Vines and vineyards are mentioned periodically throughout the Bible. Earlier this week we looked at a passage of Scripture from the Prophet Isaiah which spoke of God’s vineyard, the nation of Israel. Now today we see that the Lord speaks again about His special vine in our psalm for this week. We see how He cared about the vineyard, and what happened with it. Let’s take a quick look at our Scripture.
As the psalm opens, Asaph, who is listed as the author, prays to the Lord, addressing Him as “Shepherd of Israel” (vs. 1). God is frequently described as a Shepherd, and we, His people, as the flock. The well-known Psalm 23 of David and many of the prophets speak of Yahweh as a Shepherd. The Lord Jesus is called the Good Shepherd (John 10:11-15).
Though the word is not specifically used here in this psalm, the Lord is also referred to as a King. Asaph addresses Him as Lord God of hosts. The word “host” in the Bible means “armies”, and would often refer to the angelic armies that serve God. Yahweh has innumerable angels to serve Him and fight for Him and His Church. Asaph repeats several times the phrase Lord God of hosts, thus the God and leader of angelic armies (vs. 4, 7, 14, and 19). He also refers to God as dwelling between the cherubim (vs. 1), which was the spot on top of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies of the Temple, the place where God’s special presence was. That was symbolic for God’s throne, the throne of the Divine King of the Universe. Yahweh is both our loving and faithful Shepherd, and also our just, powerful, sovereign, and glorious King.
Asaph goes on to describe how God led His people out of Egypt, like a shepherd leading his flock. God had struck down Pharaoh and the army of Egypt for His people, who He calls His vine, and led the people through the wilderness, providing for them. He then cast out the pagan nations of the Canaanites and other “ites”, and planted the vine, giving them much room to grow and take root (vs. 8-9). The people of Israel spread out and grew, just like a good, strong, healthy grape vine does (vs. 10-11). The land that the Lord intended for them to have was to spread from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates River.
What happened? Why did the Lord allow the northern Kingdom of Israel to be overrun and led captive by the Assyrians, and then later the southern Kingdom of Judah by Babylon? The psalmist describes it as the Lord allowing the hedges that surrounded and protected the vineyard to be broken down, allowing scavengers to come and take of the grapes, and permitting wild animals to come in and devour the vines (vs. 12-13). This was God’s special vineyard. Most people who have a special garden do what they can to take care of it, including keeping up a well-repaired fence or hedge, yet here God allowed His vineyard to be trampled under.
The psalmist Asaph knew what was wrong. He knew that the people had turned away from faithfully following the Lord God. He repeatedly prays that God will restore them. He prays that God will look down from heaven and restore the vine that He, Himself, had planted. Right now it is perished, it is burned, and no longer the beautiful and strong plant that it once was (vs. 14-16). God’s people had removed themselves from His Covenant and its blessings through their apostasy. Though they have failed in following the Lord, and have sinned grievously, the psalmist reminds God that the vine still belongs to Him, and that if they return to Him, and are spiritually revived, would He not care for it again.
We all falter from time to time, and need to be restored. We need God’s forgiveness, and in order to receive that, we need to pray, confess, and repent. When we turn to the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, the True Vine, through faith in Him we become branches of God’s Vine, and will never be cut off. We need to abide in Him, and then we will bear much fruit (John 15:5).
Right now, the nation of Israel remains in apostasy and unbelief. They remain a vineyard whose hedge is still down, and the vine trampled on. As the psalmist prayed, they too need to pray for themselves to be restored. They need to call upon the Lord Jesus Christ as their Messiah and become a branch of His Vine, just like all people do. Then God’s face will shine upon them, and they shall be saved.
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