If the first half of Psalm 80 portrays God as the shepherd of Israel, the second half presents Him as the planter and caretaker of a vineyard, with Israel as His choice and abundant vine. Like the shepherd metaphor, this one is also common throughout Scripture, but in the Psalms we find it only here. In the past, God brought this vine out of Egypt, planting it securely in the Promised Land. Other nations were driven out that it might grow and prosper. Soon this tall and mighty vine spread from the Mediterranean Sea on the west to the Jordan River on the east. God had done great things for Israel (v 8-11). But at present, the vineyard was ruined, and the next section of the psalm asks God why He allowed this to happen. With walls broken down, pagan nations from outside have come in, and the land is now ravaged (v 12-15). And yet there is hope for the future, as the psalm ends with a prayer for restoration and revival. In asking God to “have regard for this vine” of His, a special appeal is made on behalf of “the son of man” who is at God’s “right hand,” the one whom God has made strong for Himself (v 16-19). Who is this son of man? It likely has an immediate reference to the current king of Israel or Judah. But as Charles Spurgeon wrote, “There is no doubt here an outlook to the Messiah, for whom believing Jews had learned to look as the Savior in times of trouble.” It is Jesus who sits “at the right hand of the Majesty on High” (Hebrews 1:5), and we know that Jesus called Himself “the true vine.” Psalm 80 may well have been on His mind when our Lord said, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Only through uniting with Him by true faith can we become branches through which the life of God flows. Without God, Israel could do nothing but sin—which she did, eventually falling away into a terrible national judgment. To bear good fruit and survive as a nation, Israel had to abide in God. So we too are unable to achieve any spiritual victory or produce any spiritual fruit unless we abide in Christ, and His Word abides in us. Christians are new creations. By God’s supernatural grace, our character should always be changing, always growing into the likeness of Christ. For this, we need a daily, Spirit-empowered renewal—a lifestyle of repentance, as modeled in Psalm 80. “Restore us, O LORD God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!” (v 19; also v 5, 7). For further meditation: