MAIN POINT: Jesus is the Shepherd who can hear our cry and rescue our hearts so that we turn to God and are saved.
Aspah has been on a roll and he uses imagery that Jesus also uses many times to refer to Himself. As this Psalm talks about a grapevine and then links it to the chosen son, we see where Jesus got His references to describe Himself in John 15. And so it is the desire to be restored and to be attached to the person, power and plan of God that brings Asaph to cry out:
3“Turn us again to yourself, O God.
Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. “
7“Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven's Armies.
Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. “
19“Turn us again to yourself, O LORD God of Heaven's Armies.
Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved.”
Three times Asaph asks God to change the focus of the people. But how? Psalm 80 is the 4th Shepherd Psalm in a row from Asaph. And so we see the problem and the solution step by step pointing to Jesus: God being a shepherd of His people through leaders He provides and ultimately through the chosen Man, the Son.
20“You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep, with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.”
Psalm 77:20 NLT
71”He took David from tending the ewes and lambs and made him the shepherd of Jacob's descendants--God's own people, Israel.”
Psalm 78:71 NLT
13”Then we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will thank you forever and ever, praising your greatness from generation to generation.”
Psalm 79:13 NLT
1”or the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be sung to the tune "Lilies of the Covenant." Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph's descendants like a flock. O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display your radiant glory”
Psalm 80:1 NLT
So we come in Psalm 80 to these powerful references to Jesus:
“…Take care of this grapevine
15 that you yourself have planted,
this son you have raised for yourself.”
17 “Strengthen the man you love,
the son of your choice.”
And Jesus uses the image of the vineyard and description of it being God’s work in His rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 21:33-46. And it is the same analogy made by Isaiah (Isaiah 5:1-7).
And so when Asaph writes, he is confessing and asking God to rescue His people through the messiah. Then Jesus comes along and says, I am you and I am the rescuer. That is, Jesus identifies as Israel and also as the Chosen Man, the Son, the one who rescues. He alone can change hearts. (Ezekiel 11:19, 36:26, 2 Chronicles 30:12, Jeremiah 32:39-40, Deuteronomy 30:6)
I have needed a Shepherd to care for my soul, and I have needed a vinedresser to prune my heart, and I have needed a rescuer and hope giver who has a plan to make me something better. Asaph points me to Jesus and then Jesus comes along and says, “Yep, that's me. You can put your faith in me. I can make you fruitful and I can change your heart.”
Conclusion: Listen to Asaph and join him in calling out for a heart change that only God’s chosen man can bring you. I feel a bit foolish that I missed these links all these years. I hope you learn from my mistakes, as I’m sure Asaph had hoped as well.
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