[youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Asume1VcrI&feature=youtu.be”]
In this week’s study from Tehillim / Psalms 80:1-19, the psalm opens saying, א לַמְנַצֵּחַ אֶל-שׁשַׁנִּים עֵדוּת לְאָסָף מִזְמוֹר: ב רֹעֵה יִשְֹרָאֵל | הַאֲזִינָה נֹהֵג כַּצֹּאן יוֹסֵף ישֵׁב הַכְּרוּבִים הוֹפִיעָה: For the choir director; set to El Shoshannim; Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph. 80:1 Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth! (NASB) Why does Asaph speak of leading Joseph? The Psalm continues saying, ג לִפְנֵי אֶפְרַיִם | וּבִנְיָמִן וּמְנַשֶּׁה עוֹרְרָה אֶת-גְּבוּרָתֶךָ וּלְכָה לִישֻׁעָתָה לָּנוּ: ד אֱלֹהִים הֲשִׁיבֵנוּ וְהָאֵר פָּנֶיךָ וְנִוָּשֵׁעָה: 80:2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your power And come to save us! 80:3 O God, restore us And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved. 80:4 O Lord God of hosts, How long will You be angry with the prayer of Your people? (NASB) He speaks of the Lord feeding the people with the “bread of tears” (80:5), and made Israel to be an object of contention with her neighbors (80:6), and he asks the Lord to cause his face to shine upon them (80:7). Asaph speaks a parable about the Lord taking a vine from Egypt (80:8), and planted in the fertile ground of Israel (80:9), and the vine grew and covered the mountains (80:10), and the growth was so massive that the branches began to spread to the sea and the river. Read more here: Tehillim 80-Part1
