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"Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel... Restore us, O Lord God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved” (Psalm 80:1,3).

Our psalm stands in sharp contrast to Psalm 23, the better-known shepherd psalm. Here God is also addressed as a Shepherd. In Psalm 23, David appears to live as close to paradise as one can find in this life. But here, in Psalm 80, Israel is far from such tranquility. Here are no green pastures or quiet waters, only the shadow of the valley of death.

We live more often in Psalm 80 than in Psalm 23, yet we know the 23^rd. How many of us are familiar with this psalm? Far fewer! Why is this? Is this avoidance of reality? Do we have a pie in the sky religion? Is it an unwillingness to call God out for the way he runs the world? North American Christians tend to avoid the harsh realities of life and faith.

This psalm helps us sit with Job in the ashes where he offers us a powerful spiritual example. He sat in the ashes until God answered him. As impatient Canadians, we want to get out of this Psalm and out of the ashes asap. But notice that this psalm does not have a happy ending. The prayer is over, but God has not answered.

We want to get to Psalm 23. And we derive many ways of getting there. But Job and Asaph (if he is the author of this psalm) did not find ways of getting there.

They both knew that only God could get them there. Job wanted God's answer. And Asaph composed this refrain, "Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved." Three times! Verses 2, 7, 19.

This psalm helps us sit in our own ash pit and helps us form our prayers in our pain. It also gives shape to our empathy as we sit around the ash pit of our friends. It keeps us from making useless conversation and accusations like Job's friends. It also gives us words to pray for them.

As we spend time in this psalm, we discover something more. It gives us rich metaphors for our conversations with God. The psalm contains the imagery of a vine: a lush, vibrant, fruitful vine that once covered cedars, mountains, and whole countries.

But now the vine is dying. It's been abandoned and left uncultivated. Anyone can come and pick its fruit. Its gardener has gone. Who is this gardener? He is God Almighty, the shepherd of Israel.

Sometimes, we live under the illusion that if we serve God well, everything will go smoothly for us. Occasionally, someone articulates that because we have given our lives to God in service to his kingdom, we ought to be able to live happily ever after. If we don’t get that, we must have sinned greatly, or God is not keeping his end of the deal. Sometimes, that may be true, but it should not be our go to answer.

Here, in verse 4, our psalm mentions God’s anger, but in verse 12 it asks why all this tragedy has happened? It is certainly not clear that it is because of Israel’s sin. The Psalm is clear about this: if God will not return to His people, she will be lost forever.

The imagery of the psalm gets picked up in the gospels. Jesus reminds us that God is the gardener who is still at work today. He has not abandoned his people or his work of redemption.

More than that, in Jesus, God has turned his faced fully towards us. Yet, for those darkest hours he hid his face from Jesus. In our distress we turn to Him. He can sympathize with our sorrows and weaknesses. He is the bringer of God's face. In Him, God shines upon us.

We wait for Him!