Today’s reading is Psalm 80.
Our psalmist again gets historical. However, this time, he doesn’t just tell the story of Israel’s past. He provides a metaphor. Actually, if I am correct in saying this psalm was written in the days of Hezekiah, the psalmist uses a common metaphor for Israel of the day.
During and surrounding the reign of Hezekiah, Hosea prophesied. In Hosea 10:1, the prophet wrote:
Israel is a luxuriant vine
that yields its fruit (ESV).
Sound familiar? Sure. Our psalmist also presents Israel as a vine. He says the vine began its growth in Egypt, but God brought it out of Egypt, then cleared the ground of other nations and planted it. Then He grew the vine so it was great in the earth. However, God allowed the wall of the vineyard to be broken, allowing passersby to plunder it and allowing the wild animals to feast on it. Why?
Isaiah also wrote during and surrounding the reign of Hezekiah. Listen to his answer in Isaiah 5:1-7:
Let me sing for my beloved
my love song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
and he looked for it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem
and men of Judah,
judge between me and my vineyard.
What more was there to do for my vineyard,
that I have not done in it?
When I looked for it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
And now I tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
I will make it waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and briers and thorns shall grow up;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
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!
If the psalmist didn’t know why Israel was burned down, we do. The problem was not God. The problem was the vineyard. May we remember that today. We are the vineyard of the Lord’s planting. If we want Him to be a wall about us and the glory in our midst, let us bear the fruit of the kingdom. A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. May we always conduct ourselves in the meekness of His kingdom/vineyard wisdom.
Today’s reading is Psalm 80.
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How does Psalm 80 prompt or improve your hope in God?
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