Psalms 80:19

Verse 19. Turn as again] Redeem us from this captivity.

O Lord God of hosts] Thou who hast all power in heaven and earth, the innumerable hosts of both worlds being at thy command.

Cause thy face to shine] Let us know that thou art reconciled to us. Let us once more enjoy thy approbation. Smile upon thy poor rebels, weary of their sins, and prostrate at thy feet, imploring mercy.

And we shall be saved.] From the power and oppression of the Chaldeans, from the guilt and condemnation of our sins, and from thy wrath and everlasting displeasure. Thus, O God, save US!

ANALYSIS OF THE EIGHTIETH PSALM

The parts of this Psalm are the following: -

I. A prayer, Ps 80:1-3.

II. A complaint by way of expostulation, Ps 80:4-7.

III. In the twelve last verses, to move God's mercy, he, 1. Shows God's love to Israel under the allegory of a vine, Ps 80:8-12. 2. Deplores the waste made upon it, Ps 80:12-13. 3. Prays for its restoration, Ps 80:13-18.

IV. He makes a vow of perpetual service, Ps 80:19.

I. The first part, his petition, Ps 80:1. 1. For audience, Ps 80:2. 2. For assistance, Ps 80:3. 3. For grace to amend, Ps 80:3.

The arguments he uses to induce the Lord to hear. 1. He was formerly their Shepherd. 2. He sat between the cherubim, on the mercy - seat. 3. He has only to shine forth, and show himself; and they shall be saved.

II. The second part, his complaint. He complains, 1. That God was angry with them. 2. That the people were in the most distressed circumstances, Ps 80:5. 3. Of what they suffered from their neighbours, Ps 80:6.

On which he redoubles his prayer. 1. Turn us. 2. Cause thy face to shine. And, 3. Then we shall be saved, Ps 80:7.

III. The third part: what God had done for his people. 1. He brought the vine out of Egypt, Ps 80:8. 2. He cast out the heathen, Ps 80:8. 3. He planted it. 4. He prepared the soil for it. 5. He caused it to take deep root. 6. And it filled the land, from the river Euphrates to the Mediterranean Sea, Ps 80:9-11.

He deplores the waste made upon it. 1. The fence was broken down. 2. It was spoiled by those who passed by, and by the wild beasts.

Then he prays, 1. Look down from heaven. 2. Visit this vine. 3. It is cut down. 4. It is burnt with fire. 5. Let thy power in its behalf be shown by the Man of thy right hand. See the notes.

Some think Zerubbabel is meant; others think the Jewish nation is thus called the son of man, and the man of God's right hand.

IV. The last part of the Psalm: gratitude and obedience are promised. 1. We will backslide no more, Ps 80:18. 2. We are nearly dead; quicken us, and we will live to thee. 3. We will invoke thy name. We will serve thee alone, and never more bow down to any strange god, Ps 80:18.

All these things considered, he thinks he has good ground for his prayer; and therefore confidently repeats what he had twice before said: "Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine," &c.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Psa 80:19 Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Ver. 19. Turn us again] See Psa 80:7. Prayers are like arrows of deliverance, which would be multiplied and enlarged, 2Ki 13:17.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Psa_80:19

Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.

Divine greatness and Divine graciousness

I. Divine greatness, Lord God of hosts. What hosts are under Him? All the tribes of irrational life on this earth, all classes of men, all the stars of heaven, all the myriad systems of globes in space, all the innumerable armies of intelligent existences, both the happy and the miserable, He is Lord of all. How great is God! To whom will ye liken Me? saith the Lord, etc.

II. Divine graciousness. Cause Thy face to shine.

1. The enjoyment of Gods graciousness requires a Divine change on mans part. Turn us.

(1) Some do not see God at all. God is not in all their thoughts.

(2) Some see His frown. Their guilty conscience invests Him with terrible attributes and covers His face with the frowns of indignant justice.

(3) Some see His shining face. Thy face--beaming face; Such are they whom He has turned to Him, by repentance towards Him and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. The enjoyment of Gods graciousness involves the realization of mans highest hopes, And we shall be saved. What is that? We know what it meant to the author of this poem; but it means infinitely more to all human souls. (Homilist.)

One antidote for many ills

This seems to be the only prayer the psalmist puts up in this psalm, as being of itself sufficient for the removal of all the ills over which he mourned. The reason is obvious. He had traced all the calamities to one source--O Lord God, how long wilt Thou be angry? and now he seeks refreshing from one fountain.

I. The benefits of revival to any Church in the world will be a lasting blessing. I do not mean that spurious kind of revival. I do not mean all that excitement attendant upon religion, which has brought men into a kind of spasmodic godliness, and translated them from sensible beings into such as could only rave about a religion they did not understand. I do not think that is a real and true revival. Gods revivals, whilst they are attended with a great heat and warmth of piety, yet have with them knowledge as well as life, understanding as well as power. Among the blessings of the revival of Christians are--

1. The salvation of sinners. For this we must, and will, cry, O Lord our God, visit Thy plantation, and pour out again upon us Thy mighty Spirit.

2. The promotion of true love and unanimity in its midst. Oh, if God gives us revival, we shall have perfect unanimity.

3. The mouths of the enemies of the truth are stopped.

4. The promotion of the glory of God. If we would honour God by the Church, we must have a warm Church, a burning Church, loving the truths it holds, and carrying them out in the life.

II. What are the means of revival? They are twofold. One is, Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts; and the other is, Cause Thy face to shine. There can be no revival without both of these.

1. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts.

(1) Your minister feels that he needs to be turned more thoroughly to the Lord his God.

(2) But there are some of you who are workers in the Church. Large numbers are actively engaged for Christ. Now, what I exhort you to is this: cry unto God--Turn us again, O God. You want more of the Spirit of God in all your labours.

(3) Turn us again must be the prayer of all of you, not only in your religious labours, but in your daily lives.

2. The other means of revival is a precious one--Cause Thy face to shine. Ah! we might ask of God, that we might all be devoted, all His servants, all prayerful, and all what we want to be; but it would never come without this second prayer being answered; and even if it did come without this, where would be the blessing? It is the causing of His face to shine on His Church that makes a Church flourish. A black cloud has swept over us, all we want is that the sun should come, and it shall sweep that cloud away. There have been direful things; but what of them, if God, our God, shall appear?

III. Come, now, let me stir you all up, all of you who love the Saviour, to seek after this revival. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

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Psa_81:1-16

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. (Psa 80:19) Jehovah, God, (God of) Hosts, restore us, let thy face shine, and let us be saved! While the prayer in this verse is identical with that in Psa 80:3 and Psa 80:7, there is a kind of climax in the form of the address. In the first of the three places it is simply God, in the second God of Hosts, in the third and last Jehovah God of Hosts, as if to add to the general ideas of divinity and sovereignty those of self-existence, eternity, and covenant relation to his chosen people, as additional warrants for the hope and prayer, that he would turn them, smile upon them, save them.

Joseph Addison Alexander, The Psalms Translated and Explained (1850) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

(19) Turn us.—By a fine gradation in the style of the address to God, the refrain has at last reached its full tone, expressive of the completest trust—

“God’s ways seem dark, but soon or late

They touch the shining hills of day.

The evil cannot brook delay;

The good can well afford to wait.”

WHITTIER.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. O Lord God of hosts] There is a climax in the use of divine names in the refrains (3, 7, 19). The Psalmist clenches his appeal by the use of the covenant name Jehovah, along with the title expressive of universal sovereignty, God of hosts.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts ... - See Psa 80:3, note; Psa 80:7, note; Psa 80:14, note. This is the sum and the burden of the psalm. The repetition of the prayer shows the earnestness of the people, and their conviction that their only hope in their troubles was that God would interpose and bring them back again; that he would be favorable to them, and lift upon them the light of his countenance. So with all. In our backslidings, our afflictions, and our troubles, our only hope is that God will bring us back to himself; our proper place is at the throne of mercy; our pleadings should be urgent, earnest, and constant, that he will interpose and have mercy on us; our solemn purpose - our expressed and recorded pledge - should be that if we are restored to God, we will wander no more. But, alas! how much easier it is to say this than to do it; how much easier to promise than to perform; how much easier to pledge ourselves when we are in affliction that if the troubles are removed we will be faithful, than it is to carry out such a purpose when the days of prosperity return, and we are again surrounded by the blessings of health and of peace. If all people - even good people - kept the vows which they make, the world would be comparatively a pure and happy world; if the church itself would only carry out its own solemn pledges, it would indeed arise and shine, and the world would soon be filled with light and salvation.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Ver. 19. Turn us again, O Lord God of Hosts. Here we have another advance in the title and the incommunicable name of Jehovah, the I AM is introduced. Faith's day grows brighter as the hours roll on; and her prayers grow more full and mighty.

Cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. Even we who were so destroyed. No extremity is too great for the power of God. He is able to save at the last point, and that too by simply turning his smiling face upon his afflicted. Men can do little with their arm, but God can do all things with a glance. Oh, to live for ever in the light of Jehovah's countenance.

Ver. 19. Turn us again. How well that we can look to God when our face is set wrong, that he may turn us, and so his face shine on us, as to bring blessing and present deliverance to his people. J. N. Darby.

Ver. 19. During distress God comes; and when he comes it is no more distress. Gaelic Proverb.

None.

Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts—The closing refrain. See Psa_80:7. In this wonderful prayer a noticeable rising in the titles of deity appears: “Shepherd of Israel,” “God,” “God of hosts,” “Jehovah, God of hosts;” and with the endearing and awful names of deity, urged in the agony of desire and the imminence of ruin, rises the psalmist’s earnest, tender, and appealing pathos. With the good King Hezekiah and the prophets Isaiah, (now in his vigour,) Micah, and Hosea, to cooperate in the movements of the reformation, as in the spirit of this psalm, how could they fail of success? Yet most of the people of the northern tribes mocked at the preachers and heralds, though many were brought back to God. 2Ch_30:10-11. After this by Hezekiah, no great effort was made to reclaim the wasted “ten tribes,” or kingdom of Israel. At the restoration of Judah from the Babylonian captivity, all of Israel, of whatsoever tribe, who could prove their genealogical descent, were welcomed back to the fellowship of the Hebrew family; but beyond this no restoration of the lost “ten tribes” has ever been made, nor has history preserved any record of their distinct existence. We know that in later times the Galileans, Samaritans, and those east of Jordan were largely of mixed heathen and Hebrew blood.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall he saved. The psalm is closed by the refrain in its third and most perfect form. First we had, "Turn us again, O God" (ver. 3); then, "Turn us again, O God of hosts" (ver. 7); now, "Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts the appeal to God continually increasing in intensity. Having made his third appeal by the covenant Name, the psalmist seems to feel that he has done all that he can, and desists.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

shine on us

The writer speaks of Yahweh acting favorably towards them as if Yahweh's face shone a light on them. See how you translated this in Psalms 80:3. AT: "act favorably towards us" (See: Metaphor)

we will be saved

This can be stated in active form. AT: "you will save us" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

restore

Yahweh

Yahweh of hosts

save

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

And let us not withdraw from You Do not cause us to withdraw from You.

grant us life from the exile, and we shall mention Your goodness and Your might, and then we shall call out in Your name.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.