This psalm is much to the same purport with the foregoing. Some think it was penned upon occasion of the desolation and captivity of the ten tribes, as the foregoing psalm of the two.

Mournful Complaints. To the chief musician upon Shoshannim, Eduth. A psalm of Asaph. 1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. 2 Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us.

The psalmist is here presenting his suit for the Israel of God, and pressing it home at the throne of grace, pleading with God for mercy and grace for them. The church is here represented as a vine (Ps. 80:8 Ps. 80:14) and a vineyard, Ps. 80:15. The root of this vine is Christ, Rom. 11:18.