Psalm 80

A depiction of Jesus the Good Shepherd in Olive Wood from the Holy Land

Shepherd of Israel, listen!

Restore us, Lord God of heavenly forces!
    Make your face shine so that we can be saved!

This summer I am paraphrasing the lectionary Psalms as a prayer practice and then I'm reading the selection prayerfully (lectio divina) with my own paraphrase.  Finally, I'm developing a breath prayer to take the transformed psalm with me into my week.  You are invited to join me and paraphrase the summer psalms for yourself.   As we work with the psalms and rewrite the text in our own words/using our own vocabulary, we will find deeper meaning as the week unfolds.  The psalms are prayers of dearly faithful people.  We can pray them into a personal prayer language that lives and breathes our own faith. 

Paraphrasing the Psalm ... 
Step 1:  Read the Psalm selection (Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19) from a translated version.  This week we read from the Common English Bible (CEB).  Psalm 80 is a lament in response to the Northern Kingdom's fall to Assyria.   It is a plea for salvation!  The lament resides most powerfully in the verses that are left out of this weeks reading.  A highlight of the psalm is the ending plea that we hear only in verse 19 but is actually read twice before in verses 3 and 7 as a repeating refrain:   Restore us, Lord God of heavenly forces!  Make your face shine so that we can be saved!  

You can read more about the context of this psalm my Psalm 80: Restore us, O God.  Take Link or choose Psalm 80 from the cloud in the column at the right.

Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 (CEB)
For the music leader. According to “Lotus Blossoms.” A testimony of Asaph.
Shepherd of Israel, listen!
    You, the one who leads Joseph as if he were a sheep.
    You, who are enthroned upon the winged heavenly creatures.
Show yourself before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh!
    Wake up your power!  Come to save us!

You brought a vine out of Egypt.
    You drove out the nations and planted it.
You cleared the ground for it;
    then it planted its roots deep, filling the land.
The mountains were covered by its shade;
    the mighty cedars were covered by its branches.
It sent its branches all the way to the sea;
    its shoots went all the way to the Euphrates River.
So why have you now torn down its walls
    so that all who come along can pluck its fruit,
    so that any boar from the forest can tear it up,
    so that the bugs can feed on it?
Please come back, God of heavenly forces!
    Look down from heaven and perceive it!
Attend to this vine,
    this root that you planted with your strong hand,
    this son whom you secured as your very own.
It is burned with fire. It is chopped down.
    They die at the rebuke coming from you.
Let your hand be with the one on your right side—
    with the one whom you secured as your own—
    then we will not turn away from you!
Revive us so that we can call on your name.
    Restore us, Lord God of heavenly forces!
    Make your face shine so that we can be saved!

Step 2:  Explore the images you find in the psalm and seek new ways of proclaiming the message in words and phrases that translate to the situation you find in your life today.  Be creative and think not in words but in ideas and let your psalm express your own deepest emotions.

Step 3:  Take up a journal OR pull up a blank document on the computer ... begin writing in a stream of consciousness with new images, words, and phrases that emerge from pondering on the text.  Let the images grow and become.  Let new words and phrases come alive to translate the psalm anew in your own prayer language ... sing a new song in your soul!

Step 4:  Paraphrase the Psalm with your own images in your own words and phrases ...
here is mine and feel free to share yours in the comments

Cindy's Paraphrase of Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19

Jesus, Shepherd … listen to my heart!
You lead us all, we are children of the world
Your Spirit sits upon the throne graced by angels
Come to us and reveal the power of your love to the world
Come and save us from ourselves.

Age-less God, you have always been with us.  In ancient days, you cleared the land, planted the people, and brought forth a vine healthy and vital, roots plunging deep into the earth, full with love.   Lush and luxurious was the vine, like a massive shade tree covering the mountains, the bushes and the land … creeping in and around and through, absorbing water from the earth to breathe life.

Suddenly it seems, you allowed the city walls to be broken down and the fruit of the vine to be plundered by all who passed by, you allowed wild animals to tear the community apart and little bugs to creep into foundational cracks.  God of the Heavenly Spaces, turn back to us, come and see what has happened now.  Care for us and help us grow again.  Bring forth the juicy flesh of abundance in our lands and our lives!  We have been burned and cut down yet the worst is that we can’t feel your presence.  Why do you withhold yourself from us?   Please come and be with us again, let us feel your mercy and your grace and we will never again turn from you!

Renew our spirits so that your name is always upon our lips. 
Refresh our souls, O God of the Heavenly Spaces.
Jesus, Light of the World, shine upon us and send your Spirit to save us!

Lectio Divina ...
Step 1:  Read Psalm Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 slowly and reverently ...
Use the CEB text, my paraphrase or your own, or take link to use this paraphrase from The Message Bible:  What image, word, or phrase calls for your attention in your reading?  Spend a few moments pondering the God you find within your reading ...

Step 2:  Read your selection again and reflect ...
How does this paraphrase illuminate your life right now?  How is God inviting you to change or grow?

Step 3:  Read your selection again and respond ...
What do you say to God about your life and how you are being invited?   Write a one-sentence prayer as an Amen to your time of lectio ... here is mine and feel free to share yours in the comments

God of the Heavenly Spaces, tear down my inner walls and rebuild my soul with an expansive openness.  Amen!

Step 4:  Rest ... Come to a place of silence within yourself and just "be" with God.

Breath Prayer ...
Step 1:  In 3-4 syllables, what image of God is emerging from your time of prayer?

Step 2:  In 3-4 syllables, what prayer of desire is rising within you?

Step 3:  Create your breath prayer ... here is mine and feel free to share yours in the comments

Breathing in … God of the Heavenly Spaces ... (pause)
Breathing out …  Tear down my Inner Walls ... (pause)
Breathing in ... God of the Heavenly Spaces ... (pause)
Breathing out ... Rebuild me with Inner Openness ... (pause)

As you continue to journey through your week, breathe!  If music is a pathway to God for you ... sit back, close your eyes and listen to this beautiful contemporary version of a classic hymn by Leigh Nash:  Saviour Like a Shepherd Lead Us...

Breathing ... Jesus, Shepherd, listen to my heart and lead me into the Heart of God.  Amen.