Psalm
80:7-19 – This week’s Psalm has as
the key verse, verse 7. The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is Israel, and the
men of Judah are the plant He cherished. “For
the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah
are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed;
for righteousness, but behold, an outcry! “
-Isaiah 5:7. After making a lament over the Lord’s severe punishment of
His people the Psalmist looks to the Lord who will vindicate His own as He
restores and makes His face shine upon them that they might be saved.
This coming week a major theme woven throughout the
reading is the point that God’s people constitute a vineyard. The Gospel and
Old Testament lessons complement each other in the use of a vineyard as a
metaphor for God’s people. In both, the vineyard is at fault; in the Gospel,
the tenants refuse to render fruit; in the Old Testament, the fruit is wild.
The image of God as gardener (vinedresser) and the
people as the garden or vineyard is found in many places in the Bible,
including two of the other lectionary texts for this coming Sunday. Isaiah
5:1-7 (often called “the song of the
vineyard”) describes God’s relationship with Israel and Judah. This is
reinterpreted in Matthew 21:36-46 (also Mark 12:1-12 and Luke 20:9-19) in the
parable of the wicked tenants in the vineyard.
Repeatedly, the Psalmist calls on God to “restore” and “save” (verses 2, 3, 7, 19) to “turn
again” (verse 14) and “give us life”
(verse 18). The Psalm opens with a plea to God, the “Shepherd of Israel” (verses 1-3) to restore the people. It names
God’s anger as the problem, resulting in the suffering of the people (verses
4-6). There follows a plea for restoration (verses 7).
Prayer for
Psalm 80: Lord God, you so tend the vine you planted that now it extends its
branches even to the farthest shore. Keep us in your Son as branches on the
vine, that rooted firmly in your love, we may testify before the whole world to
your great power working everywhere; through Jesus Christ our Lord.[1]
Source:
[1] For All the Saints, A Prayer Book for and by the Church, © 1995 American
Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY
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