Reflections of Grace

RESTORE THE VINE

Scripture

Psalms 80:8-15

⁸You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.⁹You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches.¹¹It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River.¹²Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?¹³The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.¹⁴Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine,¹⁵the stock that your right hand planted, and for the son whom you made strong for yourself.

Reflect

1.What "walls" in your life feel like they have come down lately, leaving you exposed to circumstances or people that seem to be taking what God has grown in you?
2.The psalmist describes the boar from the forest ravaging the vine. What destructive force feels like it is feeding on the fruit God has been cultivating in your heart?
3.When you feel broken and exposed, what keeps you from boldly asking God to look down and have regard for your situation?
4.How does remembering that God planted you and made you strong change the way you view your current struggles?

Exposition

We know what it's like to feel abandoned, don't we? The psalmist paints a painful picture of a vine that God once brought out of Egypt, carefully planted, and tended with great care. That vine flourished but then everything changed. The walls were broken down. The vine was ravaged by passersby, devoured by the beasts of the field. The struggle is real: seasons of blessing can give way to seasons of desolation, and we wonder if God has forgotten us. But the psalmist does not give up. He cries out. He implores that God look down and see. He reminds God that this vine was planted by God's own hand. Our prayers in times of desolation are not pointless; they are the very means by which God restores. The psalmist doesn't resign himself to the destruction; he appeals to God's past faithfulness as the ground for future deliverance. He calls on God to turn, to look, to have regard. And he repeats the refrain: "Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!" Our broken places are not beyond God’s care. He knows how to restore what sin, suffering, neglect, or weakness has damaged. He can rebuild protection. He can revive fruitfulness. He can look upon what feels wasted and bring life again. So cry out to him honestly. Do not pretend the vine is fine when it needs restoring. Ask the Lord to turn again, to see, to visit, and to strengthen what his own hand has planted. What God plants, he can restore. What God tends, he can make fruitful again.

Prayer

“Father, thank you for planting my life in your grace and sustaining me by your care. Look upon the places in me that feel weak, exposed, or damaged. Restore what has been neglected and protect what you are growing. Make my life fruitful again for your glory.”

LWNRA · Daily Word

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