1.
Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
2.
Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.
3.
Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
4.
O LORD God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?
5.
Thou feedest them with the bread of tears; and givest them tears to drink in great measure.
6.
Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours: and our enemies laugh among themselves.
7.
Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
8.
Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
9.
Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
10.
The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
11.
She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
12.
Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
13.
The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
14.
Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
15.
And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.
16.
It is burned with fire, it is cut down: they perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
17.
Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom thou madest strong for thyself.
THE DIVINE MAN
‘Let Thy hand be upon the Man of Thy right hand.’
Psalms 80:17
In New Testament days I know the name of this transcendent and Divine Man. He is my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I. See in Him my God, my Redeemer.—He charged Himself with my iniquity. He stood condemned in my place, and to-day there is no condemnation awaiting me.
II. Hearken to Him, too, my God, as my Advocate.—He pleads for me—‘pleads His own fulfilment of all laws.’ He appears on my behalf in Thy heavenly place. Thou wilt bend and bow to me in condescension, in grace, in liberality, when I have such a Representative and Friend.
III. Consider Him also, my God, as my Hope and Goal.—I disappoint Thee often and sorely meantime. I fall lamentably short of the standard to which Thou wouldst have me aspire. But in Him, Who is without spot and blemish, Thou seest what I shall one day be. By and by I shall be pure as He is pure. And then I shall content Thy soul.
So, for me and my salvation, ‘let Thy hand be upon the Man of Thy right hand.’
Illustration
‘ The “Man of Thy right hand” may either be, the Man Whom Thy power has raised up, or the Man who occupies the post of honour at Thy right hand. That the words were intended to suggest both ideas, is a supposition perfectly agreeable to Hebrew usage. A more doubtful question is that in reference to the first words of the sentence, “ let Thy hand be upon him,” whether this means in favour or in wrath. The only way in which both senses can be reconciled is by applying the words to the Messiah as the ground of the faith and hope expressed. Let Thy hand fall not on us, but on our substitute. Compare the remarkably similar expressions in Acts 5:31.’
18.
So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name.
19.
Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.