8 Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt: Thou didst drive out the nations, and plantedst it. 9 Thou preparedst [room] before it, And it took deep root, and filled the land. 10 The mountains were covered with the shadow of it, And the boughs thereof were [like] cedars of God. 11 It sent out its branches unto the sea, And its shoots unto the River. 12 Why hast thou broken down its walls, So that all they that pass by the way do pluck it? 13 The boar out of the wood doth ravage it, And the wild beasts of the field feed on it. 14 Turn again, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine, 15 And the stock which thy right hand planted, And the branch that thou madest strong for thyself. 16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down: They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Psalm 80:8-16
Commentary on Psalm 80:8-16
(Read Psalm 80:8-16)
The church is represented as a vine and a vineyard. The root of this vine is Christ, the branches are believers. The church is like a vine, needing support, but spreading and fruitful. If a vine do not bring forth fruit, no tree is so worthless. And are not we planted as in a well-cultivated garden, with every means of being fruitful in works of righteousness? But the useless leaves of profession, and the empty boughs of notions and forms, abound far more than real piety. It was wasted and ruined. There was a good reason for this change in God's way toward them. And it is well or ill with us, according as we are under God's smiles or frowns. When we consider the state of the purest part of the visible church, we cannot wonder that it is visited with sharp corrections. They request that God would help the vine. Lord, it is formed by thyself, and for thyself, therefore it may, with humble confidence, be committed to thyself.