Psalms 80 Study Notes: A Plea to Restore God's Vine
Asaph calls on God as Israel's Shepherd to rescue His suffering people, repeating a refrain that asks Him to restore them and show His favor. He pictures Israel as a vine God brought from Egypt and planted, now broken down and burned, and asks God to revive it.
General
What complaint does the psalmist bring to God in 80:4-6?
Answer: His anger lingers even while His people keep praying
The psalmist asks how long God's anger will keep burning against His people even as they pray to Him (80:4). Their grief is so constant that tears have become their food and drink, a picture of sorrow filling every part of daily life (80:5). God has let them become a cause of strife with neighboring peoples, and their enemies laugh at them (80:6). Other psalms use the same language: tears as food day and night (Psalm 42:3), and God's people made a laughingstock to those around them (Psalm 79:4; Psalm 44:13). The lament is addressed to God, because the people know their troubles are under His hand.
- Psalm 80:4-6 (BSB)“O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people? You fed them with the bread of tears and made them drink the full measure of their tears. You make us contend with our neighbors; our enemies mock us.”The people lament that God's anger continues against their prayers, that grief fills their days, and that neighbors and enemies scorn them.
- Psalm 42:3 (BSB)“My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?””Another psalmist uses the same picture of tears as daily food while people taunt him about his God.
- Psalm 79:4 (BSB)“We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.”The previous psalm of Asaph laments the same scorn from surrounding neighbors.
- Psalm 44:13 (BSB)“You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.”Psalm 44 also says God has let His people become a mockery to those around them.
Theological
What is the substance of the lament in 80:4-6?
Answer: His anger lingers even while His people keep praying
The lament presses the question of duration: how long will God's anger smolder against His people's prayers (80:4)? The imagery of tears as bread and drink portrays unrelenting grief (80:5), and the people have become an object of contention and derision among their neighbors (80:6). The same idiom of tears as food appears in Psalm 42:3, and the reproach of neighbors is a recurring complaint of the national laments (Psalm 79:4; Psalm 44:13). The psalmist traces the affliction to God's hand and so brings the complaint directly to Him.
- Psalm 80:4-6 (BSB)“O LORD God of Hosts, how long will Your anger smolder against the prayers of Your people? You fed them with the bread of tears and made them drink the full measure of their tears. You make us contend with our neighbors; our enemies mock us.”The people lament that God's anger continues against their prayers, that grief fills their days, and that neighbors and enemies scorn them.
- Psalm 42:3 (BSB)“My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?””Another psalmist uses the same picture of tears as daily food while people taunt him about his God.
- Psalm 79:4 (BSB)“We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.”The previous psalm of Asaph laments the same scorn from surrounding neighbors.
- Psalm 44:13 (BSB)“You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.”Psalm 44 also says God has let His people become a mockery to those around them.
General
What does the repeated refrain of Psalm 80 (80:3, 7, 19) ask God to do?
Answer: Bring them back and turn His favor on them for rescue
The same prayer returns three times as a refrain (80:3, 7, 19): the people ask God to restore them and to let the light of His face shine on them so that they may be saved. For God's face to shine on someone means for Him to look on that person with kindness and favor. The words recall the blessing the priests spoke over Israel, asking the LORD to make His face shine on them and be gracious (Numbers 6:24-26). The people do not ask to fix things themselves. They ask God to restore them, just as Lamentations asks God to bring His people back to Himself so they can return (Lamentations 5:21).
- Psalm 80:3 (BSB)“Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.”The first time the refrain appears, asking God to restore His people and show them His favor.
- Psalm 80:19 (BSB)“Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.”The refrain closes the psalm, now with God's fullest title.
- Numbers 6:24-26 (BSB)“‘May the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’”The priestly blessing asks the LORD to make His face shine on Israel, the same picture of His gracious favor the refrain prays for.
- Lamentations 5:21 (BSB)“Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old,”Lamentations likewise asks God to restore His people so that they may return, showing that restoration is His work.
Theological
What is the content of the refrain that structures Psalm 80 (80:3, 7, 19)?
Answer: Bring them back and turn His favor on them for rescue
The refrain (80:3, 7, 19) is a petition for restoration and for the shining of God's face, with salvation as its result. The shining face is the language of the Aaronic benediction, God's favorable regard and grace toward His people (Numbers 6:24-26). The petition locates the initiative wholly in God: He must restore before they can be saved, the same order found in Lamentations, where the people ask the LORD to restore them to Himself so that they may return (Lamentations 5:21).
- Psalm 80:3 (BSB)“Restore us, O God, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.”The first time the refrain appears, asking God to restore His people and show them His favor.
- Psalm 80:19 (BSB)“Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.”The refrain closes the psalm, now with God's fullest title.
- Numbers 6:24-26 (BSB)“‘May the LORD bless you and keep you; may the LORD cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; may the LORD lift up His countenance toward you and give you peace.’”The priestly blessing asks the LORD to make His face shine on Israel, the same picture of His gracious favor the refrain prays for.
- Lamentations 5:21 (BSB)“Restore us to Yourself, O LORD, so we may return; renew our days as of old,”Lamentations likewise asks God to restore His people so that they may return, showing that restoration is His work.
General
What does the people's promise in 80:18 rest on?
Answer: God first giving them new life and strength
The people promise that they will stay loyal to God and pray to Him, but in the same verse they ask Him to revive them (80:18). To revive means to give new life. Their faithfulness is not something they can produce on their own; it will be the fruit of God's work in them. Another psalm prays the same way, asking God to revive His people so they can rejoice in Him (Psalm 85:6). God promised to replace His people's stony heart and to put His Spirit in them so they would walk in His ways (Ezekiel 36:26-27), and Paul says God Himself produces in believers both the desire and the doing (Philippians 2:13).
- Psalm 80:18 (BSB)“Then we will not turn away from You; revive us, and we will call on Your name.”The people promise loyalty and prayer, but first ask God to give them new life.
- Psalm 85:6 (BSB)“Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?”Another psalm likewise asks God to revive His people so that they may rejoice in Him.
- Ezekiel 36:26-27 (BSB)“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.”God promises to give a new heart and His Spirit, who causes His people to walk in His ways.
- Philippians 2:13 (BSB)“For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.”Paul teaches that God is the one who works in believers both the desire and the ability to do His will.
Theological
On what does the vow of renewed loyalty in 80:18 depend?
Answer: God first giving them new life and strength
The vow of 80:18 is grounded in a prior petition: God must quicken them, and then they will pray to Him and not turn back. The people's perseverance is the fruit of God's quickening, not its condition. Psalm 85:6 prays for the same reviving work, and the new-covenant promise makes the order explicit: God gives the new heart and the Spirit, and so causes His people to walk in His statutes (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Paul states the same grace-first order, that God produces in His people both the willing and the doing (Philippians 2:13).
- Psalm 80:18 (BSB)“Then we will not turn away from You; revive us, and we will call on Your name.”The people promise loyalty and prayer, but first ask God to give them new life.
- Psalm 85:6 (BSB)“Will You not revive us again, that Your people may rejoice in You?”Another psalm likewise asks God to revive His people so that they may rejoice in Him.
- Ezekiel 36:26-27 (BSB)“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.”God promises to give a new heart and His Spirit, who causes His people to walk in His ways.
- Philippians 2:13 (BSB)“For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.”Paul teaches that God is the one who works in believers both the desire and the ability to do His will.
General
How does the psalmist address God in the opening plea of Psalm 80?
Answer: As the Shepherd of His people, throned over the cherubim
Asaph begins by calling on God as the Shepherd who guides Joseph's descendants the way a shepherd guides sheep, and as the King whose throne is above the cherubim (80:1). The cherubim were the golden winged figures set above the covenant ark, where God said He would meet with Moses (Exodus 25:22). The psalmist asks Him to shine out in the sight of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin, to stir up His strength, and to come and rescue them (80:1-2). Jacob had spoken of God as the one who shepherded him all his life (Genesis 48:15), and another psalm praises the LORD as reigning above the cherubim (Psalm 99:1). The opening joins tender care and royal power in one appeal.
- Psalm 80:1-2 (BSB)“For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Rally Your mighty power and come to save us.”Asaph opens by calling on God as Israel's Shepherd and as the King throned above the cherubim, asking Him to act and save.
- Genesis 48:15 (BSB)“Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,”Jacob, blessing Joseph, spoke of God as the one who had shepherded him all his life, the same picture the psalm uses for Joseph's descendants.
- Exodus 25:22 (BSB)“And I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony; I will speak with you about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.”The cherubim stood over the ark, where God promised to meet with Moses, so the title points to His royal presence among His people.
- Psalm 99:1 (BSB)“The LORD reigns; let the nations tremble! He is enthroned above the cherubim; let the earth quake!”Another psalm names the LORD as reigning from His throne above the cherubim, a title of kingly rule.
Theological
How does the opening petition of Psalm 80 address God?
Answer: As the Shepherd of His people, throned over the cherubim
The invocation pairs pastoral and royal titles: God is the Shepherd who leads Joseph as His flock, and the One whose throne is over the cherubim (80:1). The cherubim title recalls the ark, the place of God's meeting with Moses and of His throne-presence among Israel (Exodus 25:22; Psalm 99:1), while the shepherd title echoes Jacob's confession over Joseph (Genesis 48:15). The petition that follows asks Him to shine forth before the northern tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh with Benjamin, to rouse His might, and to come to their salvation (80:1-2).
- Psalm 80:1-2 (BSB)“For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” A Psalm of Asaph. Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock; You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Rally Your mighty power and come to save us.”Asaph opens by calling on God as Israel's Shepherd and as the King throned above the cherubim, asking Him to act and save.
- Genesis 48:15 (BSB)“Then he blessed Joseph and said: “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,”Jacob, blessing Joseph, spoke of God as the one who had shepherded him all his life, the same picture the psalm uses for Joseph's descendants.
- Exodus 25:22 (BSB)“And I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony; I will speak with you about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.”The cherubim stood over the ark, where God promised to meet with Moses, so the title points to His royal presence among His people.
- Psalm 99:1 (BSB)“The LORD reigns; let the nations tremble! He is enthroned above the cherubim; let the earth quake!”Another psalm names the LORD as reigning from His throne above the cherubim, a title of kingly rule.
General
In 80:14-15, the son God raised up for Himself is set in parallel with what?
Answer: The vine's root that God's own right hand planted
The psalmist asks God to turn back, look on the vine from His dwelling above, and care for it (80:14). In the next line the vine is described two ways: as the root God's right hand planted and as the son He raised up for Himself (80:15). So the son is Israel, the vine. God had called Israel His firstborn son (Exodus 4:22) and the son He called out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1), just as the vine was brought out of Egypt. The psalm then asks God to put His hand on the man at His right hand, whom He raised up (80:17), most naturally Israel or its king, strengthened by God. The right hand is the place of honor and power (Psalm 110:1), and many Christians have also seen in this verse a pointer to Christ, who sits at God's right hand.
- Psalm 80:14-15 (BSB)“Return, O God of Hosts, we pray! Look down from heaven and see! Attend to this vine— the root Your right hand has planted, the son You have raised up for Yourself.”The psalmist asks God to return and care for the vine, which he also calls the son God raised up.
- Psalm 80:17 (BSB)“Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand, on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.”The psalmist prays for God's strengthening hand on the one at His right hand whom He raised up.
- Exodus 4:22 (BSB)“Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,”God called Israel His firstborn son, which explains why the vine can also be called a son.
- Hosea 11:1 (BSB)“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.”Hosea speaks of Israel as the son God called out of Egypt, just as the vine was taken out of Egypt.
- Psalm 110:1 (BSB)“A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.””The place at God's right hand is the place of honor and power He grants to the one He exalts.
Theological
In the parallelism of 80:15, what is the son God raised up for Himself identified with?
Answer: The vine's root that God's own right hand planted
Verse 15 sets two lines in parallel: the root planted by God's right hand and the son He raised up for Himself, both referring to the vine, Israel (80:14-15). The designation matches Israel as God's firstborn son (Exodus 4:22) and the son called out of Egypt (Hosea 11:1), which fits the vine's Egyptian origin. Verse 17 then prays for God's hand on the man at His right hand, whom He raised up, most naturally read as Israel or its king, set in the place of honor and strength (Psalm 110:1). Many Christians have also read the verse as foreshadowing Christ, the exalted Son of Man at the Father's right hand.
- Psalm 80:14-15 (BSB)“Return, O God of Hosts, we pray! Look down from heaven and see! Attend to this vine— the root Your right hand has planted, the son You have raised up for Yourself.”The psalmist asks God to return and care for the vine, which he also calls the son God raised up.
- Psalm 80:17 (BSB)“Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand, on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.”The psalmist prays for God's strengthening hand on the one at His right hand whom He raised up.
- Exodus 4:22 (BSB)“Then tell Pharaoh that this is what the LORD says: ‘Israel is My firstborn son,”God called Israel His firstborn son, which explains why the vine can also be called a son.
- Hosea 11:1 (BSB)“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.”Hosea speaks of Israel as the son God called out of Egypt, just as the vine was taken out of Egypt.
- Psalm 110:1 (BSB)“A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.””The place at God's right hand is the place of honor and power He grants to the one He exalts.
General
True or False: Each time the refrain of Psalm 80 returns, the name used for God becomes fuller.
Answer: True
This is true. The first refrain calls on God (80:3), the second on the God of Hosts (80:7), and the last adds the covenant name LORD to that title (80:19). Hosts means armies, so the title names God as the commander of armies. The prayer grows more intense as it goes, reaching for God's covenant name and His full power. Other passages use the same title for God's might used for His people (Psalm 46:7; 1 Samuel 17:45).
- Psalm 80:7 (BSB)“Restore us, O God of Hosts, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.”The middle refrain adds of Hosts to the name used for God.
- Psalm 80:19 (BSB)“Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.”The last refrain uses the fullest form, the LORD God of Hosts.
- Psalm 46:7 (BSB)“The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah”Another psalm draws comfort from the same title, the LORD of Hosts, the commander of armies, being with His people.
- 1 Samuel 17:45 (BSB)“But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”David faced Goliath in the name of the LORD of Hosts, showing the title names God as the mighty commander of armies.
Theological
True or False: The divine name in the refrain of Psalm 80 expands with each repetition.
Answer: True
This is true. The refrain moves from God (80:3) to God of Hosts (80:7) and finally prefixes the covenant name LORD (80:19), adding the covenant name to the title that names Him commander of armies. The expansion intensifies the petition as the psalm unfolds. The title elsewhere grounds confidence that the sovereign warrior-God is present for His people (Psalm 46:7; 1 Samuel 17:45).
- Psalm 80:7 (BSB)“Restore us, O God of Hosts, and cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.”The middle refrain adds of Hosts to the name used for God.
- Psalm 80:19 (BSB)“Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts; cause Your face to shine upon us, that we may be saved.”The last refrain uses the fullest form, the LORD God of Hosts.
- Psalm 46:7 (BSB)“The LORD of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah”Another psalm draws comfort from the same title, the LORD of Hosts, the commander of armies, being with His people.
- 1 Samuel 17:45 (BSB)“But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”David faced Goliath in the name of the LORD of Hosts, showing the title names God as the mighty commander of armies.
General
In 80:8-11, what does the vine God brought out of Egypt stand for?
Answer: Israel, whom God brought out and settled in the land
The vine is Israel. God took it out of Egypt at the Exodus, drove the nations from Canaan, prepared the ground, and planted it there, where it grew roots and spread through the whole land (80:8-9). Its shade reached the hills and the great cedars, and its branches stretched as far as the Sea and toward the River (80:10-11). The Sea is the Mediterranean and the River is the Euphrates, the borders God had promised (Deuteronomy 11:24). Moses had sung that God would settle His people like a planting (Exodus 15:17), and Isaiah says directly that the LORD's vineyard is Israel (Isaiah 5:7). Much later Jesus takes up the vine image when He calls Himself the true vine (John 15:1), a later use of the picture rather than a quotation of this psalm.
- Psalm 80:8-11 (BSB)“You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. The mountains were covered by its shade, and the mighty cedars with its branches. It sent out its branches to the Sea, and its shoots toward the River.”The psalm pictures God moving a vine out of Egypt, planting it in a cleared land, and seeing it spread far and wide.
- Isaiah 5:7 (BSB)“For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.”Isaiah states outright that the LORD's vineyard is the house of Israel, the same identification the psalm makes.
- Deuteronomy 11:24 (BSB)“Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.”God promised Israel territory from the Euphrates to the Western Sea, the reach the vine's branches picture.
- Exodus 15:17 (BSB)“You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance—the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.”After the Exodus, Moses sang that God would bring His people in and plant them, the same planting picture.
- John 15:1 (BSB)““I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.”Jesus later takes up the vine image, calling Himself the true vine and His Father the keeper of the vineyard.
Theological
What does the vine of 80:8-11 represent in the psalm's own terms?
Answer: Israel, whom God brought out and settled in the land
The vine allegory retells Israel's history: God uprooted the vine from Egypt, expelled the nations, cleared the ground, and planted it, so that it filled the land (80:8-9). Its growth over mountains and cedars and out toward the Sea and the River (80:10-11) corresponds to the promised borders, the Western Sea and the Euphrates (Deuteronomy 11:24). The planting image goes back to the Song of the Sea (Exodus 15:17), and Isaiah's song of the vineyard makes the identification explicit (Isaiah 5:7). Jesus' self-designation as the true vine (John 15:1) is a later use of the same image, not a citation of Psalm 80.
- Psalm 80:8-11 (BSB)“You uprooted a vine from Egypt; You drove out the nations and transplanted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. The mountains were covered by its shade, and the mighty cedars with its branches. It sent out its branches to the Sea, and its shoots toward the River.”The psalm pictures God moving a vine out of Egypt, planting it in a cleared land, and seeing it spread far and wide.
- Isaiah 5:7 (BSB)“For the vineyard of the LORD of Hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the plant of His delight. He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard a cry of distress.”Isaiah states outright that the LORD's vineyard is the house of Israel, the same identification the psalm makes.
- Deuteronomy 11:24 (BSB)“Every place where the sole of your foot treads will be yours. Your territory will extend from the wilderness to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Western Sea.”God promised Israel territory from the Euphrates to the Western Sea, the reach the vine's branches picture.
- Exodus 15:17 (BSB)“You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of Your inheritance—the place, O LORD, You have prepared for Your dwelling, the sanctuary, O Lord, Your hands have established.”After the Exodus, Moses sang that God would bring His people in and plant them, the same planting picture.
- John 15:1 (BSB)““I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard.”Jesus later takes up the vine image, calling Himself the true vine and His Father the keeper of the vineyard.
General
According to 80:12, who broke down the vine's protecting walls?
Answer: God Himself, as the psalmist's question makes clear
The psalmist asks God directly why He has broken down the vine's walls (80:12). With its protection gone, everyone passing by strips its fruit, and the wild boar and other wild animals feed on it (80:12-13). The psalmist does not blame chance or the enemy alone. He knows that God rules over what has happened, and he brings his question to God in prayer. Isaiah uses the same picture of God tearing down the wall of His vineyard in judgment (Isaiah 5:5), and other psalms also lament that God has broken down Israel's defenses and let others plunder them (Psalm 89:40-41; Psalm 44:9-10).
- Psalm 80:12-13 (BSB)“Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.”The psalmist asks why God has removed the vine's protection, leaving it open to passersby and wild animals.
- Isaiah 5:5 (BSB)“Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.”Isaiah pictures God Himself tearing down the wall of His vineyard as an act of judgment.
- Psalm 89:40-41 (BSB)“You have broken down all his walls; You have reduced his strongholds to rubble. All who pass by plunder him; he has become a reproach to his neighbors.”Psalm 89 uses the same lament, that God has broken down all the walls and let passersby plunder.
- Psalm 44:9-10 (BSB)“But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies. You have made us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered us.”Psalm 44 likewise traces Israel's defeat and plunder to God's own hand.
Theological
To whom does 80:12 attribute the breaching of the vine's walls?
Answer: God Himself, as the psalmist's question makes clear
The question of 80:12 is addressed to God as the agent: He has breached the walls, so that passersby pluck the fruit and the boar and the wild creatures ravage the vine (80:12-13). The psalmist confesses God's sovereign rule over the calamity without charging Him with wrong, and turns that confession into prayer. Isaiah's vineyard song has God removing the protecting fence and wall in judgment (Isaiah 5:5), and the same lament recurs in Psalm 89:40-41 and Psalm 44:9-10, where defeat is traced to God's hand.
- Psalm 80:12-13 (BSB)“Why have You broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pick its fruit? The boar from the forest ravages it, and the creatures of the field feed upon it.”The psalmist asks why God has removed the vine's protection, leaving it open to passersby and wild animals.
- Isaiah 5:5 (BSB)“Now I will tell you what I am about to do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be consumed; I will tear down its wall, and it will be trampled.”Isaiah pictures God Himself tearing down the wall of His vineyard as an act of judgment.
- Psalm 89:40-41 (BSB)“You have broken down all his walls; You have reduced his strongholds to rubble. All who pass by plunder him; he has become a reproach to his neighbors.”Psalm 89 uses the same lament, that God has broken down all the walls and let passersby plunder.
- Psalm 44:9-10 (BSB)“But You have rejected and humbled us; You no longer go forth with our armies. You have made us retreat from the foe, and those who hate us have plundered us.”Psalm 44 likewise traces Israel's defeat and plunder to God's own hand.