Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock.
The Almighty in relation to erring man
I. As a shepherd (Psalms 80:1).
1. His flock indicated. “Joseph” may stand for all Israel, and Israel as an illustration of the moral condition of men everywhere.
(1) Rebellious.
(2) Discontented.
(3) Pursuing a perilous journey.
2. His dwelling-place described. Dwelt in symbol on mercy-seat. Now, God is in Christ, reconciling the world.
3. His interposition invoked (Psalms 80:2).
(1) The end. “Save us.”
(2) The means. Divine strength Divine turning. Divine favour.
II. As a character (Psalms 80:4). God’s chastisements are--
1. Always deserved.
2. Often very painful. Physical anguish, moral distress, social bereavement, disappointment, persecution.
3. They sometimes stimulate prayer. However great our afflictions, if they but send us in prayer to God, they are blessings in disguise.
III. As a cultivator (Psalms 80:8-13).
1. The work He does.
(1) He prepares the soil. There is only one moral soil in the universe in which dead souls can be quickened and be rightly developed, and that is the Gospel of Christ. Souls are seeds.
(2) He deposit the seed. God alone can bring the soul into the soil of Gospel truth and root it there.
(3) He trains the plant. “The hills were covered with the shadow of it.” The Jewish people became a grand nation under His training. So do human souls become under His spiritual training.
2. The evil He permits. “Why hast thou then broken down her hedges?” etc. He did not do it by His direct agency, only by permission. He could have prevented it. He could have crushed the invaders. But He did not. For wise and beneficent purposes, He permitted it. So it is in the department of spiritual culture. He permits evils.
IV. As the restorer (Psalms 80:14-19).
1. He restores by special visitation. “Look down from heaven,” etc. Dead souls are restored to life because God visits the world. “He bowed the heavens and came down.” He appeared in Christ.
2. He restores from apparently the most hopeless condition (Psalms 80:16). “There is nothing too hard for the Lord.” “He is able of these stones to raise up children,” etc. “Can these dry bones live?” you say. Yes, they can.
3. He restores by quickening the soul into devotion (Psalms 80:18). (Homilist.)
The relative Deity
I. Here He is presented in His relative character. He is a “Shepherd.” As a Shepherd He has universal knowledge, self-sacrificing love, and almighty power.
II. Here He is presented in His relative agency. “Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock.” He leads us now by the dictates of moral reason, the events of His providence, the revelations of His book, and the influence of His Spirit.
(1) The insufficiency of human reason.
(2) The free agency of man;--He “leads,” not drives.
(3) The considerateness of His compassion.
III. Here He is presented in His relative posture. “Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.” Man, from his nature, requires a place for his God--some point in space where he may meet Him. Under the old dispensation this want was met by His appearing in the Shekinah over the mercy-seat. In the new it is met in Christ, of which the old manifestation was but the symbol. Christ is the “Mercy Seat “ where man meets his God.
IV. Here He is presented in His relative light, “Shine forth.” We want Him to shine forth upon us through Christ. (Homilist.)
Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth.
The mercy-seat
The prayer in the text may be offered--
1. When we are seeking the pardon of our offences,--when our hearts are stricken with conviction,--when we understand and feel that it is an evil thing to sin against God.
2. When we are oppressed by spiritual adversaries.
3. When commending particular efforts for the advancement of the Saviour’s kingdom to the Divine regard.
4. When we contemplate the general condition and wants of mankind. (J. Parsons.)
The God that dwelleth between the cherubims
I. The character of God represented by this phrase.
1. A God of glory.
2. A God of holiness and justice.
3. A God of mercy, full of love and goodness.
4. A God of condescending intercourse. God might be approached with safety and success as He sat upon the mercy-seat sprinkled with blood (Exodus 29:43-46).
II. The import of the prayer in the text. “Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth,” smile upon us with Thy heavenly favour; cast away all our transgressions from Thy sight; break in upon our darkened souls with the light of Thy truth, and cause us to see and know the truth with enlightened understandings; chase away with Thy bright beamings the gloom of sin and unbelief; and let Thy peace “which passeth all understanding,” and the “joy of the Holy Ghost,” dwell within us, to be our portion at all times. Guide us by Thy unerring counsel here, and receive us to Thy eternal glory hereafter. (J. S. Broad, M. A.)
The word “God” means the Shining One
Special reference is probably made to the Shekinah. God under the Old Testament was manifesting His presence in a cloud of dazzling light. The name, therefore, by which He was known was the Brilliant or Shining One. It was long supposed that God etymologically meant good. God, good--they were believed to be one and the same word. But further investigation seems to point out that the English God, the Latin Deus, the Greek Theos, the Welsh Duw--all come from an old Aryan root signifying “to shine.” Men thought of God, and to what could they compare Him? To nothing else than the shining splendour of the light. God is light, God means the “Shining One.” (Cynddylan Jones.)