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Episodes
Weekly sermons and Bible studies led by a retired pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Episodes
Monday May 22, 2023
Monday May 22, 2023
Psalm 25 is another psalm of David and is unique in a way that is not evident in the English translation. It is structured in a Hebrew poetic way. Verse 1 begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Verse 2 begins with the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet. It goes on in this way. Hebrew has only 22 letters, and so verse 22 begins with the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The vowel sounds are not counted as letters and are just included as dots or or other small markings. Sometimes, the writers would not include the vowel markings at all and one just had to know what vowel to read in.
Psalm 25 has a careful organization, but the content does not follow a logical organization, as we might prefer or expect in an English poem or song. David has a few main themes, but they are scattered through the psalm. Some think the psalm is answering the question raised in verse 12: “Who is the man who fears the Lord?” David mentions several characteristics of such a man.
The first characteristic is that a man who fears God realizes that he struggles with sin and knows that he must keep confessing it and asking the Lord’s forgiveness. In v.1, David speaks of those who are “wantonly treacherous.” He remembers at least one such time in his own life, in what happened with Bathsheba and her husband, and he is “ashamed.” In v. 7, David asks the Lord “not to remember the sins of his youth or his transgressions.” He must still regret his failures, and they bother him. He calls himself one of the “sinners” in v. 8, and pleads in v. 11, “For Your Name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.” Again, in v.18, he asks the Lord to “forgive all my sins.” He knows that they are many, and as “a man who fears the Lord,” he must be honest and admit that he (and all Israel) need to be redeemed by God Himself. David cannot pay the penalty to earn forgiveness for himself or anyone else. (See Psalm 49:7-9 and Romans 3:9-11 and 19-20, for example. This is true of every one of us.)
The second characteristic of “one who fears the Lord” is that he is sorry and wishes the Lord’s help and instruction to know what the Lord’s will is and to try to do better in following it. In Psalm 25, v. 4-5, David prays to the Lord, “Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me.” In v. 8, David says that “the Lord instructs sinners in the way.” One needs to be humble enough to be willing to learn from the Lord and His Word. In v.9, David says that the Lord “leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble His way,” In v.12, in answer to the question, “Who is the man who fears the Lord?,” David says that it is the one “whom the Lord instructs in the way that he should choose.” The right way is not following our own choices and desires, but what the Lord knows is right and is best for us and others. As another psalm says, “God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path” (Psalm 119:105). It is a great help to us, but still, we do not always follow it, because of our struggles with the devil, our sinful world, and our own sinful flesh and nature.
The third characteristic of “one who fears the Lord” is that we keep turning back to the Lord and His mercy when we fail, even with the best of intentions and instruction. In Psalm 25, v.2, David does not say, “In myself I trust,” but “O my God, in You I trust; let me not be put to shame. Let not my enemies exult over me.” In v. 5, David admits, “You (alone) are the God of my salvation.” In v. 6-7, David asks that God remember His own “mercy” and “steadfast love” and His own “goodness,” instead of David’s own imperfect goodness. In v.10, and v.12-14, David speaks of the Lord’s covenant faithfulness and His promises to him and his people and His “friendship” for them. The Lord alone could “turn to them and be gracious” (by His grace David and the others could be saved) and “pluck their feet out of the net” of “affliction” and “trouble” and “loneliness” (v.15-18). David could still only plead, in v.20, “O guard my soul and deliver me… for I take refuge in You.” He had to trust in the “integrity and uprightness” of the Lord to preserve him, not his own goodness. Only God could redeem him and Israel out of all their troubles (v.21-22).
That meant one more characteristic of “one who fears the Lord.” including David and others who lived by faith in the Lord and not in themselves. They had to “wait” for the Lord and His own good timing, in carrying out His plans. Three times in this psalm, in v. 3, 5, and 21, David talks to the Lord about waiting for Him to act. “None who waits for You shall be put to shame… For You I wait all the day long… for I wait for you.”
It was only “when the fullness of time had come that God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we all could receive adoption” as the children of God through Christ (Galatians 4:4-7). How happy were people like Simeon, who trusted God’s mercy and “was waiting for the consolation of Israel,” and Anna, “who began to give thanks to God and to speak of Him (Jesus) to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem,” when Jesus our Savior finally came (Luke 2:25-32 and 36-38).
May the Lord help us also to be ones who “fear Him” and “wait” upon Him and keep repenting for our own sins, and learning more of His Word and will, and walking humbly before Him, and trusting Him alone for His saving work for us, in our own day. May we say with David, “Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation,” through Christ (Psalm 25:5).
In discussing the 10 Commandments, Martin Luther said that “we should fear, love, and trust in God.” David includes all of these elements, but puts the greatest emphasis on trusting God’s grace and love and mercy for us. There is our hope (Romans 5:5 and John 1:16-17).
Monday May 22, 2023
Monday May 22, 2023
Sermon for the 7th Sunday of Easter, based on:
Sermon originally delivered June 5, 2011
Tuesday May 16, 2023
Tuesday May 16, 2023
The Scripture readings this Sunday bring the Easter season to a close, now that the Ascension of Jesus into heaven has been celebrated on Thursday, May18.
The Psalm is Psalm 68:1-10. “God shall arise” in judgment on “His enemies,… those who hate Him… and on the wicked…” But God’s people “shall exult” with “joy” before the Lord. David, the author, remembers how God brought His people, Israel, out of slavery in Egypt and led them “through the wilderness,” caring for their needs, and brought “His flock” to “a dwelling” place in the promised land. He cared, “in His goodness” even for “the fatherless” and “widows” and the “solitary” and “the needy” - all those who had been “prisoners,” restoring an “inheritance” for them.
In the same way, the Lord cared for the early Christians, after Jesus ascended into heaven. In the First Lesson, Acts 1:12-26, they gathered for “prayer,” asking the Lord’s guidance. God gave it, calling them through Old Testament prophecy to replace Judas, who had taken his life, with a new apostle. They chose two men who had been followers from the earliest days of the ministry of John the Baptist and Jesus, and prayed and asked the Lord to lead them to the right choice, Matthias. Matthias then became another key witness to Jesus and His resurrection.
In the Epistle lesson, 1 Peter 4:12-19 and 5:6-11, Peter tells his fellow believers not to be surprised when “trial” and “testing” and “sufferings” come. As Jesus suffered, so His disciples might be “insulted for the Name of Christ” and simply “as a Christian.” They should keep “doing good” according to God’s will and “entrusting their souls to their faithful Creator” and “humbling themselves under God’s mighty hand.” They can “cast all their cares and anxieties on the Lord for He cares for them.” All Christians face some suffering in “resisting Satan” in this life, but “staying firm in faith,” by God’s grace and His “strength and restoration,” we will be “called to eternal glory in Christ.”
Jesus gives these same promise in our Gospel lesson, John 17:1-11. This is called His prayer for us, as our High Priest, even as He would soon return to the presence of His “Holy Father” in heaven and “the glory” He had given up to become our suffering servant and Savior. Jesus knows that we have been called to faith in Him and prays that we may “keep the Word of God” and be kept “one” in faith, “in the name” of our Lord. For “this is eternal life, that we know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.” That is enough for us, because Jesus has already accomplished for us all that we need for eternal life.
Tuesday May 16, 2023
Tuesday May 16, 2023
Psalm 39 is another of the psalms of David. It is dedicated in the introduction to one of his three leaders of music, Jeduthun. Some think that another name for this leader is Ethan. See 1 Chronicles 16:41-42. Jeduthun is called “the King’s seer” in 2 Chronicles 35:15, indicating that he was singing God’s Word, as penned by David by God’s inspiration and guidance.
We know from other parts of our Psalm studies that David had many difficult, challenging times, with King Saul and Absalom, his own son, and with others. God Himself, needed to confront him and discipline him, too, at times of his own weaknesses. David is very honest about his struggles at these times. This psalm is one of those examples. The commentator, Walter Roehrs, calls it “the struggle of faith to subdue fretting and discontent over afflictions” (Concordia Self-Study Commentary, p. 359).
David begins by saying that he would “guard his mouth” - “muzzle it” - so that he would “not sin with his tongue” while “wicked” people were “in his presence.” He did want unbelieving people to hear his complaints against God and have their own negative views of God reinforced (Psalm 39:1). Again David said, “I was mute and silent; I held my peace.” He was trying his best not to challenge God, but “to no avail.” It did “no good.” He became more distressed, and his feelings were burning within him like a hot fire. Finally, he could not help but “speak up with his tongue” (Psalm 39:2-3).
What David does in Psalm 39:4-8 is to complain to God about how short and full of turmoil life is. His life feels so fleeting, “a mere breath.” “a shadow,” and full of “nothing.” Even if he can “heap up some wealth,” who knows who will end up with it? He wishes “that the Lord would make known his end to him and explain “what is the measure of his days.”
Don’t we have days and times where we feel the same way? We have troubles and frustrations and cannot understand what is going on. We may not say it out loud as David did, but we wonder what God is doing and not doing and how we can cope with such a troubled world. Job is another example of the same struggles and the ups and downs of faith. When tragic losses came to him, He could say, with strong faith, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” And we hear, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong… Job did not sin with his lips” (Job.1:21-22, 2:10). Later on, though, Job became critical of God and challenged Him to explain, and the Lord had to discipline and correct him and call him to repentance and renewed faith.
The same had happened for David. In Psalm 39:7-11, the Lord has awakened David to realize that he is the one who is doing wrong and transgressing, not God. David knew again that his only “hope” was in the Lord. The Lord needed “to discipline a man,” including David, with “strokes” and “rebukes for his sin.” It felt like “hostility” from “the hand of the Lord,” yet David knew that God “had done it” for his own good. Now David “waits in hope” in the Lord, praying that the Lord would deliver him from his transgressions and not have him be “scorned by the fool who rejects God” (Psalm 14:1).
Once again, “David is mute; he does not open his mouth.” This time he remembers that without God, “all mankind is a mere breath.” What a strong statement that is to humanists today, who are trusting in themselves and all that they can accomplish on their own, with their own human wisdom. David reminds that if God wished it, He could “consume like a moth what is dear to people” (Psalm 39:11).
This is a picture image that is used often in the Old Testament. See Job 13:28: “Man wastes away like a rotten thing; like a garment that is moth-eaten.” Or Isaiah 50:9: “Behold, the Lord helps me… Behold, all of them will wear out like a garment; the moth will eat them up.” See what Jesus says in His Sermon on the Mount, too: “Do lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy… but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-21). James also warns those trusting in what they have accumulated: “Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten.”
In contrast, David echoes what he said in Psalm 62:1-2, “For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation. He alone is my Rock and my Salvation, my Fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.” David simply says, “Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears” (Psalm 39:12). He trusts that the Lord does notice his earthly tears and struggles and will be merciful to him. As he said to the Lord in Psalm 56:8-11, “You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book? Then my enemies will turn back in the day when I call. This I know, that God is for me. In God, whose Word I praise… In God I trust; I shall not be afraid.” (How good it is to know that God knows about our tossing and turning at night and cares about all our burdens and anxieties, too!)
David closes this psalm and his prayer admitting that he is just a “sojourner,” “a guest” in this world, like everyone else. He no longer demands to “know his end” and what all will happen to him (Psalm 39:4). He simply prays that God “will look away” from his sins and struggles, and forgive him, and allow him “to smile again” and have joy in the Lord, before he departs this life (Psalm 39:12-13).
As New Testament Christians, we know that we can “rejoice in the Lord always,” because of all that Jesus has done for us as our Savior” (Philippians 4:4) and that “the peace of God, which surpasses understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7). At the same time, we know that we also, like David, are weak and struggling believers and regularly need the reminder in God’s Word and worship to confess our sins, and ask God for forgiveness and mercy and to trust His promises.
May God help us to guard our own mouths and tongues more, so that we may complain less, and trust our Lord more and encourage others more, rather than griping about them, too. May we be more careful in what we say in the presence of those who don’t believe, as well, so that we are a good, positive witness for our Lord, as David tried to be.
Tuesday May 16, 2023
Tuesday May 16, 2023
Sermon for the 6th Sunday of Easter, based on:
Sermon originally delivered May 29, 2011
Monday May 08, 2023
Monday May 08, 2023
We will begin with our Gospel lesson for this week, John 14:15-21, as a theme for this week’s readings could be Jesus’ promise, “I will not leave you as orphans.” We are never totally alone, though it may seem like it, at times. Jesus is with us, though the world cannot see or recognize Him. Because He lives, we also will live, and He has given us “another helper,” the Holy Spirit, to be with us forever, too. We then show our love for our Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, by seeking to follow His will, by listening to the Spirit of truth, through His Word of truth, the Bible.
Peter reminds us, in our Epistle lesson, 1 Peter 3:13-22, that Christ Jesus “suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God.” We receive personally the blessing of Christ’s forgiveness for us through “baptism, which now saves us.” We also have a great “hope that is in us,” not from ourselves, but from our “holy Christ the Lord.” Even if we have sufferings for seeking to do good and God’s will, “we will be blessed,” by our Lord.
In our first lesson, Acts 17:16-31, from the history of the early Christian church, we see Paul facing much opposition and skepticism in the famous city of Athens, in Greece. He has just been chased out of another city, Berea (Acts 17:13-15), but he trusts that the Lord is still with him. The city of Athens is “very religious” but “full of idols” and false ideas. People always want to hear something new and even have an altar “to the unknown god.” Paul proclaims to them the one true God, “the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth.” God cares about all people, even in their “ignorance” and confusion. Paul then calls them to repent and trust in His “appointed” Savior, Jesus, who died for them and has been raised from the dead. Some “mocked Paul” and some were willing to listen more, and the Lord brought some to believe in Christ.
The psalm is Psalm 66:8-20. The psalmist expresses his praise of God, even though God has allowed him and others to go through times of severe trial and testing, through fire and water and crushing burdens. God ultimately protected them and their souls and brought them out to a place of abundance. The psalmist has offered sacrifices of thanksgiving to God in return, in typical Old Testament terms. He has not “cherished iniquity in his heart.” Though he was imperfect, he has trusted that God would “not remove His steadfast love from him” or abandon him, but would answer his prayers in the best way.
Monday May 08, 2023
Monday May 08, 2023
Psalm 84 was written by someone from the Levite group known as the Sons of Korah. You can read about them in 1 Chronicles 6:31-38 and their descendants, as famous temple singers, in 1 Chronicles 15:17 and 16:41-42. Psalms attributed to them are Psalms 42,44-49,85, and 87-88, along with this psalm. The term “Gittith” in the introduction is likely a musical note, maybe encouraging the use of stringed instruments for this psalm, some think.
The psalmist longs for “the courts of the Lord” in the temple in Jerusalem (Psalm 84:1-2). The temple is called the Lord’s “dwelling place” because this is where God would sometimes show His glory and communicate with His people through His Word, as we have heard in previous studies. People knew that God was not limited only to being in the temple. Isaiah had written, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool; what is the house that you would build for Me?’” (Isaiah 66:1-2). The temple was also the place for God’s people to “sing for joy to the living God” in worship and to bring their gifts and sacrifices to the Lord (Psalm 84:2,4).
Though they were scattered in many places, every Jewish male was expected to come to the temple in Jerusalem three times a year, for the three major festivals: Passover, Weeks (Pentecost), and Booths.(See Exodus 34:23-24.) For some reason, though, the psalmist has not been able to get to Jerusalem as he should. He is envious of even the birds that are able to build nests for themselves near the altars or in the walls of the temple, close to the Lord of hosts, King and God (Psalm 84:3). He dreams of making the pilgrimage to Zion, (Jerusalem and the Temple), traveling the highways to Zion in his heart, as if he were with other pilgrims (Psalm 84:5). They would go through the Valley of Baca (which some translate as “the valley of tears”). The journey is long and hard, but the Lord provides springs and rain and continuing strength so that eventually they can appear before God in Zion, in His temple (Psalm 84:6-7).
The psalmist wishes he could be with those in Jerusalem. “One day in the Lord’s courts is better than a thousand days elsewhere," he says (Psalm 84:10). In fact, he would rather be a doorkeeper, just at the threshold of “the house of the Lord,” than to “dwell (maybe in a self-centered, lavish way) in the tents of wickedness” (Psalm 84:10).
The psalmist knows that being in the presence of the Lord is such a great blessing. “For the Lord God is a sun and shield, bestowing favor and honor, and withholding no good thing from His faithful people” (Psalm 84:11). We have heard very similar words in many places about the “goodness and mercy” of our God, provided so generously to us (Psalm 23:6, Matthew 7:11, James 1:17, and Titus 3:4, etc.).
In fact, some think that portions of this psalm are prophetic of our Lord Jesus. The psalmist prays, in Psalm 84:7-8, that the Lord God would “give ear” to him and “hear his prayer.” He asks God to “behold our shield; look on the face of Your anointed!” Kings and prophets were anointed; but there does not seem to be reference to them in this psalm. More likely, this is a reference to the Anointed One, the Messiah whom God promised one day to send - Jesus our Savior.
Jesus was so eager to be in His Father’s House, in the temple, when he was 12 years old. He knew He belonged there and did not want to leave. He knew He needed to be there, talking and learning, especially at Passover, though His family did not understand (Luke 2:41-52). He also spent much time teaching in the temple in the days just before His last Passover meal and the giving of the good gift of Holy Communion. He went through many a “valley of tears” in His life and ministry and ultimate sacrifice for our sins. Sparrows had places to nest in the temple, but Jesus had to say, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Matthew 8:20).
Jesus also fulfilled the prophecy of Malachi 4:2 of “the Sun of righteousness rising with healing in His wings” and of Luke 1:78: “the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high.” Jesus is our “Sun and our Shield,” providing us “the shield of faith” in Him, through the Holy Spirit (Psalm 84:11 and Ephesians 6:16). Jesus is the only one who “walked uprightly” all the time, “fulfilling all righteousness” for us, in our place (Psalm 84:11 and Matthew 3:15). Finally, we get the benefit of His perfect trust in His heavenly Father, so that we are saved by His grace through faith in Him that He provides for us (Ephesians 2:8-9). (Yes, “blessed is the one who trusts in Jesus above all - the Anointed One of God and our Savior” (Psalm 84:8-9, 12).
Much more could be said related to this psalm , but let me add just a few things. The New Testament, of course, takes the emphasis away from the temple in Jerusalem and puts the focus on Christ Jesus. Jesus, talking about Himself, said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up… He was speaking about the temple of His body” (John 2:18-22). Talking with a Samaritan woman, Jesus said, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain (in Samaria) nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father… The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John 4:19-26). Jesus clearly identified Himself in this passage as the promised Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One.
Jesus also predicted the destruction of the temple, which happened in 70 AD, never to be rebuilt to this day. (See Matthew 24:1-2.) However, as Psalm 84 describes, believers still longed for and needed opportunities to worship their Lord and receive His blessings. The early Christian church was no different. Right after Pentecost, we hear that the baptized believers in Christ “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching (God’s Word, the Scriptures) and the fellowship (gathering together to encourage one another) and the breaking of bread (fellowship meals and the Lord’s Supper - and more baptisms) and the prayers” (Acts 2:42). They met in the temple and in homes and later on in what we now call churches (places of assembly).
The importance of gathering together around God’s Word and the Sacraments (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper) is still just as great today. The writer to the Hebrews wrote, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day (the return of Christ) drawing near” (Hebrews 10:23-25). Especially in these post-Covid days, these words are very important. Many people got out of the habit of regular worship and still have not come back, even though they could. May we all be led to “long for the courts of the Lord,” as Psalm 84:1-2ff. says.
One last reminder. Our Lutheran Study Bible (ESV) notes say (p.929), “The unknown reason for the separation (of the psalmist from worship in the temple) makes the psalm more universal, aptly prayed by shut-ins, prisoners, travelers, Sunday workers, and all who have been temporarily separated from congregational worship.” There are other reasons, too. People are ill or disabled or don’t have transportation or they are in a place where there are few or no Christian churches or faithful Biblical churches, etc. That is why podcasts and streaming worship services and services on alternate days, etc., are being provided in many places these days. May we keep praying for people who can’t get to worship and think about how we can be of help to them, as we are able, and not neglect them. Everyone needs encouragement and the Word of God, centered in Christ our Savior.
Sunday May 07, 2023
Sunday May 07, 2023
Sermon for the 5th Sunday of Easter, based on:
Sermon originally delivered May 22, 2011
Tuesday May 02, 2023
Tuesday May 02, 2023
The Gospel lesson is at the heart of the readings we hear this week. Jesus had just told His disciples that He was going away. They do not understand and are clearly very upset. In John 14:1-14, we hear the confused responses of Thomas and Philip to what Jesus is saying, even though He is giving them very comforting words. Thomas wants to know where Jesus is going and how to get there. Jesus tells him that he is going to prepare a dwelling place for him, and He will come back to get him. Thomas does not need to trouble his heart about this, but just trust Jesus, who alone is the Way and the Truth and the Life and will bring him to the Heavenly Father. Philip just wants a chance to see the Father. Jesus tells Philip that if he has seen Jesus, He has also seen, as much as he needs to, the Father, who is in and with Jesus. Philip is also just to believe and trust in Jesus, and he will be led in the future to do greater things in the name of Jesus, for the glory of the Father.
Psalm 146 tells us that our hearts need not be troubled, if we simply trust, not ourselves and other fallible human beings, but our Creator God, in whom is our help and hope. He cares about people in all sorts of circumstances and situations in life, including us, whatever we are going through. Above all, He provides us with a Son of Man (our Lord Jesus), in whom there is salvation.
In the first lesson, Acts 6:1-9 and 7:2a and 7:51-60, we see that our hearts need not be troubled, as the early Christians were led by the Lord to care about both the physical and spiritual needs of people, as our Lord does. We are in the hands of the Son of Man, our living Lord Jesus, who forgives our sins and helps us in life and even in death and will “receive our spirits” to eternal life. In turn, we are called to be faithful to God and His Word as best we can, as Stephen was.
In the Epistle lesson, 1 Peter 2:2-10, Peter also calls us to long for “the pure spiritual milk” of God’s Word. Through it, we grow as God’s people and know that “the Lord is good,” and full of “excellencies” in His dealings with us. Our hearts need nor fear, either, for through Christ we have been called from darkness into God’s marvelous light and to belief in Christ. Once we were “nobodies,” but now we are “God’s people” and are covered by God’s “mercy” for us, and for our salvation.
Tuesday May 02, 2023
Tuesday May 02, 2023
I had noticed last week, with Good Shepherd Sunday, the reference in Psalm 80:1 to God as “Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock.” This follows right after Psalm 79:13, where God’s people say to the Lord, “We your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever; from generation to generation we will recount your praise.” Psalm 80 seemed like a good follow-up to what we heard in worship last week and has other important messages for us all, too.
The author is someone from the line of Asaph and his sons, from the tribe of Levi. Asaph was appointed by David to provide music in the tabernacle in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 15:16-19, 16:4-5,7 and Nehemiah 12:46). Asaph’s sons later provided music and songs in the temple (1 Chronicles 25:1-9) and are called “prophets,” as their words were inspired by God and His Holy Spirit. This is a reminder again that all Scripture, including the psalms, is inspired by God and helpful for us (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Psalm 50 and Psalms 73-83 are also mentioned as psalms by Asaph and his family group.
The mention of “Lilies” in the introduction is most likely a notation of the melody or musical setting for this psalm, when it was sung. The term “Lilies” is also found in the introduction to Psalms 45 and 60. (If you use the Lutheran Service Book, you can find some of these same type of notations with the hymns but also in the back of the hymnal on pages 998-1017. For example, you can find that the “tune” called “Old Hundredth,” “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow,” is used for 5 different hymns - 632, 775, 791, 805, and 923. See page 1015 in the Lutheran Service Book.)
Psalm 80 is a prayer that God, the “Shepherd of Israel,” would come to save His people, especially the Northern Kingdom of Israel, from threats at this time. (You might remember that after the time of Kings David and Solomon, the Kingdom split into two kingdoms, because there was disagreement over who should be king. Ten of the 12 tribes supported the Northern Kingdom. This is complicated history, which I won’t get into here, but the names mentioned in Psalm 80:1-2 are all connected mostly with the North and with Joseph. This northern kingdom tended to have leaders and people who were less faithful to God over time, and had many troubles as a result. We don’t know for sure, but this psalm was likely written when the North was being threatened by the armies of Assyria, which finally overran and destroyed the Northern Kingdom in 722 BC. Even the Southern Kingdom of Judah was threatened at this time, too.)
There were people still faithful to God, though, and they were crying out to God to “give ear” and to “stir up His might and come to save them" (Psalm 80, v.2). They were calling upon the one true God, “enthroned upon the cherubim” in the temple in Jerusalem.
The cherubim were angels, and representations of two of them were placed on the Ark of the Covenant, according to instructions given to Moses by God (Exodus 25:10-22, especially v.22). Later on, when the temple was built, Solomon built two cherubim in the inner sanctuary, above where the Ark was placed (1 Kings 5:22-28). This is where God would appear in glory, at times, to communicate with Moses and later on with God’s people. (Parallel to this would be the altar area in churches today. We know that God is with us always and is not limited to one place in a church. Yet we respect this area, where we hear God’s Word and receive His presence and blessings in Word and Sacrament.)
In Psalm 80, three times the psalmist and people pray, “Restore us, O God; let Your face shine, that we may be saved” (Psalm 80:3, 7, 19). They know that they are sinful people, who need to be “restored” by God and His mercy and forgiveness. They know that they do not deserve this mercy. God has a right to be angry with them, and they ask, “How long will You be angry with Your people’s prayers?” (Psalm 80:4). They remember how much God had blessed them in the past, taking them from being a small “vine” in Egypt and allowing them to grow into a strong nation (Psalm 80:8-11).
The mention of “mountains” and “cedars” and “the sea” and “the River” describe the boundaries of Israel in its greatest times. See Deuteronomy 11:24 as another example of that description. We could spend a whole study and more on how often the images of a vine and vineyard is used to talk about God’s people, too. See Old Testament references like Isaiah 5:1-7, 27:2-6, Jeremiah 2:21, 12:10, and Hosea 10:1, and New Testament passages like John 10:4, Luke 13:6, Mark 12:1-12, and John 15:1-6.
Sadly, God’s own people had so often sinned and rebelled against Him and His will, including idolatry and worship of false gods, particularly in the Northern Kingdom, that the people had often experienced “the bread of tears” and “tears to drink in full measure,” as a result of their sins. There was “contention” with neighboring people and mockery and laughter from their enemies (Psalm 80:5-6). The trouble and sorrow all seemed to be happening again. God’s “vineyard,” the place of His people, was being “broken down” and plundered again by enemy peoples (Psalm 80:12-13, 16).
And so God’s people cry out, “Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine” (Psalm 80:14). They knew that their only hope would be in God’s “letting His face shine” upon them again with His mercy and peace and blessing (Psalm 80:7, Numbers 6:24-27). They could not “restore” and “save“ themselves, by their own power.
Sadly again, most of the Northern Kingdom continued to “turn back from the Lord” (Psalm 80:18) and finally the Assyrians conquered these people and killed many and carried most others away into captivity in other lands. Very few of these Jews ever returned to the land of Israel. God did not give up on His people, though, even after the Southern Kingdom also drifted from the Lord’s will and many were carried away into captivity in Babylon, in 587-586 BC. God preserved a remnant of His people and brought them back to the land of Israel and continued His promises to answer His people’s prayers “to come and save” them (Psalm 80:3).
Look especially at Psalm 80:15,17-18. Several of the things said here refer to our coming Savior Jesus. The word “stock” in v.15 could be translated “the shoot” or “the root” that is planted by God’s right hand, His most powerful hand. See how that same term is used in the Messianic prophecy of Isaiah 11:1-2 and referred to in passages like Acts 13:22-23, regarding Jesus, from the line of Jesse. Notice in Psalm 80:15,17, “the son God has made strong for Himself… the man of God’s right hand, the son of man whom God has made strong for Himself.”
The term “Son of Man” is a reference to the Messiah in Daniel 7:13 and Psalm 2 and other places. and it is a term Jesus often used for Himself in the Gospels, for His saving work. (See Mark 10:45 and Matthew 12:8 and Luke 19:10, etc.) Hosea 11:1 is quoted by Matthew as referring to Jesus, called out of Egypt as God’s Son. Even a Jewish writing, the Targum, paraphrased Psalm 80:15b as referring to “the King Messiah whom Thou hast established for Thyself,” though the emphasis was simply on the Messiah coming from the Jewish nation.
Clearly, the New Testament says that Jesus was the answer to these many prayers of Psalm 80. He was the Shepherd of Israel and the whole world - the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). The psalmist prays, “Give us life, and we will call on Your Name” (Psalm 80:18). He prays, “Let Your Face shine, that we may be saved,” again and again (Psalm 80:3,7,19). John 1:1,4-5 tells that “the Word (Jesus) was God… In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
The psalmist prays, “Stir up Your might and come to save us” (Psalm 80:2). That is exactly why Jesus came. John 3:16-17 tells us, “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him… that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus is the Answer, and we are “restored” through Him (Psalm 23:3, Psalm 51:12, and 1 Peter 5:10, “The God of all grace , who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you”).
Two final thoughts. We use the prayer, “Stir up your power and come to save us” (Psalm 80:2) also in the four weeks of the Advent season, as we prepare for a truly Christ-centered Christmas and its greatest gift, Jesus Himself. We can also use those words as a prayer for our churches, that Christ will do His saving work in and through the Word and Sacraments that we use, even in challenging days, when some seem more resistant to the faith. And we pray this prayer also as we await with confidence the return of Christ on the last day. As Revelation 22:20 says, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”
Finally, one last thought that Lutherans might be especially interested in. Pope Leo X, in 1520, wrote a papal document condemning Martin Luther and his teachings and giving him 60 days to appear in Rome. Pope Leo quoted from Psalm 80:13, saying that Luther himself was “the boar from the forest who was ravaging the Church.” In early 1521, Pope Leo then excommunicated Luther from the Roman Catholic Church, even though Luther was trying to proclaim Jesus as the one and only Savior from sin (John 10:9, 14:6) and the one who was seeking to draw all people together in one flock, with one Shepherd, Jesus Himself, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit (John 10:16).