Psalm 80

A Bible Devotion from Psalm 80

Our Destiny

8 You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it. 9 You prepared room for it, and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land. 10 The hills were covered with its shadow, and the mighty cedars with its boughs. 11 She sent out her boughs to the Sea, and her branches to the River.

12 Why have You broken down her hedges, so that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit? 13 The boar out of the woods uproots it, and the wild beast of the field devours it.

14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; look down from heaven and see, and visit this vine 15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, and the branch that You made strong for Yourself.

19 Restore us, O LORD God of hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved!
Psalm 80:8-15 and 19, KJV

The Psalmist paints a picture in Psalm 80. Israel is a vine planted by God which grew and spread out to the Mediterranean Sea on one side and the Euphrates River on the other side. Soon however, the vine began to be broken down and destroyed; eventually it was burned with fire. Now what will Israel do? Will they pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get busy replanting the vine?

In our present day, we celebrate mankind. Nothing is too hard for us; nothing is impossible. Anything can be achieved if you just want it enough! Is that true? We Christians have been duped by the politically correct idea that we are in control of our own destiny.

The Psalmist in Psalm 80 knew the truth; if redemption was to come for Israel, it could only come by the hand of God. Does that mean we are just robots; it doesn't matter what we do because God will do as He pleases anyway? No way! God uses us to bring about His plans. He instills all of us, Christian and non-Christian alike with knowledge and abilities to use. Yes, we can make a difference; we must equip ourselves through education (and of course don't forget to equip yourself spiritually as well) and/or training so that we can be a part of the progress and development of our world.

You have a specific purpose established by God. You are responsible to develop that purpose through the abilities and opportunities God has given you. Everyone is important in God's plan whether you are the leader of a nation or a common laborer. All are useful in God's plan of advancing His kingdom in this world.

Pray today that you would seek your own destiny through prayer and then, through the innate abilities and help of God, train and use them for the glory of God and the advancement of His kingdom here on earth.

Next: Psalm 81 - Honey from the Rock

More Devotions on the 80th Psalm from my blog, Daily Bible Devotions

We Shall Be Saved, verses 1-3

It Will Be Worth it All, verses 4-7

Broken Hedges, verses 8-19