Tehillim 79–80 | Psalms of Lament

Psalm 79 – "The Nations Have Invaded Your Heritage"

This psalm is what we might call a “national supplication,” or a “lament psalm,” in which the poet cries out to God over the devastation of the destruction. Unlike some other psalms of lament, here the poet acknowledges that the people are to blame for the destruction, and he refers to their sins. Still, he pleads with God to redeem His people nonetheless. The central message of the psalm is that although the people of Israel have sinned, they still belong to God. The nations have desecrated His possession and profaned His name. While the other nations do not call on God's name, the people of Israel, despite their sins, still deserve redemption that would sanctify God's name. The psalm concludes with a declaration that encapsulates the contrast: “Pay back our neighbors sevenfold with the very scorn they showed You, Lord, then we, Your people and the flock You tend, will give thanks to You forever; throughout the generation we will sing Your praise” (79:12–13).

Psalm 80 – "Look Down from Heaven and See; Take Note of This Vine"

In his book, 'Studies in Sefer Tehillim', Rav Elchanan Samet divides this psalm into four parts, based on the refrain that closes each section. While the refrains are similar, they are not identical, and each one gradually expands God's name, forming a kind of progression throughout the psalm.
•    At the end of the first part: "God, bring us back; let Your presence shine, that we may be saved." (80:4)
•    At the end of the second part: “God of Hosts, bring us back; let Your presence shine, that we may be saved." (80:8)
•    At the end of the third part, God’s name remains the same, but the appeal changes: “God of Hosts, come back; look down from heaven and see; take note of this vine.” (80:15)
•    And finally, at the end of the last part, God’s name is also added: “Lord, God of Hosts, bring us back; let Your presence shine, that we may be saved." (80:20)
The first section is a prayer said before battle. The second is a lament after the defeat. Based on the tribal names mentioned, Efrayim, Binyamin, and Menashe, and the title for God, “Enthroned on the Cherubim,” (80:2) it seems the psalm refers to the battle of Help Stone [="Even Ha’ezer"] (Shmuel I 4). In that war, the Israelites brought the Ark into battle, thinking it would guarantee their victory. But the war ended in total failure: the Tabernacle in Shilo (which lay in the territory of Efrayim, between the inheritances of Binyamin and Menashe) was destroyed, the Ark was captured by the Philistines, and the Philistines took control of the land. The third and fourth parts of the psalm shift to a parable about a vine. In the third section, the poet recalls how God took the vine out of Egypt and planted it in the land. The vine flourished: “the hills were covered by its shade mighty cedars by its branches.” (80:11) But then, suddenly, God broke down its hedges, and it was ravaged. The poet cries out in pain: “Why have You broken down its walls?” (80:13) The third section ends with a plea that God will return and replant the vine, His children, and once again cause His face to shine upon His people. The structure of the psalm forms a chiastic pattern: prayer, failure, failure, prayer, with the hope that this reversal in form will bring about a reversal in fortune, and that the final prayer will succeed where the first one failed.

It’s worth noting that in the prophets, too, Israel is compared to a vine. Yirmeyahu asks: “How did you change on Me into weed? Rotten grape of a strange vine!” (Yirmeya 2:21). Yeshayahu cries out: “Why did I hope to husband grapes where they grew rotten?” (Yeshaya 5:4). In the prophets, the one asking the question is God, and the one who has betrayed is Israel. In our psalm, it’s the reverse. This brings us back to a recurring difference between Tehillim and the books of prophecy – prophecy reflects God’s perspective, while Tehillim gives voice to the human perspective.