God is our shepherd: has he forgotten his people? When the Church is discredited, the salvation of Christ seems to be a failure. Lord bring us back and convert us!
① 1* 2Listen, O shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who sit enthroned between the cherubim.
3Shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might and come to save us.
4Restore us, O God of hosts; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.
5O Lord of hosts, how long will your anger burn against the prayers of your people?
6You have fed them with the bread of woe, and have given them tears to drink in their sorrow.
7You have made us the scorn of our neighbors and the laughingstock of our oppressors.
8Restore us, O God of hosts; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.
9You had a vine you brought from Egypt. You drove nations out, to plant it in their land.
10On the ground that you cleared, it took root, and filled the land.
11Its shade covered the mountains, its shoots went through the mighty cedars,
12its branches reached out to the sea and its shoots to the River.
13Why, then, have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass by pluck its fruits?
14The beasts of the forest ravage it and all creatures of the field feed on it.
15Turn again, O Lord of hosts, look down from heaven and see; care for this vine, 16and protect the stock your hand has planted.
17Let those who burned it down perish at your rebuke.
18But lay your hand on your instrument, on the son of man whom you make strong for yourself.
19Then we will never turn away from you; give us life, and we will call on your name.
20Restore us, O Lord, God of hosts; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
- This psalm refers to the years of trial for the kingdom of Israel at the time of Elisha. Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh were the more important tribes of the northern kingdom. In the former century, it extended from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates (v. 12).
Verse 18 refers to the King.
