Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

80:16-19 Make Us Faithful! The final stanza continues the vine imagery from the previous section, describing the monstrous deeds of these Gentile marauders: they have burned it (i.e., the vine) with fire; they have cut it down. For such an outrage against God's own plant, may they perish at the rebuke of your face! The terms in v. 17, the man of your right hand and the son of man, probably refer to the people of Israel, for several reasons. First, "the man of your right hand" is probably a play on the name Benjamin (v. 2), which means "son of the right hand" (see Gen. 35:18, ESV footnote). Here Israel is at God's right hand, called to carry out his purpose in the world. Second, the words "son whom you made strong for yourself" were applied to Israel in Ps. 80:15; the additional "of man" emphasizes Israel's frailty and dependence on God. (One reason NT writers call Jesus God's Son, and the Son of Man, is to show that he embodies all that Israel was called to be, which makes him the ideal heir of David.) Israel as a whole pledges itself to God: if he will let his hand be on Israel (i.e., put forth his power on their behalf, esp. in protecting them from the ravaging Gentiles), then Israel will not turn back (again) from God and will call upon his name, i.e., will exercise true faithfulness.