Psalm 80:3














1. Three times is this prayer repeated, but with slight, though noticeable, difference. Here, in its first utterance, it is addressed only to God. But the second time (ver. 7) it calls on God as "God of hosts." The eye of faith saw the ministers of God's power around him, the hosts of the holy angels who waited to do his will. Then the third time (ver. 19) it is the "Lord God of hosts" on whom he calls, making mention of the covenant name by which God was known in Israel as especially their God. Hence our argument for faith. If God be our God, then he will help us. Thus "Faith's clay grows brighter as the hours roll on; and her prayers grow more full and mighty." Prayer warms to its work, and in it. Often we begin with but scant store of trust, but as we pray on our hope and confidence grow. Therefore be instant in prayer.

2. Note the opening words of this prayer. It is "turn us," not our circumstances and conditions. Many people think that if these were right they would be right; but the truth is far more often just the other way: it is toe who want changing; if the Lord turn us, then all the rest will be of small import, and will be turned as much as will be for our good. And it is not a mere improvement, a patch on the old. garment, that is wanted - just a partial reformation here and there, but a complete change. "Ye must be born again." God must "turn us." An old sea captain replied to a faithful minister who, in seeking to lead him to God, told him that he had better sail from henceforth under another flag, "No," said the sailor, "that won't do; I mean to scuttle the ship, and get a new one altogether; there's nothing else to be done. I've tried to mend the other often enough." He was right. No partial amendment will save any soul. And God must turn us. There is a human side in man's salvation, but there is still more a Divine side, and the first work is of God. He ever seeks us before we seek him. And when he fully saves a man, it is along the lines suggested by our text. There are three stages in the work.

I. GOD TURNS US. And he does this:

1. By giving us repentance. Too many keep calling on men to "only believe." Christ and his apostles never bade men "only believe," when they sought salvation. But Christ commanded that "repentance and faith" should be preached, not faith only. Where, as with the Philippian gaoler, the apostle said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," etc., it was because repentance had already taken place, the man was really repentant at that moment. And whenever God turns a soul to himself, it is by way of repentance. This means that the soul sees its sin, feels and grieves over it, renounces it before God and man.

2. My leading us to faith. Not the mere belief of any doctrine about Christ, but more than that - the actual committal of himself to Christ for salvation; actually trusting him to pardon, accept, and save. Now, this is the complete spiritual change which the word "turn" implies. It is the first great step in the soul's salvation. Then -

II. GOD TURNS US AGAIN. The prayer is, "Turn us again. Now, what does this mean?

1. It may be the prayer of a penitent backslider. This psalm contemplates Israel as such. And unless the backslider is turned again, he cannot be saved. He must come back to God. But:

2. It is the prayer of one who seeks full salvation. After repentance and faith, which constituted the great first step in salvation, and which do save a man if he abide therein, there is given a higher gift to him who heartily desires it. It is called in Acts 8., 18., 19., speaking of the Samaritan converts, of Apollos, and of the twelve disciples of John at Ephesus, the receiving of the Holy Ghost" It is a distinct and further and most blessed gift, qualifying for service, and uplifting the soul to a stage of experience which it has not known as yet. It separates the soul from sin, secures the clean heart, and wins the fulfilment of that glorious promise in Ezekiel 36:25, and the many others like unto it. The believer is made "pure in heart," and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses him from all sin. This comes from the receiving of the Holy Ghost. We are delivered from that miserable round of sinning and repenting, which the mass of professing Christians wearily travel, and, instead thereof, a life is lived in which the "whole spirit, soul, and body is preserved blameless." It is the "abundant life" which our Lord came to give.

III. GOD CAUSES HIS FACE TO SHINE. This tells of "the joy" of God's salvation, that walking in the light which ensures that here and now the days of our mourning are ended. It is that holy, happy, joyful, winsome religion which is what our God intended us to have, which not a few have enjoyed, and which waits for all those who truly seek it. Then, when all this is, then "we shall be saved." God will be glorified, we ourselves filled with the love of God, and our fellow men will be blessed through us as otherwise they cannot be. Then will our religious life answer to the beautiful description given in vers. 8-11. "Amen, even so, come, Lord Jesus." - S.C.

Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Homilist.
I. DIVINE GREATNESS, "Lord God of hosts." What hosts are under Him? All the tribes of irrational life on this earth, all classes of men, all the stars of heaven, all the myriad systems of globes in space, all the innumerable armies of intelligent existences, both the happy and the miserable, He is Lord of all. How great is God! "To whom will ye liken Me? saith the Lord," etc.

II. DIVINE GRACIOUSNESS. "Cause Thy face to shine."

1. The enjoyment of God's graciousness requires a Divine change on man's part. "Turn us."(1) Some do not see God at all. "God is not in all their thoughts."(2) Some see His frown. Their guilty conscience invests Him with terrible attributes and covers His face with the frowns of indignant justice.(3) Some see His shining face. "Thy face" — beaming face; Such are they whom He has turned to Him, by repentance towards Him and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

2. The enjoyment of God's graciousness involves the realization of man's highest hopes, "And we shall be saved." What is that? We know what it meant to the author of this poem; but it means infinitely more to all human souls.

(Homilist.)

This seems to be the only prayer the psalmist puts up in this psalm, as being of itself sufficient for the removal of all the ills over which he mourned. The reason is obvious. He had traced all the calamities to one source — "O Lord God, how long wilt Thou be angry?" and now he seeks refreshing from one fountain.

I. THE BENEFITS OF REVIVAL TO ANY CHURCH IN THE WORLD will be a lasting blessing. I do not mean that spurious kind of revival. I do not mean all that excitement attendant upon religion, which has brought men into a kind of spasmodic godliness, and translated them from sensible beings into such as could only rave about a religion they did not understand. I do not think that is a real and true revival. God's revivals, whilst they are attended with a great heat and warmth of piety, yet have with them knowledge as well as life, understanding as well as power. Among the blessings of the revival of Christians are —

1. The salvation of sinners. For this we must, and will, cry, "O Lord our God, visit Thy plantation, and pour out again upon us Thy mighty Spirit."

2. The promotion of true love and unanimity in its midst. Oh, if God gives us revival, we shall have perfect unanimity.

3. The mouths of the enemies of the truth are stopped.

4. The promotion of the glory of God. If we would honour God by the Church, we must have a warm Church, a burning Church, loving the truths it holds, and carrying them out in the life.

II. WHAT ARE THE MEANS OF REVIVAL? They are twofold. One is, "Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts"; and the other is, "Cause Thy face to shine." There can be no revival without both of these.

1. "Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts."(1) Your minister feels that he needs to be turned more thoroughly to the Lord his God.(2) But there are some of you who are workers in the Church. Large numbers are actively engaged for Christ. Now, what I exhort you to is this: cry unto God — "Turn us again, O God." You want more of the Spirit of God in all your labours.(3) "Turn us again" must be the prayer of all of you, not only in your religious labours, but in your daily lives.

2. The other means of revival is a precious one — "Cause Thy face to shine." Ah! we might ask of God, that we might all be devoted, all His servants, all prayerful, and all what we want to be; but it would never come without this second prayer being answered; and even if it did come without this, where would be the blessing? It is the causing of His face to shine on His Church that makes a Church flourish. A black cloud has swept over us, all we want is that the sun should come, and it shall sweep that cloud away. There have been direful things; but what of them, if God, our God, shall appear?

III. Come, now, let me stir you all up, all of you who love the Saviour, to SEEK AFTER THIS REVIVAL.

( C. H. Spurgeon.).

Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
Homilist.
I. TRUE WORSHIP (vers 1-5)

1. True worship is the highest happiness, which consists in —

(1)Right activity. Worthy of our nature. In harmony with all our faculties.

(2)The highest love.

(3)The sublimest hope.

2. True worship is a Divine ordinance, binding on all moral intelligences.

(1)Right in itself.

(2)Essential to their happiness.

II. DIVINE KINDNESS (vers. 6-10). This appears in —

1. Their deliverance from thraldom. God's mercy should inspire the soul with gratitude; and gratitude is an element of worship.

2. Answering their prayer.

3. Giving them direction.

III. HUMAN FOOLISHNESS (vers. 11-16). By disobedience they lost —

1. His superintending care.

2. Victory over enemies.

3. The choicest provisions. Disobedience to the Divine law is supreme folly. Sinners are fools. The Bible calls them so, and the experience of humanity proves them such.

(Homilist.)

If you begin praising God you are bound to go on. The work engrosses the heart. It deepens and broadens like a rolling river. Praise is something like an avalanche, which may begin with a snowflake on the mountain moved by the wing of a bird, but that flake binds others to it and becomes a rolling ball: this rolling ball gathers more snow about it till it is huge, immense; it crashes through a forest; it thunders down into the valley; it buries a village under its stupendous mass. Thus praise may begin with the tear of gratitude; anon the bosom swells with love; thankfulness rises to a song; it breaks forth into a shout; it mounts up to join the everlasting hallelujahs which surround the throne of God. What a mercy is it that God by His Spirit will give us greater capacities by and by than we have here! for if we continue to learn more and more of the love of Christ we shall be driven to sore straits if confined within the narrow and drowsy framework of this mortal body.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

People
Asaph, Benjamin, Joseph, Manasseh, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Cause, Face, O, Restore, Safe, Saved, Shine, Shining, Turn
Outline
1. The psalmist in his prayer complains of the miseries of the church
8. God's former favors are turned into judgments
14. He prays for deliverance

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 80:3

     1255   face of God
     4835   light, spiritual
     8151   revival, corporate

Psalm 80:1-19

     8149   revival, nature of

Library
One Antidote for Many Ills
This morning's sermon, then will be especially addressed to my own church, on the absolute necessity of true religion in our midst, and of revival from all apathy and indifference. We may ask of God multitudes of other things, but amongst them all, let this be our chief prayer: "Lord, revive us; Lord, revive us!" We have uttered it in song; let me stir up your pure minds, by way of remembrance, to utter it in your secret prayers, and make it the daily aspiration of your souls. I feel, beloved, that
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Dishonest Tenants
'And He began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Blessing of God.
NUMB. VI. 22-27. We have already seen the grace of GOD making provision that His people, who had lost the privilege of priestly service, might draw near to Him by Nazarite separation and consecration. And not as the offence was the free gift: those who had forfeited the privilege of priestly service were the males only, but women and even children might be Nazarites; whosoever desired was free to come, and thus draw near to GOD. We now come to the concluding verses of Numb. vi, and see in them one
James Hudson Taylor—Separation and Service

Period iii. The Critical Period: A. D. 140 to A. D. 200
The interval between the close of the post-apostolic age and the end of the second century, or from about 140 to 200, may be called the Critical Period of Ancient Christianity. In this period there grew up conceptions of Christianity which were felt by the Church, as a whole, to be fundamentally opposed to its essential spirit and to constitute a serious menace to the Christian faith as it had been commonly received. These conceptions, which grew up both alongside of, and within the Church, have
Joseph Cullen Ayer Jr., Ph.D.—A Source Book for Ancient Church History

The Wicked Husbandmen.
"Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: and when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto
William Arnot—The Parables of Our Lord

Discourse on the Good Shepherd.
(Jerusalem, December, a.d. 29.) ^D John X. 1-21. ^d 1 Verily, verily, I say to you [unto the parties whom he was addressing in the last section], He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. [In this section Jesus proceeds to contrast his own care for humanity with that manifested by the Pharisees, who had just cast out the beggar. Old Testament prophecies were full of declarations that false shepherds would arise to
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Homiletical.
Twenty-four homilies on miscellaneous subjects, published under St. Basil's name, are generally accepted as genuine. They are conveniently classified as (i) Dogmatic and Exegetic, (ii) Moral, and (iii) Panegyric. To Class (i) will be referred III. In Illud, Attende tibi ipsi. VI. In Illud, Destruam horrea, etc. IX. In Illud, Quod Deus non est auctor malorum. XII. In principium Proverbiorum. XV. De Fide. XVI. In Illud, In principio erat Verbum. XXIV. Contra Sabellianos et Arium et Anomoeos.
Basil—Basil: Letters and Select Works

Rules to be Observed in Singing of Psalms.
1. Beware of singing divine psalms for an ordinary recreation, as do men of impure spirits, who sing holy psalms intermingled with profane ballads: They are God's word: take them not in thy mouth in vain. 2. Remember to sing David's psalms with David's spirit (Matt. xxii. 43.) 3. Practise St. Paul's rule--"I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing with the understanding also." (1 Cor. xiv. 15.) 4. As you sing uncover your heads (1 Cor. xi. 4), and behave yourselves in comely reverence as in the
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Shepherd of Our Souls.
"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."--John x. 11. Our Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered."
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

Farewell Discourse to Disciples.
(Jerusalem. Evening Before the Crucifixion.) ^D John XIV.-XVI. ^d 1 Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me. [That one should betray him and one should deny him, that all should be offended, and that the Lord should depart, raised anxieties which Jesus here seeks to quiet. That they should go out as homeless wanderers without the presence of their Lord and be subjected to persecution, was also in their thoughts. But Jesus sustains their spirits by appealing to them to
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Barren Fig-Tree;
OR, THE DOOM AND DOWNFALL OF THE FRUITLESS PROFESSOR: SHOWING, THAT THE DAY OF GRACE MAY BE PAST WITH HIM LONG BEFORE HIS LIFE IS ENDED; THE SIGNS ALSO BY WHICH SUCH MISERABLE MORTALS MAY BE KNOWN. BY JOHN BUNYAN 'Who being dead, yet speaketh.'--Hebrews 11:4 London: Printed for J. Robinson, at the Golden Lion, in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1688. This Title has a broad Black Border. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This solemn, searching, awful treatise, was published by Bunyan in 1682; but does not appear
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

Links
Psalm 80:3 NIV
Psalm 80:3 NLT
Psalm 80:3 ESV
Psalm 80:3 NASB
Psalm 80:3 KJV

Psalm 80:3 Bible Apps
Psalm 80:3 Parallel
Psalm 80:3 Biblia Paralela
Psalm 80:3 Chinese Bible
Psalm 80:3 French Bible
Psalm 80:3 German Bible

Psalm 80:3 Commentaries

Bible Hub
Psalm 80:2
Top of Page
Top of Page