The Pruning Process Produces Restoration
March 20, 2024
Commentary
This Psalm is a national prayer for restoration. The key word might be translated either “restore us” or “bring us back” (from captivity). The Palmist urges God to listen, wake up, and go to work to save His people (vv. 1-2). Three times is this chapter the writer calls on God to restore us “Turn us again"(vv. 3, 7, 19). The Israelites didn’t need a change of circumstances, but a change of character. They are praying for God to smile on them (v. 3). It was not that God’s back was toward them but their back was toward Him. They were the ones that needed to turn around, not God.
Repentance must come before restoration which means a turning from sin. Repentance involves humbling ourselves and turning to God to receive His forgiveness. As we turn to God, he helps us see ourselves, including our sin more clearly. Then as we see our sin we must repeat the process of repentance. The psalmist uses the metaphor of a vine for Israel (vv. 8-19). In ancient times the vineyards were often enclosed by stone fences (Isa. 5:5). The psalmist wonders why God has broken down those fences so that any passerby has the opportunity to pluck and ravage her grapes. On the earth today, the vine is His Church. Its prosperity depends on the Lord looking down from heaven and visiting the vine. He brings us to Himself by His pruning. The branches that bear no fruit are cut off. The farmer will tell you that in order to grow good grapes you have to prune the vine. The better they are pruned the stronger the vines grow and the more luscious the fruit is.
Application
If there is one thing I do not like in my spiritual experience, it is when God begins to prune me. However from that experience of loss there comes a fruitfulness which makes me glad. After the pruning there comes a new and luxurious restoration of life in which I can really enjoy God.
Psalms 80:1– 19 (NET)
Verses not found.
Illustration: Restoration – The Result of Love Persistence
Dr. Howard Hendricks tells the story of a young man who strayed from the Lord but was finally brought back by the help of a friend who really loved him. When there was full repentance and restoration, Dr. Hendricks asked this Christian how it felt to be away from the Lord. The young man said it seemed like he was out at sea, in deep water, deep trouble, and all his friends were on the shore hurling biblical accusations at him about justice, penalty, and wrong. “But, there was one Christian brother who actually swam out to get me and would not let me go. I fought him, but he pushed aside my fighting, grasped me, put a life jacket around me, and took me to shore. By the grace of God, he was the reason I was restored. He would not let me go.” (Source Unknown).