Psalm 80 presents a powerful call & encouragement to members of the Anglican Way in North America to long for, pray for and work for the Restoration, Reformation, Revival and Renewal of this ravaged branch of the Church of God.
The origin of Psalm 80 is in the shock and profound sense of loss felt by many in the northern kingdom, and expressed by the Temple Singers (Asaphites) in Jerusalem, after the loss of the southern kingdom of the ten tribes between 734 & 722 BC. Now the northern kingdom of Judah itself was also exposed to the Assyrian threat.
The Anglican Way in North America (and in a sense around the world) is in crisis because (in the judgment of the traditionalists) it has been attacked and savaged by an enemy. In the U.S.A. the Anglican Way is much smaller in size and membership in 2004 than it was in 1964. Further, it has lost its missionary and evangelistic ethos and feels vulnerable to further attacks.
In this context the repeated petition of Psalm 80 verses 3, 7 & 19 becomes a fervent prayer for Anglicans.
Restore us [turn us again] O God;
And cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved.
Turn us again, O God of hosts;
And cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved.
Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts;
Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.
The petition is simple and clear. We pray the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, he who is surrounded by the angels and archangels, to return to us and cause us to return to him. We ask that the brilliance of his holiness and glory will shine upon us, penetrate our very being, and thus bring us his salvation and sanctification. And we pray together for the whole Body of the Church.
Further, the extended simile of the vine (verses 8ff.) provides us with the background to the original petition along with further encouragement to pray fervently. The LORD brought the tribes of Israel out of Egypt and planted them as a vine in the land flowing with milk and honey. But many in Israel turned away from this LORD and the covenant of grace he had made with them. Thus he allowed his vine to be ravaged. In recent decades, the same LORD who planted the Anglican Way in North America in the 17th century and prospered it, has allowed this vine to be ravaged.
Thus the prayer of the Asaphites is our prayer: “Turn again, we beseech thee, O God of hosts: Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine” (verse 14).
The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon.),
Christ Church, Biddulph Moor & St Anne's, Brown Edge
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