Psalm 80 (2023-2024B)

Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
    you who lead Joseph like a flock!
Stir up your might,
    and come to save us! (Psalm 80:1a, 2b NRSVUE)

Psalm 80

Reflection:

The shepherd metaphor is used five times (23:1; 28:9; 49:14; 78:71; and 80:1) in the psalms and Psalm 23 is the only time it is not used as a complaint or lament. In Psalm 80, the psalmist is asking the Shepherd to listen to the cries of the people and save us.

The writer of psalm 80 wants what the writer of psalm 23 has; The Good Shepherd who leads, guides, and restores life. More than wants, the psalmist believes it is possible even when the circumstances would seem otherwise. Psalm 80 is a lament, but it is also a psalm of faith and hope. It is hope in God’s gracious willingness to repent (see v. 14) or turn or return to the work of bringing life to humanity. It is faith in God’s tender loving care that we have once received and we long for again. 

The psalmist feels that God is at fault for not taking care of the vineyard (which is the only occasion the vineyard metaphor is used to accuse God of not caring for the vine). Psalm 80 asks why God is letting all of God’s work be ruined. 

In psalm 80, the faithful long for God to see what’s happening, to hear our cries, and most importantly to enter our lives anew to bring healing and restoration. We are waiting, hoping, and believing that God will return to lead, guide, and restore our lives. The psalms before and after psalm 80 identify people’s sin as the reason we feel separated from God. But, psalm 80 more than implies that God is the one not present or not actively engaged in relationship. When we feel distant from God, is it God who abandoned us in our time of need or did we loose connection with God? The Psalms say yes. In my experience, sometimes I disengaged with the divine, but sometimes it does feel as though God is the one who stepped away and I’m glad that the psalms express both of these view points. Either way, there is hope that the relationship will be restored and made new.

Advent is a season of waiting and listening; and most of all hoping that we will see God in our midst just as we have before. We are hoping for what we have already experienced and we know we will experience God’s presence again. 

Psalm reflections can be listened to on the Period Pastor Podcast series, Like One who Watches for the Morning.  

I began writing Psalm reflections during Lent of 2020 shortly after we decided to close the church building, work from home, and worship via zoom.  It is a practice I have continued since.  Many churches use the Revised Common Lectionary (RLC) that rotates scripture on a three-year cycle (A, B, and C).  Starting in Advent 2019, Third Church decided to worship with the texts from Year D, which is still not circulated as are years A, B, and C.  Year D was created with the goal of including scriptures that were left out or not used as frequently as others.  While we were using Psalms in year D, most other lectionary followers were using Year A.  In Advent of 2020 we rejoined those who use the lectionary in year B.  Advent of 2021 year C.  Advent of 2022 year A.  Advent of 2023 year B.

I use the Vanderbilt Divinity Library’s resource for lectionary readings to make text selections.

Year B Psalms

Advent – Transfiguration: 1^st Sunday in Advent Psalm 80, 2^nd Sunday in Advent Psalm 85, 3^rdSunday in Advent Psalm 126, 4^th Sunday in Advent Psalm 89, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day Psalm 96, Psalm 97, Psalm 98, 1^st Sunday after Christmas, Psalm 148, New Year’s Day Psalm 8, Epiphany Psalm 72, 1^st Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 29, 2^nd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 139, 3^rd Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 62, 4^th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 111, 5^th Sunday after Epiphany Psalm 147, Transfiguration Sunday (Sunday before Lent) Psalm 50

Lent: Ash Wednesday Psalm 51, 1^st Sunday in Lent Psalm 25, 2^nd Sunday in Lent Psalm 22, 3^rdSunday in Lent Psalm 19, 4^th Sunday in Lent Psalm 107, 5^th Sunday in Lent Psalm 51 or Psalm 119:9-16, 6^th Sunday in Lent (Palm or Passion Sunday) Psalm 118 or 31

Holy Week: Monday Psalm 36, Tuesday Psalm 71, Wednesday Psalm 70, Maundy Thursday Psalm 116, Good Friday Psalm 22, Holy Saturday Psalm 31

Easter: Easter Psalm 118 or 114, 2^nd Sunday of Easter Psalm 133, 3^rd Sunday of Easter Psalm 4, 4^th Sunday of Easter Psalm 23, 5^th Sunday of Easter Psalm 22, 6^th Sunday of Easter Psalm 98, Ascension Psalm 47 or Psalm 93, 7^th Sunday of Easter Psalm 1, Day of Pentecost Psalm 104

Season After Pentecost (Ordinary Time): 1^st Sunday after Pentecost (Trinity Sunday) Psalm 29, 2^nd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 139 or Psalm 81, 3^rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 138 or Psalm 130, 4^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 20 or Psalm 92, 5^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 9or Psalm 133 or Psalm 107, 6^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 130 or Psalm 30, 7^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 48 or Psalm 123, 8^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 24 or Psalm 85, 9^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 89 or Psalm 23, 10^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 14 or Psalm 145, 11^thSunday after Pentecost Psalm 51 or Psalm 78, 12^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 130 or Psalm 34, 13^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 111 or Psalm 34, 14^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 84 or Psalm 34, 15^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 45 or Psalm 15, 16^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 125 or Psalm 146, 17^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 19 or Psalm 116, 18^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 1 or Psalm 54, 19^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 124 or Psalm 19, 20^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 26 or Psalm 8, 21^st Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 22 or Psalm 90, 22^ndSunday after Pentecost Psalm 104 or Psalm 91, 23^rd Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 34 or Psalm 126, 24^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 146 or 119, 25^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 127 or Psalm 146, 26^th Sunday after Pentecost Psalm 16, 27^th Sunday after Pentecost (Christ the King) Psalm 132 or Psalm 93.

Sources and notes:

“Shepherd is the title for God as king who leads, protects, and provides for his people… God of hosts, the title used in the refrain and elsewhere, is the name particularly associated with the ark” Mays p. 262

“Like the flock, the vine and vineyard represented a basic and familiar possession that was owned, cared for, and prized as a primary good of life. Here God is portrayed as the owner who secured the vine, planted it, and cleared space for its growth.” Mays p. 263

“The psalm’s parable introduces the anguish and bewilderment of the people over the contrast and contradiction between what God began and what he now has done, leaving it exposed for strangers to gather the fruit of the vine and for wild animals to ravage the vine (vv. 12-14). Mays p. 263

“The prayer concentrates with a single focus on one thing and one thing alone–the diving Thou. It addresses the God identified in the invocations as the actor in the congregation’s experience of salvation and suffering and seeks God’s resumption of his earlier work as the means of restoration. The psalm is a witness that the congregation must in the long last and in its extremity look away from its own repentance to a kind of repentance in God — his turning away from wrath and retuning to grace. The trust that God will in the end do so is based on nothing in the congregation. It is based on the self-understanding that the congregation is the work of God, there in existence, wholly and only as the act of God. Believing that, the congregation can hope that God will not abandon what he has begun.” Mays pp. 264-265

The title Shepherd appears in the Psalms only in psalms 23 and 80. “The contrast in the mood and situation of the speaker in this psalm with that of the speaker in Ps 23 is striking. The protection and restored life longed for in Ps 80 is a reality in Psalm 23: there the Shepherd “leads”, “restores”, life, and “guides” the speaker in safe paths. The verbs “lead and “guide” differ from those in Ps 80, but the meaning is the same. The speaker in Ps 23 has received what the speaker and the congregation in Ps 80 want.” WBC p. 316

“…because the people trusted God to transform their circumstances and restore them, this act of faith was also an act of hope” NIB p. 526

“The conviction that one confronts God in every circumstance, both good and bad, lies at the heart of the ancient Israelite prayers for help.” NIB p. 526

“Psalm 80 is traditionally associated with the season of Advent, the celebration of God’s coming presence. There is no better way to express belief in the reality of God’s sovereignty than to address God out of our individual and corporate afflictions and to continue looking to God as the only source of light and life. ” NIB p. 526

“Advent is a season of preparation and repentance, and lest we be tempted to focus on our own efforts in these matters, Psalm 80 proclaims that our lives ultimately depend on God’s gracious willingness to repent (see v. 14). So does the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. What human repentance amounts to, at best, is turning to accept the loving embrace of ht eGod who gives us life. As Jesus indicated in his extension of he image of he vine, “apart from me you can to do nothing” (John15:5 NRSV; see also Phil 1:6).” NIB p. 526

“Standing in dialogical tension with the psalms that come before and after it, Psalm 80 claims that God is responsible for the people’s suffering. It does this by reversing traditional vine imagery that both expresses God’s commitment to Israel and points out Israel’s failure to reciprocated that commitment (see Isa 5:1-7; Her 2:21; 6:9; Ezek 17:1-10; 19:10-14; Has 10:1; 14:7).” W p. 289

“The psalmist asks God directly why (v.12a) a careful gardener would put so much effort into transplanting the vine from Egypt (v. 8, a reference to the exodus) only to abandon it to destruction (vv. 12b-13). This question turns the vine metaphor on its head. “In fact, Psalm 80 is the only case in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible where this vine imagery is used for the purpose of critiquing God’s unfaithfulness. In this way the vine metaphor functions as a motivation to support the plea for God to intervene.” W pp. 289-290

“The shepherd metaphor is used five times (23:1; 28:9; 49:14; 78:71; and 80:1) in the psalms and Psalm 23 is the only time it is not used as a complaint or lament.” From my notes on the Psalms retreat in October 2023 by Paul Lang

Altar, Robert.  2007.  The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary New York: W. W. Norton & Company

WBC Allen, Leslie C. 1983. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 101-150. Vol. 21. Waco, TX: Word Books, Publisher.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. 1974. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. 8th ed. Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Press.

Bourgeault, C. (2006). Chanting the psalms: A practical guide Audio Book. New Seeds.

Brueggemann, Walter. 2007. Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit. 2nd ed. Eugene, OR: Cascade.

Brueggemann Brueggemann, Walter. 2014. From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. Edited by Brent A. Strawn. 1st ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

Brueggemann, Walter. Davis Hanskins, Editor. 2022.  Our Hearts Wait: Worshiping Through Praise and Lament in the Psalms Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville KY.

Brueggemann, Walter. (2002). Spirituality of the psalms. Augsburg Pub. House. 

Brueggemann, Walter. (1984). The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary. Minneapolis: Augsburg.

Chilson, Richard, ed. You Shall Not Want: A Spiritual Journey Based on the Psalms. Ave Maria Press, 2009.

Chittister Chittister, Joan. (2011). Songs of the heart: reflections on the psalms. John Garratt Publishing. 

Cudjoe-Wilkes, G., Wilkes, A. J., & Moss, O. (2022). Psalms for black lives: Reflections for the work of Liberation. Upper Room Books. 

WBC Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1-50–Word Biblical Commentary. Vol. 19. Waco, TX: Word Books.

Creach Creach, Jerome Frederick Davis. 1998. Psalms: Interpretation Bible Studies. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press.

DAFLER, J. (2021). PSOBRIETY: A journey of recovery through the psalms. Louisville, KY: WESTMINSTER JOHN KNOX.

W de Claisse-Walford, Nancy L. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 4-5. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 22. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2020. 

Green, Barbara. 1997. Like a Tree Planted: An Exploration of Psalms and Parables Through Metaphor. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press. 

W Hopkins, Denise Dombkowski. WISDOM COMMENTARY: Psalms Bks. 2-3. Edited by Barbara E. Reid. Vol. 21. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical, 2016. 

NIB Keck, Leander E. 2015. The New Interpreters Bible Commentary. Vol. 3. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

Lewis, C. S. (2017). Reflections on the Psalms. Harper One, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers. 

Mays Mays, James Luther. 1994. Psalms. Louisville, KY: John Knox Press.

McCann McCann, J. C. (1993). A theological introduction to the book of Psalms: The Psalms as Torah. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

McCann, J. C., & Howell, J. C. 2001. Preaching the Psalms. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press.

Merrill, N. C. (2020). Psalms for praying an invitation to wholeness (10th Anniversary Edition ed.). London, England: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Miller Miller, Patrick D. 1986. Interpreting the Psalms. Philadelphia, PA: Fortress Press.

Morgan, Michael. 2010.  The Psalter for Christian Worship Revised Edition. Westminster John Knox Press.

Schlimm Schlimm, Matthew Richard. 2018. 70 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know.Nashville, TN: Abington Press.

Spong Spong, M. (Ed.). (2020). The words of her mouth: Psalms for the struggle. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press.

WBC Tate, Marvin E. 1990. Word Biblical Commentary: Psalms 51-100. Edited by David Allan. Hubbard and Glenn W. Barker. Vol. 20. Waco, TX: Word.

Weems, Ann. 1995. Psalm of Lament. Westminster John Knox Pres

OTL Weiser, Artur. 1998. Old Testament Library: Psalms. Translated by Herbert Hartwell. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Manchester University Press.