and we're reading from the verse number one. This is the word of God. Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up thy strength and come and save us. Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? Thou feedest them with the bread of tears, and givest them tears to drink in great measure. Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt, and thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. Now prepare its broom before it, and its cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars. She sent out her boughs onto the sea, and her branches onto the river. Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts. Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine, the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted, And the branch that thou madest strong for thyself, it is burned with fire, it is cut down. They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the Son of Man, whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will not we go back from thee? Quicken us, and we will call upon thy name. Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts. cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Amen. We'll briefly pray together. Let's seek the Lord. Our loving Father, we come into thy presence once again through prayer. We thank thee for the Word of God. We thank thee for confirming the Word, and we pray now as we sit under the preaching of the Word. that our hearts might be challenged even by and through it this evening. Remove our tiredness. The frame is weary, Lord. We understand that. Many, O God, have found themselves busy throughout the last seven days. And now, Lord, we come into a warm building. We find ourselves at times drifting off, but we pray, Lord, that thou wilt help us. Give us an alert mind, Lord, an ear to hear, a heart ready. To hear God's word. May none sit in this place with a heart shut. None sit here, Lord, not wanting to hear what God would say. O God, we pray that we'll all be before Thee, ready to hear what the Master would say. Speak, Lord, in accents, sweet, Lord, to us we pray. And Lord, in tenderness, Lord, when our hearts back from the world and from walking afar off and turn us again to Thee, We pray these our prayers in and through the Savior's precious, holy, and lovely name. Amen. In all of our returns that we have considered thus far in our series of messages on the Bible's great returns, we have considered the returns that either an animal in the form of Noah's dove Or a human being in the case of Jacob, Moses, and Naomi, returns that such individuals or such beings have undertaken in their lives. In today's service, we want to think about a return that is of a different nature. Because today's return is not the return of a human being back to the place of their departure, but rather it is a return that is sought for by men that relates to their God. Our text for this meeting takes the form of a prayer. We're in verse 14 of Psalm 80. The psalmist comes to express the longing of many within the nation as well as his own longing for God to return. and for God to visit His people again, the people whom He had redeemed by precious blood. The prayer is, return. We beseech thee, O Lord of hosts, look down from heaven and behold and visit this vine. For the remainder of this meeting, we want to think about this prayer for God to return and for God to visit again His people. What we have here really is a prayer for revival, a prayer that God would come again among us, that God would work again, that God would move again, that God would empower again, that God would revitalize again, that God would revive again His child on a personal level and His church on a corporate level. It is a prayer, I believe, that is most fitting in every generation of Christendom. For there are times that there are departures from God, and there are times whenever there needs to be a call to return to God, and there's times that we need God to return on to us. And so it is a prayer that is most fitting for every child of God and for every church to pray in every generation, including this one. As we consider then the contents of the psalm, I suppose from the verse number 8 down to the remaining verses off to the verse number 19, as we consider the contents of the psalm, there are a number of noteworthy details that deserve our consideration. I want you to think firstly with me as we think about this prayer return. And visit this vine. As we think about such a prayer, I want us to think about this vine, and I want us to consider the past privileges of the vine. The past privileges of the vine. Now, throughout the Scripture, the vine is often used and employed by the Spirit of God, who is the author of Scripture. It is used to picture the Jewish nation. Such references include those in Isaiah chapter 5 and the verse number 1. Now will I sing unto my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. Israel as a nation is being spoken of there. In the book of Jeremiah, we read in Jeremiah 2 verse 21, Yea, I have planted thee, God speaking here, a noble vine, holy, a right seed. How then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? In Hosea chapter 10 in the verse 1, we read that Israel is an empty vine. He bringeth forth fruit unto himself. Jesus Christ, when he was on earth, he would use the imagery of a vineyard to speak about the nation of Israel there in Matthew chapter 21. He spoke about a parable, a parable concerning a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about and he digged a wine press in it and he built a tower and he let it out to husband men and went into a far country. Jesus Christ spoke that parable. The chief priests and the Pharisees, when they heard the Savior's parable, perceived that he was speaking about them and about the nation of Israel. Again, under the imagery of the vine. And so while contextually we must say undoubtedly these words they speak to us of Israel as a nation. I believe that there is application to be made to the Christian on a personal level as well as to the church of Jesus Christ on a corporate level. What happened to Israel? Privileges that she enjoyed as a nation are the same privileges that we come to enjoy in our Christian lives as believers. Let me mention a few of them to you just now. I want you to think first of all about the purchasing of this vine. The purchasing of the vine. On the invitation of his son Joseph, Jacob and his 70 strong family moved from Cana into Egypt in order that they might survive the famine conditions that had swept over the world at that particular time that we find at the end of the book of Genesis. By the time that we reach the period of history conveyed now in the book of Exodus, we find that that family that was 70 strong at the beginning had now grown to 600,000 men, plus women and children. That is according to Exodus 12 in the verse number 37. It is now time for Israel to return Home again. That return is referred to in Psalm 80 in the verse number 8. Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt. Under the leadership of Moses, the Israelites were delivered. They were redeemed from Egyptian bondage. They were a purchased people, a redeemed people, a delivered people. And they were then going to be planted and established again in their homeland where they might grow and they might flourish and that they might worship the true and the living God. Every Christian has followed the same pathway as Israel followed in her experience and in her history. Through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, we have been delivered from the bondage house of sin, the prison house of sin. We've been called out of the world, of which Egypt is a picture of, by the Spirit's effectual call, and we have been brought unto God in order that we might grow in grace, flourish in our Christian lives, and worship the true and the living God. The pathway that Israel as a nation, that they took and undertook, is the pathway that every believer has taken in their lives. Now all who belong to Jesus Christ must then remember that God has delivered us from Egypt. We need to remember that we have been redeemed out of the world. We need to remember that we are not only redeemed out of the world, but that we are to stay out of the world. We are to remain out of the world. We're to keep out of the world. We're never ever to return to Egypt or to the world again. We need to remember the tremendous price the purchasing of us by precious blood from sin, deliverance from the world, deliverance from iniquity. Do you know anything of what it is to be a redeemed child of God? Have you been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ? If not, may this day find you as one turning to himself. The second privilege that we come to read about is the provision for the vine. The purchasing off the vine, then think about the provision for the vine. Having brought Israel out of Egypt, we're told then that God came to plant the vine. Verse 8, thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt, thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it. And where did God plant this particular vine? He planted it in a land that was flowing with milk and honey. Now the rivers of Cana did not literally have milk and honey flowing in their tributaries and in their river channels. You may think, well, this land flowing with milk and honey, all you had to do to get a bit of milk was to go down to the river. That's not the case. This is pictorial language. What is it setting forth? Well, this expression, milk and honey, that you often read in the historical narratives, is emblematic. It's symbolic of abundance, prosperity, of sustenance. Milk was a staple food diet in the days of Scripture. It really signified nourishment and life. Honey, on the other hand, it was a more luxury item in ancient times. It signified sweetness and pleasure. It was honey, remember, that was taken down to Joseph. Remember, Jacob sent a little bit of honey down to Joseph on his brother's return. It was a luxury item. Together, these words, this phrase, milk and honey, it really paints a picture of a land that was not only sufficient for survival, but also a land that was rich in resources. and would be a delightsome land in which the people of God would come to dwell. And into that land of plenty, and into that land of pleasure, God planted His vine, with the nation's enemies being cast out. There was a casting out of the heathen, verse number 8 tells us. And so materially and militarily, God provided for His people. What God did for His covenant people, Israel in the past is what he does for his covenant people today. Our material as well as our spiritual needs are daily met by him. Our God, he comes to defend us and to shield us from our enemies. He casts them out, subduing them beneath his feet. Oh, the provision that is for the child of God. There was provision for this vine. They were planted in the best land that surely would have brought and surely should have caused them to flourish, and flourish they did. Because it brings us to a third privilege, because we think about the prosperity and the progress of this particular vine. We're told that after the vine was purchased and then planted in the best of grounds, that the vine came to prosper under the cultivation and under the care of God. Such was the prosperity of the vine that the verses 9, This once small, tender, fragile, insignificant, weak vine now fills the land with her boughs. Her branches reach to the Mediterranean Sea, and then they reach eastward to the great river Euphrates. And that's what happened whenever Israel came to take up residency in the promised land. She prospered and she extended her influence far and wide. Under God, we who begin the Christian life weak and frail and feeble, Thank God we grow and we flourish to such an extent that our influence can reach far and wide. Just like this vine, God expects us and his people to grow. We are to grow and we are to flourish in our Christian lives. As Peter puts it, we are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Just like this vine, O provisions for this vine, All provisions made for her growth and for her establishment and her progress was made in the land of Israel. And God, Child of God, has given you all to see to your progress and your advancement in the Christian life as you sit under the means of grace. God has planted you in this house, in this assembly. And God has given you His Word. and the Word is preached and you have opportunity to read it yourself and to study it yourself. God has given you His Spirit. God has given you the means of grace, the preaching of the Word, the Lord's Supper, the ordinances of the church in order to see to your advancement and your growth as a child of God. I wonder, are you progressing? Are you advancing? in your Christian life. I wonder, is there growth like the growth of this vine? Has it taken place? There you were, you started out small and weak in your Christian life, but you're growing, growing in God, growing in your knowledge of God, growing in your experiences with God. proving God, knowing answers to prayer, advancing and progressing and using your gifts and your talents within the local church of Jesus Christ. I wonder, is there growth taking place in your Christian experience? Take yourself back a couple of years. Take yourself back to 2023. Take yourself back to there a few years ago. Ask yourself these questions. Am I further on? Am I further on in my Christian life today than I was two years ago? Or has there been retrograde steps in my life? Has there been a pulling back? Has there been a lack of progress? Has there been growth? Has there been any growth in my Christian experience? Well, if it's the latter, is it not about time that you did something about it? If there's been retrograde steps, a pulling back, a drifting, a departure from the Lord, is it not about time that you did something about it? Oh preacher, I intend to do something about it. I intend to get right with God again. I intend to walk with God again. I intend to repent of the sin of backsliding. And I intend to get back to God, and back to prayer, and back to His Word, and back to witnessing. And I intend to do it someday, preacher. And you've intended to do that for years. You're not alarmed today that there's been no or little growth? in your Christian life? Have you considered that the reason why there might be a lack of spiritual growth in your life might be down to the fact that there's a lack of spiritual life at all? As you know that where there is no life there can be no growth and that's true in the physical and that's true in the spiritual realm. Where there's no life there can be no growth. Now I'm not here to try and cause you to doubt with regard to your salvation, but let me encourage you to make sure before you leave this place today that you've got life, spiritual life, that the life of God is in you. that you truly know the Savior. And if this life exists, well then, let's seek to be like this vine. Well, let's not simply content ourselves, well, we've progressed a little. And we've reached some kind of spiritual plateau, and we cannot know God more, and we cannot prove Him more, and we cannot have a greater degree of faith in our Christian experience. Let us not settle where we are, but let us be like the vine, this vine that was planted in this good land. Let us see to growth, and let us desire that God would flourish us and cultivate us, and at times He may have to purge us, like He does the vine. Remember there in John chapter 15, the vine, the branches had to be purged. Things removed, things put away. Things that you have allowed to grow back again into your Christian life. Taking you away from the Lord, taking you away from the means of grace. Things that need to be cut off, there must be a purging, a purging away. Oh, may we be like Joseph. Remember young Joseph and what was said about him by his father Jacob on the deathbed. He said, Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well whose branches run over the wall. Oh, to have branches running over the wall. Oh, that our Christian influence would reach beyond this church. I tell you, our Christianity and our faith must reach beyond this church on the Lord's day. Must reach out into this community. This community needs to know that there's a people here who love the Lord, who serve the Lord, who believe the Bible, the Word of God, and they live their lives by it. And they're not gossiping and murmuring and complaining about others, and they're not telling lies about others. There needs to be the reality of this growth and all four branches that run over the wall, reaching beyond ourselves. Oh, we want to at times keep, we want to keep our Christianity on a Sunday and we'll lock it away on Monday and choose. No, no, brother, sister, your faith must go with you into your workplace, must go with you into your school, young person. Faith that branches, whose branches run over and out of the wall. The privileges that the vine enjoyed. The past privileges. But I want us to think secondly about the present pillaging off the vine. The present pillaging off the vine. In the verses 12 and 13, Asaph, he asks a question. Why hast thou then, having done all this, why hast thou then broken down her hedges, that all they which pass by the way do pluck her. The boar out of the wood doth waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it. With the hedge broken down, this vine was now left in what we could only but term a vulnerable state. And her enemies, aware of her vulnerability, her enemies very quickly take advantage of that. That happens. When a believer feels the Lord and they start to drift from the Lord, the enemy sees it and how he takes full advantage of that vulnerability. causes that individual to despair. We're told that those who pass by this vine, they now come and they pluck her. The boar of the wood, that animal comes and wastes her. The wild beast, it comes in to devour him. You know, you can only but imagine the devastation that must have occurred when those untamed animals were allowed to come into the vine and inflict upon that vine what they could. Look at that word weas there in verse 13. It gives us a little insight of what those animals would have done. The word weas, it means to tear apart, to ravish. That word devour that we also find in that particular verse, the verse number 13. It means to break, to eat up, to waste. And so we can but imagine the destruction and the desolation that would have met the eye of all that pass by now this ravaged vine. Her former glory is but a distant memory. This great vine that spread far and wide, it's now but a distant memory. Her glory, where's her glory now? Trampled down into the ground. Oh, there's maybe a believer, Christian here today, and you feel very much like this plundered vine. The enemy has come in. Devastation and destruction on a spiritual level has occurred in your life. It appears maybe to some that your Christian life is in total disrepair and in total ruin. This separated life that you once lived as a dedicated follower to Jesus Christ is now but a distant memory. The former glory that you had, the joy and the experience that you had with God, it now lies like this vine just trampled into the ground. If that is your state today, let such a sad state of affairs provoke you to seek a remedy for it. And there is a remedy. Of course, there's a remedy for it. I wonder, believer, is it the case that there are areas in your life that the hedge is broken down, the hedge of demarcation? Within the church of Christ, the hedge broken down. Are there areas in your life individually where the enemy has found easy inroads because you have grown careless, you have grown worldly in your Christian experience? Oh, let's see then to the building up of the hedge that is broken down, and let's see to the expulsion of those enemies that seek our destruction. Surely, The repeated refrain and prayer in this psalm, it really indicates to us why this pillaging has taken place, why the hage has broken down and why the enemy has been allowed to plunder the vine. What has caused this? What has caused this? What has caused it? Is it that there has been a turning away from God? And thus the prayer of the psalmist along with others in the verses number 3, 7 and 19, is turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Is this not a prayer that we could offer up for ourselves, for this church, for our nation? Turn us again. Turn us again, O God, cause thy face to shine upon us, and we shall be saved. I suppose the question is this, will we be turned? Will we be turned? May God turn the heart of this preacher back to God. And yours too, if such a turning is needed. Oh, the pillaging of this vine. Her pitiful situation, her pitiful state. Look at her lying there. And I know that for some people who would have come across that vine. I know what they would have done. I know what many a Christian would have done. As they looked at this pitiful sight of this ravaged vine, this is what they would have done. They would have said to themselves, the only option left for this vine is to dig it up, to throw it into the fire, and to plant another vine in its place. But that was not the course of action. That was not the course of action that was to be adopted here. Instead of discarding and instead of destroying the vine, definite prayer was to be made to God for the vine. What a lesson there is to learn. How quick we are as Christians to disregard, or worse, To shun those who have lapsed into a state of spiritual disrepair. It would be better, no it would be biblical, that we would pray for such a person. And then to put feet to our prayers. to see to the restoring such a one, as we are encouraged to do in Galatians 6 verse 1. Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Now sometimes people don't want to be restored. They don't want the discipline of the local church. And yet such people are at least still to be prayed for. As this vine was prayed for. Praying for her recovery. Praying for her recovery. And prayer was offered for this vine. And so we want to consider in the third and final place the passionate petition for the vine. The passionate petition for the vine. When an individual Christian or a church lapses into a state of decay, when the enemy comes in to ravage the testimony of such, we ought to take the matter to God in prayer. Since God alone can cause His church to prosper and His child to thrive and become fruitful again, it is to Him then that we must turn to in our time of need. And as we turn to Him in prayer, our prayers should follow the pattern that is given in this particular prayer that's given to us in the verse 14. First of all, He asked God to return. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts. Now you know that the petition and the plea for God to return, it indicates that God has withdrawn, at least in terms of his conscious presence from the vine. aware of that departure and seeing the necessity of seeing necessity of God's presence the psalmist sets about in recovering what has been lost and thus and what has been lost and thus he prays and he pleads for God to return return we beseech thee oh God of hosts return are there not times brethren and sisters that we In our own personal lives, we sense personally and even corporately that God has withdrawn Himself from us. Now, we know that God cannot cast off His people. That cannot be done. If that is done, then Scripture is null and void. God cannot cast away His people. And yet there are times as if He does hide Himself from us. And if that be the case, then we must seek His return. You see, there is nothing more desirable, there is nothing more needful, there is nothing more beneficial than to have the Lord with us in our lives and in our witness. And our return to God, we'll see to His return to us. And thus we are to employ the terms and the words of verse 19. Turn us again, O Lord of hosts. Oh, there's backsliders and they want the Lord to return. But do you need a return to Him? Do you need a return to Him? He's waiting for you. He'll turn to you. He'll return to you. There's no doubt about that. But He's waiting for you to return. Wonder today will it be a return for you? And so the first prayer, petition, return. The second thing that the psalmist asked God to do, and he prays for this vine, is look down and behold. Lord, look at it all, observe it all. You know, God is not disinterested in what happens on earth. In fact, the opposite is true. God is very much interested in what happens on earth and in the lives of his people and in the life of his church. We're told in 2nd Chronicles 16 verse 9 that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. And so God looks down from heaven. How would he describe this vine? The vine of your life. How would he describe the vine of this church? How would he describe it today? What would he observe? Andreas Muculus, he was a German theologian and a Protestant reformer, maybe not one of the most familiar ones, but he was a Protestant reformer. And he said this about this request for God to look down and behold, he said, This prayer is fit for none but the truly contrite and those who are in heart returning. Otherwise, with what conscience could we entreat God to look down from heaven and behold our affairs? Should we not inflame His anger all the more, if besides living in sin we dare to challenge The all holy eyes of God to behold from heaven our wickedness. What he's saying is that this request should only be put up by the one who's returning. Lord behold and see as I return. I wonder are we in the place with God that we could ask him to look down from heaven and behold our lives and our homes and our affairs and our desires and our behavior and our labors for him. Really the purpose of God looking down and beholding the vine is that on seeing its desolation that he would have pity on us and that he would come to our relief. God loves his people. God loves his church. For them and for it he shed his blood. May he be pleased in seeing our need come to our relief. And really that's the third petition in prayer for the vine. For the psalmist asked God in the third, this final place, he says, visit. Return, look down, behold, visit. Return, we beseech thee, O Lord of hosts, look down from heaven and behold and visit this vine. You see, beloved, this visitation was to be a visitation of mercy and not of wrath. Now wrath is what the vine deserved. It had become a degenerate plant. It had allowed itself, it was to be broke down. But here the psalmist, he's asking for a visitation of mercy. And the psalmist, he furnishes God with the reason why God should visit the vine. And he does so in the verse number 15. Because Lord, you planted the vine. You planted the vine. Visit the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted. It's as if the psalmist presenting his cause to God in prayer is arguing, what would the enemy say? What will the enemy say if God destroys this vine, the vine that God planted? And now it's destroyed. What's the enemy going to say, God? In other words, God, it's your name. Your name is at stake. Your glory is at stake. Lord, therefore visit the vine, because it was the vine that you planted. Oh, brethren and sisters, this is our only plea, that God would visit us in mercy. Oh yes, we deserve judgment. But our plea in the midst of the years is for God to remember mercy. And thank God, God is a God who delighteth in mercy. Oh, that God would come to our relief in these days, and that he would make the vine fruitful again. Let us pray to that end. Let's take this as our plea. Return, we beseech thee, O Lord of hosts. Look down from heaven. Behold and visit this vine. As one preacher The past considered this particular prayer of the psalmist. He said the following, and with this I close. He says, it is a prayer just suited to us. We need the Lord's quickening look, his reviving visit, but do we feel our need of it? Do we heartily desire it? Shall we unite to pray for it? O that the Lord's people in every place would unite as one man to plead with God and persevere in prayer, crying from the heart in reference to the whole church and each distinct portion of it. Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts. Look down from heaven and behold and visit this vine. this life, this heart, this Christian, this believer. For the church is simply but a gathering of individual Christians. And if God visited us personally and revived us personally, then the church would be revived. O revive the hearts of all. May God be pleased to visit this vine, and may this vine bear fruit for His glory, and may the man of God's right hand receive all the glory as the vine once again spreads itself and its influence far and wide. May God be pleased to bless his word. Let's bow our heads in prayer together. Thank you for listening. O God, we are before thee today. Thou art in heaven beholding and looking down into our own personal lives. Let us know, Lord, whether the enemy has come in. whether the wall is broken down. Let us know, Lord, the state of our lives personally, the state of thy church, the state of our nation. Lord, surely we cry to thee today, return. Return, O Lord of hosts. Look down and behold and visit this vine, this vine that thy right hand planted. Lord, we cry for thy glory. Visit the blood-bought church. Visit thy blood-bought people. Revive every heart and every life. And if there be one today who finds himself like this trampled-down vine, oh, may today they take heart to know that, Father, while others would dig up the vine and throw it away and replace that vine with another, We thank Thee that, God, in tenderness, He reaches down, and in His restorative ministry as this great shepherd, He lifts up the vine. He lifts up the vine again, and that vine can grow and prosper and be fruitful. Oh, do it for that man, that woman, that young person. Lord, we pray that we might see the evidence of it, even, dear God, in our midweek prayer meetings. as they walk through and over the threshold of the doors on a Wednesday evening, crying to God and thanking God for what He has done in their lives. Lord, answer prayer. Again, we pray and cry to Thee, visit. Visit my heart. Visit this vine. Lord, cause us to be what we ought to be. as believers in these days, for we offer prayer in and through the Savior's great and precious and holy name.