Thou broughtest a vine out of Egypt; thou didst cast out the nations, and plant it
Psalm 80 begs the Shepherd of Israel to shine out and save a people living on tears. At verse 8 the prayer turns to history — and to the questions behind it: who planted this vine, what was it planted for, and why is its hedge broken down now?
The verbs of the verse all have one subject. Asaph is not recalling what Israel achieved, but arguing from what God Himself did for them.
Asaph appeals to God again. He bases his appeal on God's sovereign grace and power in bringing Israel out of Egypt and settling them in a land that He Himself had fully prepared for them. The vine stands for Israel — a vine God planted after He drove nations out of their land, so that Israel might have her own place to grow and bear fruit for God (v. 8).
The vine here stands for the nation as a whole. With a vine, only one thing counts.
The vineyard was the circumcision, the nation generally. It was planted to produce fruit, but it failed. What marks the true vine is that fruit is the test. It is not a question of religious rites.
Why a vine and not some other plant?
Other trees may be useful apart from their fruit; with the vine it is not so. Ezekiel, speaking of the vine, asks, "Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it?" (Ezekiel 15:3). If the vine produces no fruit it is useless.
The next verses describe a vine that took deep root and spread to the sea and the river. Those borders were once literal fact.
The extent of the territory promised by God was reached in the days of Solomon, David's son. Israel achieved its greatest prosperity at that time. Those verses point to the borders of the land. The sea means the Mediterranean, and the river means the Euphrates.
The point of a vine is the wine it gives, and wine means cheer for God and man. Israel's story runs from that planting to ruin.
The great thought of the vine is that it gives wine, which cheers the heart of God and man. Its special meaning is cheer for God as well as for man — man's response to God, more than God's blessing to man. Psalm 80:8-19 tells us that the Lord planted a vine in His own land, a vine brought from Egypt, from among the nations. Sadly, the boar out of the wood wasted it, and the wild beast devoured it. In other words Israel failed to bring joy to God, and to be blessed themselves in serving Him. They turned aside to idolatry, and were deaf to the calls of repentance from the lips of one prophet after another. Last of all God sent His Son. This was the last and final test. Sadly, they rejected Him and cast Him out.
Having pleaded the planting, the psalm asks God to visit the vine again — and then rests everything on one person, the Son of Man of verse 17.
The vine brought out of Egypt was laid waste; its hedge was broken down, as Isaiah had indeed warned them. Tears were the drink of Jehovah's people. They beg God to look down from heaven and visit the vine, the vineyard, and the branch made strong for God Himself. It is God's rebuke. But it also looks for God's own hand of power to rest on the man of that power — the Son of Man whom God had made strong for Himself.
The psalm's Branch is not left in the psalm. Jesus later called Himself the vine, taking up the same picture.
When the Lord spoke of Himself as the Vine, He took up a picture the Old Testament had already used for Israel, above all in Psalm 80:8-18 and Isaiah 5:1-7. The Psalm declares that the vine lies desolate, yet it also speaks of "the Branch" and "the Son of Man," whom "You made strong for Yourself." Isaiah makes the reason for that desolation plain. Israel as the vine brought forth nothing but wild and worthless grapes. There was no fruit for God. Jesus Himself was the Branch made strong for Jehovah, and He now presents Himself as the real Source of all fruit for God on the earth.
- Planted — every verb belongs to God: He brought the vine out, drove out the nations, and prepared the ground. Israel's existence was pure gift.
- Purpose — a vine is planted for one reason. Its wood builds nothing; without fruit it is useless. God set the nation apart to bear fruit for Himself.
- Prosperity — the planting worked. In Solomon's day the vine reached from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates.
- Ruin — the hedge came down and the vine was wasted. The failure was moral: idolatry, deaf ears to the prophets, and at last the rejection of God's own Son.
- Restoration — the psalm's hope is not a mended vine but a Man. The Son of Man, made strong for God, calls Himself the true vine and is the source of all fruit for God.
Thou preparedst space before it, and it took deep root, and filled the land;
Psalm 80 is the prayer of a nation in ruins. At verse 9 the prayer turns to memory. God once made room for a vine He had carried out of Egypt, and it grew until it covered the land. If God Himself did all that work, why does the vine now lie wasted?
The verse credits every stage of Israel's settlement to God. He made the space, and only then did the plant take hold and spread. Older translations read, "You caused it to take deep root" — even the rooting was His work. And the clearing had a purpose beyond survival:
He had brought a vine out of Egypt — and He brought it out, as the figure implies, to yield Him fruit: shall it not yield Him fruit? He had dispossessed nations, to make way for it; and He having made room, it rooted itself and filled the land.
God could have pictured His people with any plant. He chose one that grows by leaning on something else.
The vine is good for nothing else but fruit, and with its trailing branches is the very image of dependence... Here the appeal is to God on the ground of what He had done for them, that that work should not be in vain.
And the fruit was never meant for the vine itself:
The vine here stands for Israel. God planted it after casting nations out of their land, so that Israel might have her own place to grow and bear fruit for God. For the vine is good only for bearing fruit, as Ezekiel 15 bears witness... Fruit, speaking from a scriptural viewpoint, is for God, not for people's enjoyment.
The deep root of verse 9 led to the spread described in the verses that follow. But the psalmist is remembering a height the nation had already lost.
But God caused Israel to take deep root and fill the land. Its shadow even covered the hills and the mighty cedar trees. The cedar is the total opposite of the clinging vine. Yet Israel once prospered so greatly that the greatest men on earth submitted to it... Now this was all past.
The growth had real borders, and Israel reached them once:
Israel reached the full extent of the territory God promised in the days of Solomon, David's son. That was the time of Israel's greatest prosperity. These verses refer to the borders of the land. The sea refers to the Mediterranean, and the river refers to the Euphrates.
Why the collapse? The psalm does not name the cause. Isaiah gives the reason, while the psalmist builds his prayer on other ground.
It was not possible that the failure could be in God. He could appeal to themselves whether He could have done anything for His vineyard that He had not done. Yet when He looked for His vine to bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes... It is this action of God which the psalmist sees, and which he laments. He says nothing directly of the moral causes... his argument goes back of all this, to the Immutable God and His purposes. He leaves out the people, as if they were of no account.
The planting was God's own work. So the ruin becomes an argument in prayer, not a reason to stop praying.
Verses 8-13 contain a touching recital of God's past dealings with the vine of His own planting. The psalm credits the nation's prosperity to the One who brought them out of Egypt. It traces their distress to the same hand... This is a remarkable example of how boldly and urgently faith pleads, when it has its true object clearly in view.
The psalm does not end with the ruined vine:
The Psalm declares that the vine is desolate, but it also mentions "the Branch" and "the Son of Man," the one "You made strong for Yourself." Isaiah makes the reason for that desolation plain. Israel as the vine brought forth nothing but wild and worthless grapes. There was no fruit for God. Jesus Himself was the Branch made strong for Jehovah. He now presents Himself as the real Source of all fruit for God on the earth.
- Cleared — God dispossessed nations to make room; the vine did not win its own ground.
- Rooted — the deep root was His gift, not the plant's achievement.
- Filled — at its height the vine reached the borders God promised, from the sea to the Euphrates.
- Wasted — God could have done nothing more for it; the failure was in the fruit, never in the Planter.
- Restored — faith pleads God's own planting back to Him. The fruit He looked for is found in the Son of Man He made strong for Himself.
The mountains were covered with its shadow, and the branches thereof were [like] cedars of God;
Psalm 80 is a prayer for a nation in ruins. Verse 10 looks back at what that nation once was: a vine so large that it shaded the mountains and rivalled the greatest trees for size. The memory is not nostalgia. The psalm turns it into an argument, and asks God why He broke down the walls of the vine He had grown.
The verse sits inside a picture that moves step by step: rescue, planting, room, roots, and then size. One writer traces that sequence and shows verse 10 as the high point of the vine's glory.
He had brought a vine out of Egypt — brought it out, as is implied, to yield Him fruit: shall it not yield Him fruit? He had dispossessed nations, to make way for it; and He having made room, it rooted itself and filled the land. Next, we see its glory: it rose, shadowing the mountains, with a growth as solid as the mighty cedars. Lastly, we see it spread to the sea and to the River (Euphrates) — the boundaries God gave it in those directions.
Every verb in that sequence belongs to God. The vine did not find the land; God drove out nations and planted it there.
Commentators tie this description to a datable high point in Israel's history.
The extent of the territory promised by God was reached in the days of Solomon, David's son. Israel achieved its greatest prosperity at that time.
The comparison in the second half of the verse is striking because a vine and a cedar are opposites. One writer presses that contrast. He reads the cedar-like branches as a mark of Israel's standing among the nations.
But God caused Israel to take deep root and fill the land, even covering the hills with its shadow, and the mighty cedar trees. The cedar stands in total contrast to the clinging vine. Yet Israel's prosperity at one time was such that the greatest men of earth were subdued before it. Israel's influence had reached the nations (the sea), and the river, the Euphrates, her eastern border. Now this was all past.
Size like that looks impressive, but no one judges a vine by its height. Its shape and its purpose both show what God wanted from His people.
The vine is good for nothing else but fruit, and with its trailing branches is the very image of dependence.
The prophets later use the same image as an accusation. God's care produced growth, but not the harvest He looked for.
Jehovah had brought a vine out of Egypt, and had cast out the heathen and planted it. He had given it much patient care and had granted many privileges; but where was the fruit? "When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?" (Isaiah 5:4). Israel — man in the flesh — failed. Privileges and favours developed no good where everything was evil and corrupt.
The psalm recites this history to God, not to itself. Having described the vine at its best, it asks at once why God has broken down its walls. Commentators read the whole recital as the boldness of faith.
Verses 8-13 contain a touching account of God's past dealings with the vine of His own planting. They credit the nation's prosperity to Him who brought them out of Egypt. They trace their distress to the same hand too: "Why then have you broken down its walls?" This is a remarkable example of the bold urgency of faith's pleading, when its true object is in plain view.
The psalm's own answer is not a return to the old greatness. It is a person: the Branch God made strong for Himself. Christ later takes the same picture and applies it to Himself.
In speaking of Himself as the Vine the Lord took up a figure that the Old Testament had applied to Israel. The Psalm declares the desolation of the vine, but it also mentions "the Branch" and "the Son of Man," whom "you have made strong for yourself." Jesus Himself was the Branch made strong for Jehovah, and He now presents Himself as the real Source of all fruit for God on the earth.
- Planted. God did every step of the vine's rise: rescue from Egypt, nations driven out, room made, deep roots. None of it was Israel's achievement.
- Grown. Verse 10 is the peak of that growth: shade over the mountains, branches as solid as the mighty cedars. Israel's reach touched the borders God promised.
- Fruitless. A vine exists for fruit and nothing else. Size was no substitute: God looked for grapes and found wild ones.
- Ruined. The psalm credits both the prosperity and the ruin to the same hand, and dares to ask God why.
- Replaced. The psalm's hope narrows from a great vine to one Branch made strong for God — Christ, the real source of all fruit for God.
It sent out its boughs unto the sea, and its shoots unto the river.
Psalm 80 is a prayer of a people in ruin. To plead their case they retell their own history as the story of a vine God carried out of Egypt and planted. Verse 11 is the high point of that story: the vine reached the very borders God had promised. The psalm recalls it because that greatness is now gone.
The two landmarks in this verse are geography, not just poetry. They mark the moment when the land reached the size God had promised.
Israel reached the full extent of the territory God promised in the days of Solomon, David's son. That was the time of Israel's greatest prosperity. These verses point to the borders of the land. The sea is the Mediterranean, and the river is the Euphrates.
The spread of the vine is therefore measured growth, not random growth. It stopped exactly where God said it would.
Lastly, we have its extension to the sea and to the River (Euphrates) — in these directions its divinely-given boundaries.
In this verse the vine does the acting: it sends out, it stretches. But the psalm has already given God the credit for planting it, rooting it and making room for it. And its reach meant real influence over the nations.
But God caused Israel to take deep root and fill the land, even covering the hills with its shadow, and the mighty cedar trees. The cedar is the complete opposite of the clinging vine. Yet Israel's prosperity at one time was so great that it subdued the greatest men of earth. Verse 11 shows that the nations (the sea) had felt Israel's influence, and that it reached the river, the Euphrates, her eastern border. Now this was all past.
The choice of plant matters. A vine is good for one thing only, and it leans on whatever holds it up.
They go back to the deliverance out of Egypt, in which He had separated them to Himself for fruit. The vine is good for nothing else but fruit, and with its trailing branches is the very image of dependence. The prophet Isaiah uses the same picture in the same way, but he speaks from God's side, while the psalmist speaks from the human side. Here the appeal is to God on the ground of what He had done for them, that that work should not be in vain.
Verse 11 is not nostalgia. The one praying lays this past in front of God, and he traces the ruin that followed to God's own hand.
The psalmist sees this action of God, and he mourns over it. He says nothing about the moral causes. They are implied, no doubt, in the very need they now have of Him. But his argument goes behind all of this, to the unchanging God and His purposes. He leaves out the people, as if they were of no account. Of course, when God took them up, He knew what was in man. He could not be deceived. He had brought this vine out of Egypt; He had taken abundance of pains with it. He had tied Himself to this people of His choice in front of the whole world. After all, could He be defeated?
Another writer reads the same boldness in these lines, calling verses 8 to 13 a moving account of God's past dealings with His own vine:
This is a striking example of how boldly and urgently faith pleads, when it has its true object clearly in view.
Solomon's reign reached that far border. But commentators say the promised limit still waits for Christ.
When God first gave the word to Joshua, the Euphrates was the outer boundary. The Jordan was the proper one. Some of the tribes coveted what was on the other side, and so much the worse for them. They did not gain by it, but lost. But the Euphrates is the extreme limit, and that awaits the Lord Jesus.
The vine picture returns in the Gospels, moved from the nation to a Person.
Israel in the Old Testament is likened to a vine, and to a vine brought by God out of Egypt. One branch of it stood for the royal family, and from that family the Lord would come as a man — the Man of God's right hand, the Son of Man whom He made strong for Himself. But the Lord presents Himself as the true vine, not as Messiah, the Son of David, a branch. He is the stem. The apostles He was speaking to were the branches, and the Father was the gardener who tends it.
- Planted — the vine did not move itself. God carried it out of Egypt, cleared room and rooted it, so every inch of its reach traces back to Him.
- Prospered — at its height its reach ran from the Mediterranean in the west to the Euphrates in the east — the borders God had named.
- Purposed — a vine exists for fruit and cannot stand alone; the spread was never for its own sake.
- Pleaded — the psalm holds that past up to God as an argument. He tied His own name to this vine in front of the world, so how could He be defeated?
- Promised — the far boundary still waits for Christ, and the vine picture now points to Him as the true vine.