Welcome to Day 2693 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Day 2693 – Wisdom Nuggets – Psalm 780:1-6 – Daily Wisdom

Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script – Day 2693

Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2693 of our Trek. The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before.

Today’s Wisdom Nugget is titled: The Shepherd’s Hidden Face – A Cry for Restoration – A Trek Through Psalm 80:1-6

Today, we begin a powerful and deeply moving trek through Psalm 80 in the New Living Translation, encompassing its opening verses, 1 through 6.

Psalm 80 is a communal lament, a desperate and repeated cry for God to restore His people. Like the lament psalms we’ve recently explored, such as Psalms 74 and 79, it is steeped in national tragedy and the anguish of God’s apparent absence. However, this psalm is unique in its focus on God’s identity as a Shepherd and its use of agricultural and shepherding metaphors to articulate the nation’s pain and their fervent desire for revival. The psalmist pleads for God, the Shepherd of Israel, to remember His flock, to turn His face back to them, and to act with His saving power.

This psalm gives voice to that difficult, often-long season of suffering when God’s anger feels prolonged, and our pleas seem to go unanswered. It’s a prayer for a fresh start, a powerful yearning for divine intervention to reverse a season of national turmoil and public disgrace.

So, let’s immerse ourselves in this desperate plea for divine restoration, feeling the weight of a people crying out from the wilderness of God’s silence.

• The Shepherd’s Call to Action

(Reads Psalm 80:1-3 NLT)

Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead the descendants of Joseph like a flock. O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display your glory and power! Stir up your mighty power! Come to our rescue and save us. Restore us, O God of Heaven’s Armies. Smile on us and save us.

Guthrie Chamberlain: The psalm begins with a tender and intimate plea to God as the Shepherd: “Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead the descendants of Joseph like a flock.” This imagery is both ancient and deeply personal to the Israelite people. God is not just a distant king; He is a caring Shepherd, and Israel is His flock. This echoes the portrayal of God’s leadership in Psalm 78, where “he led his own people like sheep through the wilderness.” It’s an appeal to God’s paternal, protective, and nurturing nature.

The psalmist specifically mentions “the descendants of Joseph,” which refers to the prominent tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Given their significance, this might suggest the lament comes from the Northern Kingdom, or it could be a general plea for the entire nation, with Joseph representing all of Israel. Regardless, the appeal is to God’s faithfulness as their leader, a plea for Him to remember His flock and return to His shepherding duties.

The plea for God to act is filled with anticipation and awe: “O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display your glory and power! Stir up your mighty power! Come to our rescue and save us.” This is a profound shift from a gentle Shepherd to a powerful King. “Cherubim” were the angelic beings whose wings formed the very throne of God on the Ark of the Covenant, located in the Holy of Holies. For God to be “enthroned above the cherubim” signifies His supreme, transcendent glory and holiness.

The psalmist is asking this glorious, holy God to actively and visibly intervene. The phrases “display your glory and power” and “stir up your mighty power” are urgent calls for a divine manifestation. They are not asking God to be something He isn’t, but to reveal what He already is. They are begging for a demonstration of the same power that split the sea and defeated their enemies, a power that has been dormant or hidden. The cry to “Come to our rescue and save us” is a direct, desperate plea for divine deliverance from their current plight.

This section culminates in a powerful and repeated prayer for restoration: “Restore us, O God of Heaven’s Armies. Smile on us and save us.” This prayer becomes a refrain throughout the psalm, a central theme of their lament. “Restore us” (shuv) is a cry for a complete reversal of their fortunes, for God to bring them back from their current state of ruin and despair.

“O God of Heaven’s Armies” (Yahweh Sabaoth) is a title for God that emphasizes His power as the commander of the angelic hosts, a warrior king. The plea is for this powerful military God to bring about their restoration. And the method of that restoration is simple yet profound: “Smile on us and save us.” This echoes the ancient priestly blessing from Numbers 6:25, “May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you.” A smiling face from a king or a god in the ancient world indicated favor, acceptance, and a desire to bless. They are asking God to turn His face back to them, to show them His favor, knowing that His smile is what brings true salvation and security.

This opening trio of verses sets the stage for a lament that is both deeply personal (a Shepherd for His flock) and powerfully cosmic (a King enthroned above the cherubim), all centered on a desperate plea for God’s saving restoration.

• The Anguish of God’s Anger

(Reads Psalm 80:4-6 NLT)

How long, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, will you be angry with our prayers? You have fed us with sorrow and made us drink tears by the cupful. You have made us the scorn of our neighbors; our enemies mock us to their hearts’ content.

Guthrie Chamberlain: After pleading for restoration, the psalmist expresses the deep anguish of what they are currently experiencing: God’s prolonged anger. He asks the quintessential lament question: “How long, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, will you be angry with our prayers?” This is a profound and heart-wrenching question. It’s not just a cry about suffering; it’s a lament that their prayers, the very means of seeking God’s favor, seem to be met with anger or a deaf ear. This suggests a deep spiritual crisis—they are trying to reach God, but His face is hidden, and His anger seems to be a barrier. The psalmist is questioning the very effectiveness of their devotion and lament. It’s a feeling of being completely cut off from God.

The result of this prolonged anger is a life of sorrow and tears: “You have fed us with sorrow and made us drink tears by the cupful.” This is a vivid, powerful metaphor for their daily suffering. Food and drink are essential for life, but for the psalmist, they are replaced with sorrow and tears. They are not just experiencing grief; they are being “fed” it, suggesting it is a constant, unavoidable part of their sustenance. And they are not just shedding tears, they are drinking them “by the cupful,” signifying an overwhelming, unending amount of grief.

This language connects to the laments in Psalm 79, where the people’s “blood has been poured out like water” (Psalm 79:3). Here, the internal consequence of that devastation is being described—a life so full of sorrow that tears have become their sustenance. This is a powerful, intimate portrait of a people in deep spiritual and emotional anguish.

The psalmist then describes the public, national disgrace that accompanies their suffering: “You have made us the scorn of our neighbors; our enemies mock us to their hearts’ content.” This directly ties back to the national shame lamented in Psalm 79:4, where they were “mocked by our neighbors, scoffed at by those around us.” The pain here is not just internal; it’s external, public, and relentless. “Scorn” and “mock” mean they have become an object of ridicule, a public spectacle of God’s apparent displeasure. Their enemies do this “to their hearts’ content,” signifying malicious, uninhibited glee over their downfall.

This public humiliation served as a profound theological challenge. If Israel’s God was truly as powerful as they claimed, why did He allow them to be humiliated so completely by the nations who did not know Him? This psalm, like others, implicitly argues that this public shame must be a temporary phase, and that for the sake of His own honor, God must act and restore them, turning their disgrace into glory.

Psalm 80:1-6 is a deeply moving communal lament that gives voice to a people longing for divine restoration. It encapsulates the tension between a God who is a loving Shepherd and a God whose anger seems prolonged, resulting in national suffering and public disgrace. The psalmist’s prayer is for God to act as He has in the past, to turn His face back to them, to restore them, and to silence the taunts of their enemies with His saving power.

What profound wisdom can we draw from these opening verses for our Wisdom-Trek today?

Firstly, this psalm validates the experience of feeling that God’s anger is against us, or that our prayers are not being heard. It shows that it’s permissible to bring these raw, difficult questions directly to God, asking “How long?”

Secondly, it reminds us of God’s dual nature as both a tender Shepherd and a mighty King. When we are suffering, we can appeal to His compassion, while also trusting in His supreme power to act on our behalf. His identity is our greatest hope.

Thirdly, the imagery of sorrow as our food and tears as our drink resonates with the reality of grief and distress. It shows that God understands our deepest anguish and provides a sacred language for our suffering.

Finally, this psalm serves as a powerful reminder that our ultimate hope for restoration rests on God’s favor. We must continually pray for God to “smile on us,” to show us His face, and to turn His anger into grace, knowing that His saving presence is the source of all peace and security.

Let us, like the psalmist, cry out for God’s saving restoration, trusting that even in the midst of sorrow, He is still our Shepherd and our King.

Guthrie Chamberlain: Thank you for joining me on this profound trek through the opening verses of Psalm 80. I trust that this exploration of lament and restoration has resonated with your own journey and equipped you to bring your deepest pleas to our compassionate God. Join me again next time as we continue to seek and apply the timeless truths of God’s Word. Until then, keep moving forward, enjoy the journey, and create a great day! I am Guthrie Chamberlain, reminding you to Live Abundantly, Love Unconditionally, Listen Intentionally, Learn Continuously, Lend to others Generously, Lead with Integrity, and Leave a Living Legacy each day.