Psalm 80:5














Givest them tears to drink in great measure. Reference must be to the dreariness and hopelessness and misery of the captives in Babylon. There was no other time in the national history when the expression was so suitable. The misery is forcibly pictured in Psalm 137. When the eyes of the exiles were full of tears, it was bitterness indeed to be asked to sing "one of the songs of Zion." "How could they sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" Eastern people are very expressive in their grief, and shed tears very freely; but the expression here is poetical. Men are thought of as having so much trouble in their lot that they seemed to feed upon their tears. Stanley says, "The psalms of the time answer to the groans of Ezekiel, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, as deep to deep. No human sorrow has ever found so loud, so plaintive, so long protracted a wail. We see them in the places of their final settlement, often lodged in dungeons with insufficient food, loaded with contumely, their faces spat upon, their hair torn off, their backs torn with the lash. There were the insults of the oppressors, there were the bitter tears which dropped into their daily beverage, the ashes which mingled with their daily bread." This subject may be profitably treated by recalling the fact that our Lord Jesus is recorded to have wept tears on three occasions, and these occasions may be regarded as representative. Jesus wept at the grave of Lazarus; Jesus wept in sight of unreceptive Jerusalem; Jesus wept in the garden of Gethsemane.

I. THE MISSION OF THE TEARS OF BEREAVEMENT. Tears seem specially sacred to such times. They are, indeed, nature's relief. We feel anxious when our bereaved friends cannot weep. Tears are brain relief as well as emotional relief; but they are the sign of the broken heart, the unavailing regret, the love that has become only a memory. But see the mission of such tears.

1. They call out sympathy.

2. They satisfy our feeling that we ought to feel.

3. They honour our departed friends.

4. They are silent prayers which God heeds.

II. THE MISSION OF THE TEARS OF CONCERN FOR OTHERS. Illustrated by our Lord's concern for Jerusalem. Observe that tears are not becoming while there is any hope of their yielding to gracious influence. The tears come when those we would bless seem determined to "resist the Holy Ghost." As long as Jesus could hope to save Jerusalem, there was no room for tears. They came when Jesus was compelled to say, "Now they are hid from thine eyes. Your house is left unto you desolate." We weep when we are forced, in hopelessness, to let alone those whom, from our very hearts, we desire to bless.

III. THE MISSION OF THE TEARS FORCED OUT BY MENTAL STRAIN. Illustrated by our Lord's tears in Gethsemane, Times when we want to understand, and cannot; when we want to believe, and cannot; when we want to obey, and cannot; when we want to see our way, and cannot; when we want to submit, and cannot. Such was the condition of the exiles. - R.T.

O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of Thy people?
The Lord God of hosts is not properly a title of creation, but of providence. All creatures have their existence from God as their Maker; but so have they also their order from Him as their Governor. So that here, God would be respected, not as a creator, but as a general. His anger, therefore, seems so much the more fearful, as it is presented to us under so great a title, "The Lord God of hosts is angry." They talk of Tamerlane, that he could daunt his enemies with the very look of his countenance. Oh! then what terror dwells in the countenance of the offended God!

I. GOD MAY BE ANGRY; and sin the cause of His anger. He hath scourged some in very mercy, till they have smarted under His rod (Job 6:4; Psalm 88:15, 16). If He will do thus much in love, what shall be the terrors of His wrath? If the sun were wanting, it would be night for all the stare; and if God frown upon a man, for all the glittering honours of this world, he sits in the shadow of death. Thus terrible is the anger of God; now, what is He angry withal but sin? That is the perpetual make-bate between God and us; the fuel of the fire of His indignation (Isaiah 59:2; Isaiah 63:10).

II. GOD MAY BE LONG ANGRY. It is some favour when we have the respite to cry, "How long, Lord, wilt thou be angry with us?" There is some hope of remedy when we once complain of our sickness. Yet God may be long angry, and long continue sensible testimonies of His anger (Psalm 95:10). But how, then, doth the prophet say "that he retaineth not anger"? Well enough; for He never retaineth it one moment longer than we retain the cause of it. So soon as we ever cease sinning against Him, He ceaseth to be angry with us.

III. GOD MAY BE ANGRY WITH THE WHOLE PEOPLE. The universality of sin calls for the universality of repentance, or else it will provoke God's anger to strike us with universal judgments. If the whole people be guilty, the whole people must fall to deprecation. Such was the Ninevite's repentance, "every man turning from his evil ways."

IV. GOD MAY BE ANGRY WITH HIS OWN PEOPLE. Yea, their sins anger Him most of all, because, together with wickedness, there is unkindness. As dearly as He loves them, their sins may provoke Him. Our interest in God is so far from excusing our iniquities, that it aggravates them. The nearer we are to Him, the nearer do our offences torch Him; as a man more takes to heart a discourtesy done by a friend than a great injury by a stranger.

V. GOD MAY BE ANGRY WITH HIS PEOPLE THAT PRAYETH.

1. There may be infirmities enough in our very prayers to make them unacceptable.

2. But such is the mercy of our God, that He will wink at many infirmities in our devotions, and will not reject the prayer of an honest heart because of some weakness in the petitioner. It must be a greater cause than all this that makes God angry at our prayers. In general, it is sin (John 9:31; Psalm 66:18; Isaiah 1:15). God will have none of those petitions that are presented to Him with bloody hands.

3. In particular, it is the hypocrisy of sin, or the sin of hypocrisy, that makes God so angry with our prayers.

(T. Adams.)

Essex Remembrancer.
I. IN WHAT SENSE GOD MAY BE SAID TO BE ANGRY WITH OUR PRAYERS.

1. When He denies our requests.

2. When He delays His answers.

3. When He bestows blessings under a different form, and in a different manner from what we expected.

II. SOME OF THE CAUSES FOR THIS.

1. Our desires may be, and no doubt often are, improper.

2. Desires, not in themselves improper, may be unsuitable to us, such as would not, if granted, become our case or circumstances.

3. Prayers may be ill-timed.

4. They may be polluted and spoiled by sins.

5. They may be incompatible with the plans of infinite wisdom.

III. IMPROVEMENT.

1. Instead of restraining prayer, this should make us more importunate.

2. Though we should not give over praying, we ought to give over sinning.

3. Acquiesce in all the Divine proceedings.

4. Be thankful that whatever favours God may see fit to withhold or suspend, He bestows far more than we have deserved.

(Essex Remembrancer.)

People
Asaph, Benjamin, Joseph, Manasseh, Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Bowlful, Bread, Caused, Causest, Drink, Eat, Fed, Feedest, Full, Givest, Hast, Large, Measure, Sorrow, Tears, Third, Weeping
Outline
1. The psalmist in his prayer complains of the miseries of the church
8. God's former favors are turned into judgments
14. He prays for deliverance

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 80:1-19

     8149   revival, nature of

Psalm 80:4-5

     5198   weeping

Psalm 80:4-6

     5821   criticism, among believers
     8615   prayer, doubts

Psalm 80:4-7

     8610   prayer, asking God

Library
One Antidote for Many Ills
This morning's sermon, then will be especially addressed to my own church, on the absolute necessity of true religion in our midst, and of revival from all apathy and indifference. We may ask of God multitudes of other things, but amongst them all, let this be our chief prayer: "Lord, revive us; Lord, revive us!" We have uttered it in song; let me stir up your pure minds, by way of remembrance, to utter it in your secret prayers, and make it the daily aspiration of your souls. I feel, beloved, that
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Dishonest Tenants
'And He began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Blessing of God.
NUMB. VI. 22-27. We have already seen the grace of GOD making provision that His people, who had lost the privilege of priestly service, might draw near to Him by Nazarite separation and consecration. And not as the offence was the free gift: those who had forfeited the privilege of priestly service were the males only, but women and even children might be Nazarites; whosoever desired was free to come, and thus draw near to GOD. We now come to the concluding verses of Numb. vi, and see in them one
James Hudson Taylor—Separation and Service

Period iii. The Critical Period: A. D. 140 to A. D. 200
The interval between the close of the post-apostolic age and the end of the second century, or from about 140 to 200, may be called the Critical Period of Ancient Christianity. In this period there grew up conceptions of Christianity which were felt by the Church, as a whole, to be fundamentally opposed to its essential spirit and to constitute a serious menace to the Christian faith as it had been commonly received. These conceptions, which grew up both alongside of, and within the Church, have
Joseph Cullen Ayer Jr., Ph.D.—A Source Book for Ancient Church History

The Wicked Husbandmen.
"Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country: and when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto
William Arnot—The Parables of Our Lord

Discourse on the Good Shepherd.
(Jerusalem, December, a.d. 29.) ^D John X. 1-21. ^d 1 Verily, verily, I say to you [unto the parties whom he was addressing in the last section], He that entereth not by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. [In this section Jesus proceeds to contrast his own care for humanity with that manifested by the Pharisees, who had just cast out the beggar. Old Testament prophecies were full of declarations that false shepherds would arise to
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Homiletical.
Twenty-four homilies on miscellaneous subjects, published under St. Basil's name, are generally accepted as genuine. They are conveniently classified as (i) Dogmatic and Exegetic, (ii) Moral, and (iii) Panegyric. To Class (i) will be referred III. In Illud, Attende tibi ipsi. VI. In Illud, Destruam horrea, etc. IX. In Illud, Quod Deus non est auctor malorum. XII. In principium Proverbiorum. XV. De Fide. XVI. In Illud, In principio erat Verbum. XXIV. Contra Sabellianos et Arium et Anomoeos.
Basil—Basil: Letters and Select Works

Rules to be Observed in Singing of Psalms.
1. Beware of singing divine psalms for an ordinary recreation, as do men of impure spirits, who sing holy psalms intermingled with profane ballads: They are God's word: take them not in thy mouth in vain. 2. Remember to sing David's psalms with David's spirit (Matt. xxii. 43.) 3. Practise St. Paul's rule--"I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing with the understanding also." (1 Cor. xiv. 15.) 4. As you sing uncover your heads (1 Cor. xi. 4), and behave yourselves in comely reverence as in the
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

The Shepherd of Our Souls.
"I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep."--John x. 11. Our Lord here appropriates to Himself the title under which He had been foretold by the Prophets. "David My servant shall be king over them," says Almighty God by the mouth of Ezekiel: "and they all shall have one Shepherd." And in the book of Zechariah, "Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, and against the man that is My fellow, saith the Lord of Hosts; smite the Shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered."
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

Farewell Discourse to Disciples.
(Jerusalem. Evening Before the Crucifixion.) ^D John XIV.-XVI. ^d 1 Let not your heart be troubled: believe in God, believe also in me. [That one should betray him and one should deny him, that all should be offended, and that the Lord should depart, raised anxieties which Jesus here seeks to quiet. That they should go out as homeless wanderers without the presence of their Lord and be subjected to persecution, was also in their thoughts. But Jesus sustains their spirits by appealing to them to
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Barren Fig-Tree;
OR, THE DOOM AND DOWNFALL OF THE FRUITLESS PROFESSOR: SHOWING, THAT THE DAY OF GRACE MAY BE PAST WITH HIM LONG BEFORE HIS LIFE IS ENDED; THE SIGNS ALSO BY WHICH SUCH MISERABLE MORTALS MAY BE KNOWN. BY JOHN BUNYAN 'Who being dead, yet speaketh.'--Hebrews 11:4 London: Printed for J. Robinson, at the Golden Lion, in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1688. This Title has a broad Black Border. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. This solemn, searching, awful treatise, was published by Bunyan in 1682; but does not appear
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Psalms
The piety of the Old Testament Church is reflected with more clearness and variety in the Psalter than in any other book of the Old Testament. It constitutes the response of the Church to the divine demands of prophecy, and, in a less degree, of law; or, rather, it expresses those emotions and aspirations of the universal heart which lie deeper than any formal demand. It is the speech of the soul face to face with God. Its words are as simple and unaffected as human words can be, for it is the genius
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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