Bible Glide

Psalms 80

Psalms 80 Summary, Context, and Full Chapter

Psalm 80 is a communal prayer for help in a time of national distress. The psalmist asks God to restore His people, end their shame, and show favor again. It combines sorrow over present trouble with confidence that God can bring renewal and salvation.

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What happens in Psalms 80?

This psalm opens with a plea to the Shepherd of Israel to shine forth and save His people. The singer asks God to restore them and questions why His anger seems to continue while they suffer tears, conflict, and ridicule. The prayer then recalls Israel as a vine brought out of Egypt, planted, and once spread widely across the land. Now that vine is broken down and exposed to destruction. The psalm closes by asking God to look down, defend what He planted, strengthen the chosen one, and restore the people so they will call on His name again.

Psalm 80 is a communal lament in Book 3 of the Psalms, which often focuses on crisis, loss, and the need for God to restore His people. It follows another plea for mercy and continues the theme of national suffering under divine discipline. The repeated request for God to make His face shine recalls covenant language and frames the psalm as a call for renewed favor and rescue.

Themes to notice

  • God as ShepherdThe psalm begins by calling on God, the Shepherd of Israel, to lead, protect, and save His flock.
  • RestorationRepeated pleas ask God to turn back toward His people and renew their strength after loss and shame.
  • The Vine of IsraelIsrael is remembered as a vine once planted and blessed, now damaged and in need of divine care.

Questions for Psalms 80

  • What does the psalm teach about bringing honest grief and questions to God?
  • Why does the image of Israel as a vine matter in this prayer?
  • What does it mean for God to cause His face to shine upon His people?

Read the full text of Psalms 80 below, then open it in the reader to highlight, take notes, or ask follow-up Bible questions. No account is required to read.

Psalms 80

Hear Us, O Shepherd of Israel

For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph.

1Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,

who leads Joseph like a flock;

You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,

shine forth

2before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.

Rally Your mighty power

and come to save us.

3Restore us, O God,

and cause Your face to shine upon us,

that we may be saved.

4O LORD God of Hosts,

how long will Your anger smolder

against the prayers of Your people?

5You fed them with the bread of tears

and made them drink the full measure of their tears.

6You make us contend with our neighbors;

our enemies mock us.

7Restore us, O God of Hosts,

and cause Your face to shine upon us,

that we may be saved.

8You uprooted a vine from Egypt;

You drove out the nations and transplanted it.

9You cleared the ground for it,

and it took root and filled the land.

10The mountains were covered by its shade,

and the mighty cedars with its branches.

11It sent out its branches to the Sea,

and its shoots toward the River.

12Why have You broken down its walls,

so that all who pass by pick its fruit?

13The boar from the forest ravages it,

and the creatures of the field feed upon it.

14Return, O God of Hosts, we pray!

Look down from heaven and see!

Attend to this vine—

15the root Your right hand has planted,

the son You have raised up for Yourself.

16Your vine has been cut down and burned;

they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

17Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand,

on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.

18Then we will not turn away from You;

revive us, and we will call on Your name.

19Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts;

cause Your face to shine upon us,

that we may be saved.

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