Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Tuesday, 30 September 2014 - Psalm 80:

Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States - Lutheran Seminary's God Pause "Moved by the Promise" for Tuesday, 30 September 2014 - Psalm 80:7 God-of-the-Angel-Armies, come back!
    Smile your blessing smile:
        That will be our salvation.
8-18 Remember how you brought a young vine from Egypt,
    cleared out the brambles and briers
    and planted your very own vineyard?
You prepared the good earth,
    you planted her roots deep;
    the vineyard filled the land.
Your vine soared high and shaded the mountains,
    even dwarfing the giant cedars.
Your vine ranged west to the Sea,
    east to the River.
So why do you no longer protect your vine?
    Trespassers pick its grapes at will;
Wild pigs crash through and crush it,
    and the mice nibble away at what’s left.
God-of-the-Angel-Armies, turn our way!
    Take a good look at what’s happened
    and attend to this vine.
Care for what you once tenderly planted—
    the vine you raised from a shoot.
And those who dared to set it on fire—
    give them a look that will kill!
Then take the hand of your once-favorite child,
    the child you raised to adulthood.
We will never turn our back on you;
    breathe life into our lungs so we can shout your name!(The Message)
The letter inviting me to an ecumenical service of prayer for Christian unity began, "Dear fellow workers in the vineyard of the Lord." This psalm, using the imagery of God's vineyard, helps us to place ourselves in the midst of the ancient, the present and the future life of God's work in the world. God''s vineyard is a place of deep roots with vines that fill the land. It is apparently also a place in need of constant restoration. The same has been and will be true for all people gathered together and committed to serve God. 
This cry to God is a statement of continued faith followed by the plea, "but I don't understand why." As the church faces decline and uncertainty with hope and trust in God's restoring power, we join in this ancient plea "Turn again O God ... have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted."
Lord of all, we confess that we think we know what is best and too often ignore your work in our lives and in the lives of those around us. Help us to recognize your healing grace. Restore us again we pray. Amen.
Julianne Barlow (Koivisto)
Assistant to the Bishop for Mission,
Synod of Alberta and the Territories, 
Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada
Calgary, Alberta 
Doctor of Ministry , 2012
Psalm 80:7 Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.
8 You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea, and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.
14 Turn again, O God of hosts; look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine,
15 the stock that your right hand planted.(New Revised Standard Version)
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