Psalm 80: The Shepherd and the Vine (Part 2)

"...Turn us back, O Elohim of Hosts, and cause your Face to shine, that we might be saved!..."

As we begin looking at the second part of Psalm 80, let's start where we left off in Part One - with verse 7 (see above).

This is the plea of the psalmist, the cry for mercy, for the Salvation of YHVH, for His favor upon His wayward people.  Three times Asaph the psalmist cries out for YHVH, the Shepherd of Israel, to turn His people back to Him that they might be saved.


Why should He do it?
Why should He listen?
Why should He act on behalf of this people?

Let's continue reading...


 Psalm 80 (continued) 
        
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; You drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared a place for it, and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
10 Hills were covered with its shadow, and the mighty cedars with its twigs.
11 She spread her branches to the Sea, and her shoots to the River.
12 Why have You broken down her hedges, so that every passer-by plucked her fruit?
13 The boar out of the forest ravages it, and the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 Return, we beg you, O Elohim of hosts; look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vine,
15 And the stock which Your right hand has planted, and the Son whom You made strong for Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your face.
17 Let Your hand be upon the One at Your right hand; upon the Son of Adam whom You made strong for Yourself,
18 And we shall not backslide from You.  Revive us, and let us call upon Your Name.
19 Turn us back, O Elohim of hosts, and cause Your face to shine, that we might be saved!


Not many weeks ago, we were observing YHVH's appointed time of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and now we are almost at the end of counting the days for 7 weeks plus one day until Shavuot.  During these important appointed times, we have been reminded of YHVH's faithfulness to His people in bringing them miraculously out of the land of Egypt, saving His people with His own strong Right Arm of salvation (otherwise known as the Mashiach - the Messiah - the One Who Saves)!

The second part of Psalm 80 is a wonderful reminder yet again as we continue to reflect on the faithfulness of YHVH to His people.

The psalmist speaks of YHVH's faithfulness in bringing Israel out of bondage in Egypt, specifically reminding YHVH of how He brought Israel out as a vine and planted her in the land which He promised and provided - HIS Land of inheritance for HIS chosen people.

In route to the promised land, the "Vine" (Israel) stopped at Mt Sinai where she entered into a covenant with her Elohim, her Husband, in the receiving of the covenant agreement, the Torah. 
Side note:  While not specifically stated in YHVH's Word as such, Jews traditionally celebrate Shavu'ot as the day YHVH gave His people Israel the Torah on Mt Sinai, and His people said "yes"!
Israel said "We will do everything YHVH has said!"  (Exodus 19:7-8)  And thankfully, even though Israel broke her part of the covenant time and again, YHVH has been and always will be faithful to HIS covenant with His people.

Isaiah 54:5-8
 “For your Maker is your husband, יהוה of hosts is His Name, and the Set-apart One of Israel is your Redeemer. He is called the Elohim of all the earth. For יהוה has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when you were refused,” declares your Elohim.“For a little while I have forsaken you, but with great compassion I shall gather you.  In an overflow of wrath I hid My face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I shall have compassion on you,” said יהוה, your Redeemer. 

Hosea 2:16-23

"And it shall be, in that day,” declares יהוה, “that you call Me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer call Me ‘My Baʽal.’  And I shall remove the names of the Baʽals from her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name.  And in that day I shall make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the birds of the heavens... And I shall make them lie down in safety. 

 “And I shall take you as a bride unto Me forever, and take you as a bride unto Me in righteousness, and in right-ruling, and kindness and compassion...in trustworthiness, and you shall know יהוה. 

“And it shall be in that day that I answer,” declares יהוה, “that I answer the heavens, and they answer the earth, and the earth answer the grain and the new wine and the oil, and they answer Yizreʽel.  And I shall sow her for Myself in the earth, and I shall have compassion on her who had not obtained compassion. And I shall say to those who were not My people, ‘You are My people,’ while they say, ‘My Elohim!’ ” 

We see in verses 8-11 of Psalm 80 that this Vine, Israel, flourished and grew under YHVH's care and covered the land, shadowing the hills and even the mighty cedars, spreading from sea to river.

And then we read why Asaph is crying out for YHVH to return to Israel and cause Israel to return to Him:  in verses 12, 13, and 16 Asaph reveals that YHVH has broken down Israel's hedges and allowed the beasts to plunder the land, the vineyard.  Israel was perishing at the rebuke of YHVH's face!

The obvious question is "Why?"  "Why would YHVH break down the hedges of His own wife, His own inheritance?"
And I hope that the answer is also obvious to all of us who are human beings, flawed, prone to sin, never able to uphold the covenant with our God perfectly without His help...

Israel broke the covenant.
Israel broke the relationship.
Israel turned away from her Husband, her Maker, her Redeemer.

Let's look at the situation as portrayed in Isaiah 5.


Isaiah 5:1-7

Please let me sing to the One I love, a song for my loved One regarding His vineyard: my loved One has a vineyard on a fertile hill.   And He dug it up and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a watchtower in its midst, and also made a winepress in it. And He waited for the yielding of grapes, but it yielded rotten ones. 
“And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem and man of Judah, please judge between Me and My vineyard.  What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I waited for the yielding of grapes, did it yield rotten ones?  And now, please let Me inform you what I am doing to My vineyard: To take away its hedge and it shall be burned; to break down its wall and it shall be trampled down; and I lay it waste; it is not pruned or dug and thornbushes and weeds shall come up; and I command the clouds not to rain on it."
For the vineyard of יהוה of hosts is the house of Yisra’ĕl, and the man of Yehuḏah is His pleasant plant. He looked for right-ruling, but see, oppression; for righteousness, but see, weeping. 

Another interesting side note:  the Hebrew scripture includes two plays on words in Isaiah 5:7.   The Hebrew word for right-ruling or judgment is mishpat משׁפט, while the word for oppression is mispach which means slaughter/bloodshed  משׂפח.   The word for righteousness is tsedakah  צדקה, while the word for weeping (or a shriek of anarchy or covetousness) is tse'akah צעקה. 

Of course, it should come as no surprise to us when we read this story and compare it with the cry of Asaph  regarding Israel's condition in Psalm 80.

This is where we should stop and thank YHVH that this condition is NOT the end of the story between Him and His people!

This is where we should stop and thank YHVH for His faithfulness to His covenant with His people even when his people are not faithful to Him!

Even when He turns His back on His people for a short time, He is faithful to turn back to His people in everlasting compassion and redemption.  Just as Asaph cries for YHVH to return and to visit this vine that He planted and turn the vine back to Him, YHVH promises in Isaiah 54 that He will have eternal compassion and will be their Redeemer!

During my most recent trip to Israel in January and February, I was part of a group that was praying God's Word regarding His promises to His people regarding His land and His covenant of redemption.  We were traveling through many parts of Israel, praying YHVH's Word.

One thing that really caught my attention during this trip was the theme of "planted in the land."
YHVH has fulfilled and continues to fulfill His promise to plant His people in the land, never to be uprooted (Amos 9:15)!  

Methuselah:  a baby palm tree
in Israel...sprouted from a 2000
year old seed!

We saw it in the desert, blooming with life.
We saw it in the villages in Samaria, teeming with life.
We saw it in the sprouting of a seed long "dead".  (Methuselah, a baby palm tree that was sprouted from a 2,000 year old seed that was found in Masada!)

Do you know that there is only one place in all of YHVH's Word where He says He will do something with all of His heart and all of His being?
He commands His people to love Him with all our hearts and souls and beings (the Sh'ma...Deuteronomy 6:5).

What does He say HE will do with all His heart and being?

Jeremiah 32:37-41
 ‘See, I am gathering them out of all the lands where I have driven them in My displeasure, and in My wrath, and in great rage. And I shall bring them back to this place, and shall let them dwell in safety.  And they shall be My people, and I shall be their Elohim.  And I shall give them one heart and one way, to fear Me all the days, for the good of them and of their children after them.  And I shall make an everlasting covenant with them, that I do not turn back from doing good to them. And I shall put My fear in their hearts so as not to turn aside from Me. 
And I shall rejoice over them to do good to them, and shall plant them in this land in truth, with all My heart and with all My being.’ 

How exciting!

Go back and look at Asaph's cry, his plea of desperation on behalf of the people of Israel. 

And see how YHVH answers, for eternity!

But the story is not complete without seeing the VINE who came from the Vine...the Branch who sprouted from the stump of Israel...the Incorruptible Seed who is the Right Arm of Salvation of YHVH...the everlasting Covenant that YHVH has made with His people found in verse 17 of Psalm 80...the Living Word of YHVH...

Yahshua! 

YHVH is Salvation (the meaning of Yahshua's name)!

1 Peter 1:22-25

Now that you have cleansed your lives in obeying the truth through the Spirit to unfeigned brotherly love, love one another fervently with a clean heart, having been born again – not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible – through the living Word of Elohim, which remains forever, because “All flesh is as grass, and all the esteem of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the Word of Elohim remains forever.” And this is the Word, announced as Good News to you. 

Isaiah 11 (excerpts)

And a Rod shall come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a Sprout from his roots shall bear fruit.   The Spirit of יהוה shall rest upon Him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of יהוה, and shall make Him breathe in the fear of יהוה... And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, standing as a banner to the people. Unto Him the gentiles shall seek, and His rest shall be esteem.... And He shall raise a banner for the nations, and gather the outcasts of Israel, and assemble the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. 

And this leads directly into Isaiah 12...a cry of thankfulness to Yah!

 And in that day you shall say, “I thank You יהוה, though You were enraged with me, Your displeasure has turned back, and You have comforted me.  S

ee, El is my deliverance, I trust and am not afraid. For Yah, יהוה, is my strength and my song; and He has become my deliverance.” 

 And you shall draw water with joy from the fountains of deliverance. 

  And in that day you shall say, “Praise יהוה, call upon His Name; make known His deeds among the peoples, make mention that His Name is exalted.  

Sing to יהוה, For He has done excellently; this is known in all the earth.  C

ry aloud and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Set-apart One of Israel in your midst!” 

Yahshua said about Himself:  "I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener.... I am the vine, you are the branches. He who stays in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit. Because without Me you are able to do naught!"  (John 15:1,5)

What is interesting to me as I continue to dig (no pun intended) further into the living soil of God's Word is how intertwined Israel and Yahshua are!

This is a topic for another blog post, but I just want to mention it here because it is so evident in Psalm 80.  

The Son in this Psalm refers to both, separately and inseparably, Yahshua the Redeemer, the Right Arm of YHVH and Israel the son, the people of YHVH.

The Vine refers to Israel the people who came from Israel the man (Jacob), the fallible, fallen, sinful, obstinate nation.  The Vine also refers to Yahshua, who came from Israel but also is the Redeemer of Israel and the Creator of Israel and Husband of Israel and Messiah of Israel, the infallible, perfect spotless lamb, King of kings, sinless offering of redemption!

But as I said, this is a topic for another blog post!

For now, let's celebrate and thank YHVH for His faithfulness and enduring compassion and love for His people, planted in His land as His beloved Vine!

Resting in the shadow of His faithfulness,

Gina

Psalm 80: The Shepherd and the Vine (Part 1)

 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, who lead Joseph like a flock; 
                 who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!

...and Psalm 80 has now begun!
This first verse sets so much of the stage for the rest of this rich Psalm.

Ra'ah Yisrael - Shepherd of Israel

(Incidentally...the Hebrew word used for "lead" here is the word nahag, pronounced n'HAHg - meaning to lead or to drive.  I learned this word during my many trips on the bus in Jerusalem when I stayed for one month during the autumn of 2010.  As a noun, it is the modern Hebrew word for "driver".  If you ride the bus very much in Jerusalem, you will inevitably hear it yelled out by a rider.  "Nahag!  Stop here!"  "Nahag!  Open the back door!"  And you might even see a slight resemblance between a bus driver and a shepherd!)

As you probably know if you have read the greeting from the previous blog post, I have just returned from a trip to Israel.  I was there for 3 weeks in January and February - first in Jerusalem, and then traveling for a week around Samaria, the Dead Sea, and the Negev and Paran Deserts...all the way down to Eilat and back up toward Ashkelon.

It was a wonderful trip!  
Actually, it was quite intense, as the whole purpose was to pray YHVH's Word concerning His Land and His People and His Kingdom (come and still to come).

I use the word wonderful to describe it because it was definitely a trip filled with the wonder of YHVH's Word of Truth coming to pass before our eyes in our time!  More about that later...first let's begin to look at Psalm 80.

 Psalm 80 

        To the Chief Musician upon Shoshannim-eduth [literally "lilies of testimony", 
             also the title of a popular song], a Psalm of Asaph.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, who lead Joseph like a flock; who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!
2 Before Ephrayim, Benjamin, and Menasheh, stir up Your might, and come save [y'shua tah, a form of yasha] us!
3 Cause us to turn back, O Elohim, and cause Your Face to shine, that we might be saved [form of yasha]!
4 O YHVH, Elohim of hosts, how long shall You be wroth against the prayer of Your people?
5 You have caused them to eat the bread of tears, and have caused them to drink with tears, a third time.
6 You have made us a strife to our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Turn us back, O Elohim of hosts, and cause Your Face to shine, that we might be saved [form of yasha]!

Who is the One who is the Shepherd of Israel?
Who leads Jacob like a flock?
Who dwells between the cherubim?

I am sure you know the answer to these questions.
But let us take a look at some other scriptures regarding these questions.

Genesis 49:22-24 (spoken by Isaac about Joseph as he was blessing each of his 12 sons)
Joseph is an offshoot of a fruit-bearing tree, an offshoot of a fruit-bearing tree by a fountain, his branches run over a wall.  And the archers have bitterly grieved him, shot at him and hated him.  But his bow remained in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob - from there is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel -...

Notice here that Joseph is a shoot from a fruit-bearing tree.  Note also that Joseph's enemies have hated him and attacked him, but Joseph stays strong because of the strength of the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel!

Psalms 77 and 78 both tell part of the story of the children of Israel being led by YHVH out of Egypt:

Psalm 77:15-20
By Your arm You redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph...
The waters saw you, O Elohim...they were afraid....the clouds poured out water, the heavens rumbled...the voice of Your thunder rolled along...the earth trembled and shook...Your way was in the sea, and Your footsteps were not known.  You did lead Your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalm 78:51-53
And He smote all the firstborn in Egypt...then made His own people go forth like sheep, and led them in a wilderness like a flock.  And He led them on safely, and they did not fear, but the sea covered their enemies.  And He brought them to the border of His set-apart place, this mountain which His right hand had gained...


Notice in these Psalms that the Strong Arm, the Right Hand of YHVH once again gains the victory and accomplishes the necessary redemption (see the previous blog post on Psalm 118 for more on YHVH's Right Arm).

Isaiah chapter 63 is another very powerful chapter of YHVH's Word that is also a mirror of Psalm 80.
Take a look at the imagery of a God who acts in deserved righteous wrath (actually the people did NOT get what they deserved, which like for each of us should be much worse according to our actions and our sin against a holy God!).  Take a look at the compassion, the chesed, the mercy, the loving-kindness of the Shepherd of Israel, the Redeemer of Israel, the Savior (again the Right Arm saved).  And also notice the cry for mercy, the cry for YHVH to rescue His people, just as in Psalm 80.

Isaiah 63:11-12:
"Then He remembered the days of old, Moses, His people, 'Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the Shepherd of His flock...Who put His set-apart Spirit within him, who led them by the right hand of Moses, with His comely arm, dividing the water before them to make for Himself an everlasting Name...'"

Now take a look at Micah 7...speaking of the days when the world and the nations are steeped in corruption and wickedness (hmmm...sounds familiar, looks familiar).  Then read about the Shepherd of Israel and His remnant...

Micah 7:13-16
But the earth shall become a waste because of those who dwell in it, and for the fruit of their deeds.  Shepherd Your people with Your rod, the flock of Your inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest, in the midst of Karmel.  Let them feed in Bashan and in Gilead, as in the days of old.  As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt, I shall let him see wonders.  Let the gentiles see and be ashamed of all their might...


...now look at the rest of this chapter!


Micah 7:18-20
Who is a God like You - taking away crookedness and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance?  He shall not retain His wrath forever, for He Himself delights in kindness.  He shall turn back, He shall have compassion on us, He shall trample upon our crookednesses!  And You throw all our sins into the depths of the sea!  You give truth to Jacob, kindness to Abraham, which You swore to our fathers from the days of old!


And finally (for this part), let's look at Zechariah chapter 9.
This is obviously still to happen in the (not-so-distant?) future.

Notice the references to the Messiah of Israel in this chapter...the reigning King, ruler of the whole earth.

Zechariah 9:9-10  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!  See, your King is coming to you, He is righteous and endowed with deliverance [form of yasha - salvation], humble and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey....And He shall speak peace to the nations, and His rule is from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.
Verse 13  For I shall bend Judah for Me, I shall fill the bow with Ephrayim, and I shall stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and I shall make you like the sword of a mighty man.
Verse 16  And יהוה their Elohim shall save them in that day, as the flock of His people, for the stones of a diadem, sparkling over His land. 


Any ideas yet to the answer of the question, "Who is the Shepherd of Israel"?

I'm sure you know!  But here are a few more partial scriptures for your consideration:

Matthew 2:6  "But you, Bethlehem [Beyt Lechem], in the land of Judah, you are by no means least among the rulers of Judah, for out of you shall come a Ruler who shall shepherd My people Israel."  


Matthew 26:31-32  "Then יהושע [Yahshua] said to them, 'All of you shall stumble in Me this night, for it has been written, "I shall strike the Shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered."  But after I have been raised, I shall go before you into Galilee.'"

John 10:2, 11, 14-15  "But he who enters through the door is the shepherd of the sheep....I am the good shepherd.  The shepherd lays down his life for the sheep....I am the good shepherd, and I know Mine and Mine know Me, even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father.  And I lay down my life for the sheep."


Hebrews 13:20-21  "And the Elohim of peace who brought up our Master יהושע from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His desire, working in you what is pleasing in His sight, through יהושע Messiah, to whom be esteem forever and ever.  Amen."


And of course, the amazing powerful image of our Shepherd as seen in Revelation:
2:27  ...and he shall shepherd them with a rod of iron, as the potter’s vessels shall be broken to pieces, as I also have received from My Father.
7:17  ...because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne shall shepherd them and lead them to fountains of waters of life. And Elohim shall wipe away every tear from their eyes.” 
12:5  ... And she bore a male child who was to shepherd all nations with a rod of iron. And her child was caught away to Elohim and to His throne.

19:15-16  And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations. And He [Trustworthy and True; the Word] shall shepherd them with a rod of iron. And He treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of El Shaddai.  And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: SOVEREIGN OF SOVEREIGNS AND MASTER OF MASTERS. 


Isn't it so exciting to see these scriptures about the Shepherd of Israel all together in one place?!
And this is only the first part of the first verse!!


Now, on to the second part of this verse...The One who dwells between the cherubim.


Once again, I'm sure you know the answer to "Who is the One dwelling between the cherubim?"
as well as the answer to "what exactly are the cherubim?"...
still, I think it will be helpful to take a look at what the Scriptures say.

Let's start with what or who the cherubim are in the Scriptures.
I'm sure you know they are angels, heavenly beings, not of this world, messengers of YHVH, etc.

Do you know the Hebrew word cherub?
It is pronounced with the "ch" as in "Bach" or "loch", NOT with the hard "ch" of "chicken".
And because this word is a masculine word in the Hebrew language, the plural is formed with the addition of "im" at the end of the word (as opposed to the feminine which forms by adding "ot").

So the plural of cherub is cherubim (pronounced che-roo-BEEM).


(If you notice, the older King James version, the Authorized Version, placed the English formation of plural words, an added "s", in addition to the Hebrew word which is already plural!  KJV calls more than one cherub, cherubims.  No need to make it plural twice!  I think they realized their mistake, because newer KJV printings have the correct word - cherubim.)


Anyway...let's continue!

You probably remember the cherubim as those beings who were placed by YHVH at the east end of the garden of Eden to guard the way of the tree of life in Genesis 3 after the eviction of Adam and Chavah (Eve).

But do you know what the majority of Scriptures which refer to cherubim (almost 100 times) are speaking about?  Do you know the "job" or the "station" or the "function" of the cherubim in the majority of the Scriptures?

I think a good place to start is Exodus 25.

In this chapter, YHVH commanded Moses to take up a voluntary offering from the people...gold, silver, bronze, dyed yarn, animal skins, oil, spices, and precious stones.

Verse 8:  “And they shall make Me a Set-apart Place, and I shall dwell in their midst."
Verses 10, 11:  "And they shall make an ark of acacia wood...and you shall overlay it with clean gold..."
Verses 17-22:  “And you shall make a lid of atonement of clean gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide.  And you shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of beaten work, at the two ends of the lid of atonement.  And make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end.  Make the cherubim from the lid of atonement, at its two ends.  And the cherubim shall be spreading out their wings above, covering the lid of atonement with their wings, with their faces toward each other, the faces of the cherubim turned toward the lid of atonement.  And you shall put the lid of atonement on top of the ark, and put into the ark the Witness which I give you.  And I shall meet with you there, and from above the lid of atonement, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Witness, I shall speak to you all that which I command you concerning the children of Israel."

And also in Numbers 7:89  
And when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he heard the voice of One speaking to him from above the lid of atonement that was on the ark of the Witness, from between the two cherubim. Thus He spoke to him. 

So this is where YHVH chose to put His presence in the midst of Israel...above the lid of atonement on the ark of the covenant, between the cherubim...here He would speak to His people.

This dwelling place was also used in the description of YHVH, the only true Living Elohim, in various places throughout the Scriptures.

Which god?  The ONE Who dwells between the cherubim!


2 Samuel 6:2
And David rose up and went with all the people who were with him from Baal Judah, to bring up from there the ark of Elohim, that is called by the Name, the Name יהוה of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. 

2 Kings 19:15
And Hezekiah prayed before יהוה, and said, “O יהוה Elohim of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are Elohim, You alone, of all the reigns of the earth. You have made the heavens and earth."

Psalm 99:1

 יהוה shall reign; Peoples tremble! He is enthroned on the cherubim; the earth shakes! 

So this Psalm, Psalm 80, is a plea, a cry, a beseeching of the Shepherd of Israel, the only True Living God, who dwells between the cherubim, to shine forth and to SAVE (yeshu'ah) HIS PEOPLE!

Who are His People?  

Israel!  Both kingdoms of Israel (Israel and Judah), as represented by "Ephrayim, Benjamin, and Menasheh" in verse 2.  

His People Israel, in this psalm, have eaten and have drunk "the tears."  

They have been disciplined for their hard-heartedness and their turning from YHVH.

Now the psalmist cries for SALVATION from the Elohim of Salvation, the One who provides Salvation with His own Mighty Arm.

The cry is for YHVH to turn His people back to Him in repentance and to restore them!

What a mighty cry!

"Turn us back, O Elohim of Hosts, and cause your Face to shine, that we might be saved!"

And in the second part of Psalm 80, the psalmist reminds YHVH of the vine He brought forth from Egypt and planted in HIS Land of inheritance for HIS chosen people.

Take a look at the next blog post for Part 2 of Psalm 80...and see why my latest trip to Israel made such an impression on me regarding YHVH's planting of His people in His land!