an object of contention for our neighbors. Not only internally, but externally. People look at us.

Maybe even they look at some of you and you wonder what they say about you. Huh? Some family. They are. Half of 'em don't even believe in Jesus. Oh, it is so easy to feel the derision and the contention of the world looking upon us. And our enemies laugh among themselves. It's interesting that after this beautiful.

Arguably the greatest theological work ever written. The book of Romans, Paul gives eight chapters of beautiful theology. And then what is the first thing he does after he gives his beautiful thesis of theology? First thing he says in Romans chapter nine, he says, Lord, for all of this, I wish myself a cursed for the sake of my kinsman to know it and part and parcel of what it means to walk with Jesus.

As people of the Psalms is that we embrace Psalm 80 as those who were saying together with the Apostle Paul. Lord, I wish that we were cut off for the sake of our loved ones in here in the eighth century bc They're praying that also for their neighbors to the north who've been taken captive by the Assyrians.

In Hebrews chapter four, verse 14 to 16. It says that we have a great high priest who is able in every way to sympathize with our weaknesses, and yet he was without sin, and how? How will we ever get out from under the anger that th father has upon us if we don't have a great high priest, the Lord Jesus, who didn't just offer sacrifices on our behalf as Aaron and his sons did, but he himself becomes the great sacrifice.

Oh, friends, don't you see, that's the beauty of the gospel. For those of you who are skeptical of the good news of the gospel, it is not about being a better person. Primarily, it is about Jesus becoming the person we could never be, and it is not about Jesus just standing on the seat of Moses becoming.

Another example that we should go follow it is that Jesus gave his life as the great high priest for us, so that. The smoke of God's wrath might not come upon us because it was absorbed by Jesus on the cross for us, and in light of our faith in that we received the clear skies of fellowship with God because Jesus absorbed the wrath of God.

And this is what we're praying for our loved ones. And you can see that they have been fed with the bread of tears. Jesus. In John 1135, Jesus wept. He knows what it's like to weep. He wept on earth as though to absorb the tears of those he represents through history. And even though they've been given tears to drink in full measure and full measure in Hebrew, it means the third, it means the top third of the glass.

That they have been given consequences of their sin and great measure. And Jesus says in the guardian of Gethsemane, father, would you let this cup pass from me, yet not my will, but your will be done. Jesus drank the cup of the third measure of full measure. He drank it for us. And our, he is the, there was the object of contemplation for our neighbors.

People laughed amongst themself. Jesus, it says in Isaiah 53, he had no form or majesty that we should love him. Jesus is not only our good shepherd, he is also our great high priest who removes the anger of God. And as you pray for your loved ones, you pray, oh, father, would you be the good shepherd to rescue, redeem, save your sheep, but would you also be the great high priest to remove your smoking anger from them?

And third, he says, in verses eight through 19, he says, pray to Jesus the true vine to revive God's people. Don't just pray for the good shepherd to restore wandering sheep. Verses one to three. Don't just pray to Jesus the great high priest to remove God's anger verses four to seven. But pray to Jesus the true vine to revive God's people.

Notice the break again. It says, restore us so God of hosts. Let your face shine that we may be saved. There it is a second time you brought a vine out of Egypt. You drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground from it. Look at all you've done throughout history. Lord, you took us out of captivity.

From Egypt and Pharaoh, through the Exodus, through the conquest. Lord, you provided a land for us. You conquered it, you cleared it for us. It took deep root. We filled the land. Lord, we were your people. And then in verses 10 in 11, it says, the mountains were covered with its shade, the many cedars with its branches.

It sent out its branches to the sea and it shoots to the river. It's not easy to see in English, but he's described in the geography of the land of Israel that God had given them there. He talks about the mountains, which were in the south, and the cedars, which were in the north, and the sea, which was to the west and the river, which was to the east.

And he said, Lord, you have given us all of this land. It is ours. You sent out its shoots, but why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass along, all these wave upon, wave upon wave, the Egyptians, the Assyrians, who have come to attack us? Why? Why are you so relentless? And the Lord says to his prophets again and again and again, because you would not turn back to me, the boar from the forest ravages it.

The boar is an unclean, dirty animal. It's a poetic way of referring to Sinna rib and to all of the Assyrians who came to take them into exile and all that move on the field, feet on it. It's as though there is nothing too small. Even the crickets. It seemed to walk all over us. So turn again. Oh God, of hosts.

Look down from heaven and see. Have regard for this vine.

The vine was in, in Genesis 49, verse 22. Joseph was to be a fruitful vine and here it's calling back to the Lord. Lord, you've told us that you would make us fruitful. Would you do it? Where are you? Would you revive this vine again, the stalk that your right hand planted, and for the sun whom you have made strong for yourself?

The word sun, there is a reference to either the nation of Israel or to the King of Israel. It's not clear in the Hebrew, which it's referring to, but of course we as Christians know that it pulls ultimately to the true king, the Lord Jesus. They have burned it with fire. They have cut it down. May they perish at the rebuke of your face.

May all the enemies. May all the enemies. May all of the narratives. May all the stories. May all of the people, may all the crowds who've taken away our loved ones, would you rebuke them? Would you put them in the presence of people who can point them to good news? Would you remind them of your covenant faithfulness?

Father, would you do it? This shows the importance of the way that we surround ourselves with people who remind us of what the truth is. We long for the children of this church to be able to have a biblical worldview creation, fall redemption glory, and to hear every story and to see every industry, whether are engineering, law, medicine, or science through the lens of creation, fall redemption, glory, so that the kids in our church will know how to be able to look at the changing landscape of our world through a biblical worldview.

Technology is gonna get faster, it's going to change, it becomes all that more important. To be able to have a community that reminds them of the good news of the gospel. Now, you can take your children to church every single week of their life, and they may still choose to walk away from you and the faith.

But isn't it amazing that the, the father who loves you has given you the church? To invest into these kids, and not just your investment, but other brothers and sisters in this church to remind them, some of you are helping me become such a good parent because you will say something to my kiddos and they'll be like, yeah, you know, dad so and so said this.

They're so awesome. And I'm like, I've been telling you that for years.

But they hear it through different voices. And so here they're praying, oh, father, would you rebuke all those who have cut down your vine? May they perish the rebuke of your face, but let your hand be on the man of your right hand. That's a play on the Hebrew word for Benjamin and the son of man, Ben, Adam, and Hebrew, whom you have made strong for yourself.

The true son of the father's right hand. Jesus Christ calls himself the true vine, doesn't he? And as Christians reading Psalm 80 today, we look at it through its original audience and see how it would would've been read sung by all of Israel, longing for those who had walked away from the covenant God to come back to faith.

But we as Christians look at it through Jesus, who is the great shepherd. We look at it and look to Jesus, who is our great high priest? We look at it, NBC Jesus, who is for us the true vine. Then we shall not turn back from you all the church, including the lost sheep Father, when you act, we will not turn back from you.

You will gather all of those who are yours, give us life that we together may call upon your name. Isn't that what we long for? Not just on Easter and Christmas. But we long for the days when our families are with us and worship long for the days when our children, if they don't live near us, they're walking in the truth of the Lord.

Our mothers. Some of you have been praying for your mothers for so long to believe the gospel and some for your fathers. Oh, father, would you do it? Would you hear the cries of your people in this church and would you Oh, good Shepherd. Oh, hi priest. Oh, true Vine. Would you rescue those who have wandered from you?

You can do it. Would you? Friends. It is only Christ our great shepherd, our true high priest, the true vine who can restore his wandering people with his rescuing grace. And Psalm 80 invites you to make this your prayer as you pray for them regularly with hope that we will again turn to the Lord and he will give us life.

Rosemarie Miller circles back in her story and she says, at that time I was in danger of complete despair. What kept me from giving up was the knowledge that Barbara did belong to God, and that in his own time and own way, he would bring her back. Jack says We were entirely dependent upon God to change Barbara.

And we knew that eventually he would renew her heart and life he had promised to do it. And we see today, just as we did many years ago, the power of God to save prodigals of all kinds. And Jack and Rosemary said, and we still need Jesus desperately today as we needed him when we first turned to him for forgiveness.

And perhaps more our faith as parents has been tested and tried, but we look. To Jesus and Barbara, who indeed, indeed did come back to faith says that God used the unexpected disappointment and grief caused by my flight from God and my home to show my parents their daily need to turn to Jesus for forgiveness, hope, and help.

This is the Christian life, and God uses even their prodigal daughter. To teach them the basics. 'cause as you come to the table this morning, God invites you to demonstrate the same faith that you long to see in your mother, your father, your child, to come by faith and repentance and new obedience again to him.

And remarkably, Jack Miller saw himself the father of this family. He saw himself as the one who most needed grace, even more than his daughter. If God could help someone like me, he says, with all of my sin and weaknesses as a father, then he can help you and your family. The power of God's grace is so much stronger that you never despair of your children no matter what state they are in.

And Psalm 80 gives us language for these seasons, doesn't it? He is the good shepherd. Jesus is the great high priest. And Jesus is the true vine, and he invites us to this table this morning to come in faith that just as we walk in repentance, oh Father, may he also bring our wandering loved ones back to faith in him.

May we be a church that sees Psalm 80 and praise it in its original context and praise it for those who have wandered from the faith and we run to our good shepherd. Our great high priest, our true vine. Knowing that of all the people in the world, we ourselves are the ones most in need of grace today.

As you come to the table this morning, I'd encourage you to think about the person that you have on your mind, who's wonder from the faith, and that you might pray as you celebrate the Lord's table. Oh Lord, hasten the day when we celebrate at your table together. May it be soon. Let's pray together.

Father, you tell us that you are a protector, our provider, and our guide. You are our atoning mediator. You Lord Christ, are the true vine who grafts in all those who have wandered from you. Lord, would you do it? Would you show us again? Would you turn our despair into prayer? Would you allow us to use Psalm 80 for what it is meant to be?

A song that we sing together as a covenant community for those who have wandered from the faith and, oh Lord, would you help us now as we come to your table to do so in joy that you are faithful to your promises and help us in our families to be the lead repenter as we look to you for grace and we pray all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. 

Sermon transcript is computer generated.