The Father took a young and tender vine
And gently lifted it from Egypt’s soil;
He moved it to His goodly garden green,
And there He nurtured it with loving care.

The vine began to flourish and bear fruit
As daily on the Lord it looked for grace;
Its branches grew and occupied the land;
Its fame spread throughout nations far and wide.

But all too soon the vine succumbed to pride.
It turned away from light of Eastern Sun
And closed its roots to Abba’s crystal spring,
Believing it could flourish on its own.

One truth this vine did not quite understand—
When it from God’s provision turned away,
It also lost the right to seek His aid,
And His protecting hand from it was stayed.

The enemy then battered down the wall,
Away they carried cuttings of the vine
And freely ate the fruit that was not theirs,
Set fire to what remained, and let it burn.

The vine, now weak and helpless as before,
Cried out unto its Keeper, “God of hosts,
You’ve brought us very low; we can’t look up.
Turn us again, and cause Your face to shine.

“You made us strong once. Make us strong again,
And we will not forget Your holy name.
We come to You in deep humility
And know that by Your grace we shall be saved.”

The Father knows the weakness of His vine;
He knows their promises they will not keep.
Yet He is faithful, and He will not fail
Forgiveness to bestow on all who ask.

❧          ❧          ❧

During the month of June, my studies from the Psalms will be accompanied by poetry. Today’s poem is based on verses 3 and 7-19 of Psalm 80.

from Psalm 80

Turn us again, O God,
and cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved.

Turn us again, O God of hosts,
and cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved.

You have brought a vine out of Egypt:
You have cast out the heathen, and planted it.
You prepared room before it, and did 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 unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.

Why have You then broken down her hedges,
so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
The boar out of the wood does waste it,
and the wild beast of the field does devour it.

Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts:
look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
and the branch that You made strong for Yourself.
It is burned with fire, it is cut down:
they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
So will not we go back from You:
quicken us, and we will call upon Your name.

Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts,
cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved.

❧          ❧          ❧

Photo courtesy of  Igor Ovsyannykov on Unsplash

Copyright © 2018 Angela Umphers Rueger – All Rights Reserved

Scansion:
Blank Verse
Unrhymed verse written in iambic pentameter