7.22. Chapter 8 - The Refrain

Chapter 8 The Refrain

I NOW come to the refrain, which gathers up in itself the whole theme, and contains the fundamental prayer of the psalm.

It is thrice repeated, with significant variations, which mark not only the increasing intensity and fervour in the petition, but the growing faith and rising hope in the God who has promised the very things for which the psalmist here prays.

It is for that reason that many of the inspired prayers in the Psalms must also be regarded as prophecies; for they are the echo of the very words of God, and of what He actually promised that He would do.

It is because Jehovah hath revealed His purpose and “promised this goodness” unto His servants (2Sa_7:27-29) that Israel’s prophets and psalmists, in their intercessions for the people, “find it in their hearts to pray” such prayers unto Him.

Note the variations:

“Elohim, turn us again [or “restore us”], And cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved” (Psa_80:3).

“Elohim Tzebaoth [God of Hosts], turn us again, And cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved” (Psa_80:7).

“Jehovah, Elohim Tzebaoth, turn us again, And cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved” (Psa_80:19).

Some of our hypercritical friends have somewhat stumbled at this “accumulation” and “heaping up” of the Divine names in this psalm, ad are quite sure that the “addition” or “expansion” of the name Jehovah in this “Elohistic” psalm, is the touch, not of the original writer, but of a “redactor,” and is proof positive that this scripture belongs to a later date. One cannot but marvel sometimes at the skill and ingenuity of some of these friends in turning order into confusion and light into darkness. Oh, there is design and fulness of meaning and beauty in this “heaping up” of God’s names; for it is in these very names that the sacred writers find the basis and encouragement for all their hopes and expectations in reference to Israel’s present and future: and the name of “Jehovah” in particular is their strong tower, “into which they run” and take refuge in all times of doubt and perplexity.

Now note the significance of the gradation:

1. “Elohim”—Thou fearful almighty God, Creator and Upholder of all things—“turn us again, cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.”

2. “Elohim Tzebaoth”—Thou might God of Hosts, whose chariots are “twenty thousand,” even myriads of angels; who hast all the hosts of heaven, and all the forces of nature at Thy command, ready to carry out Thy behests—“turn us again, cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.”

3. “Jehovah Elohim Tzebaoth”—Thou everlasting, self-existing, unchangeable God, who hast revealed Thyself, not only in Thy might, but in Thy grace in the history of redemption; who hast entered into covenants, and given us promises to which Thou wilt ever abide faithful, though we be unfaithful and unworthy—“turn us again, cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.” The prayer itself contains a twofold petition. The first is expressed in the word השִׁיבֵ֑נוּ, hashibenu, rendered in the Authorised and Revised Versions “turn us again”; but this verb in the Hiphil conjugation is most generally used of a bringing back from captivity. The prayer, therefore, which is expressed in this word is “Oh, restore us again—bring us back from our long exile and captivity—renew our days as of old, when we dwelt in safety and prosperity under Thy shepherd care.” And the answer to this fervent petition is to be found in many precious and direct promises of God, which abound in the prophetic Scriptures, and which are, so to say, echoed in this very petition. Thus, for instance, we read in Jer_16:14-15—

“Therefore, behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that it shall no more be said, As Jehovah liveth that brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt: but, As Jehovah liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the countries whither He had driven them; and I will bring them again into their land that I gave to their fathers.”

And, again, in Jer_30:3 (to turn to no other prophetic book) God says to the prophet:

“Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For lo, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will turn again the captivity of My people Israel and Judah, saith Jehovah; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.”

—in both of which scriptures the expressions, “I will bring them again” and “I will cause them to return” are the translations of the same verb (though in another tense) as is used in the petition thrice repeated in our psalm.

We, therefore, who believe in God’s Word have the sure and certain hope that the promise will be fulfilled and the prophetic prayer answered. And in this respect, as in so many others, we are different from those who make no account of God, and even from Christians who pay no heed to the sure word of prophecy. In the elaborate work on the Jews to which I have referred more than once in these pages,¹ the writer, in summing up the present position and future prospects of the Jews among the nations, says, on the very last page:

¹ Israel in Europe, by G. F. Abbott.

“It would be idle to deny that, viewed as a whole, the Jewish question at the present moment stands pretty much where it has been at any time during the last eighteen years. . . . If the past and the present are any guides regarding the future, it is safe to predict that for many centuries to come the world will continue to witness the unique and mournful spectacle of a great people roaming to and fro on the highways of the earth in search of a home.” And the same spirit of pessimism in relation to their future is expressed by many Jewish writers and poets themselves. But there is no need for Israel to “roam about to and fro on the highways of the earth in search of a home.” There is a home waiting for them; but before they can return to it under the blessing of God, and enjoy rest and peace after their long wanderings, the national prodigal must first be reconciled to his heavenly Father, and confess the great sin which has been the cause of all his sorrows and sufferings. But this brings me to the second petition in the fundamental prayer of the psalmist. The restoration of Israel to their own land, after the many centuries of dispersion and wanderings, will be a great mercy, and a wonderful event in the world’s history; but a still greater mercy and a still more wonderful thing will be their restoration to the favour of God: and this is expressed in the prayer, “Cause Thy face to shine,” which is an echo and inspired reminder to God of the benediction which He Himself put into the mouth of the priests wherewith they should “bless the children of Israel,” viz.:

“Jehovah bless thee and keep thee:

Jehovah make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee;

Jehovah lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace; which prayer and prophecy will in the fullest and literal sense be also fulfilled in the appearing of Him who in the Old Testament is called the מַלְאַ֤ךְ פָּנָיו֙, Mal’ak Panav—the “Angel of His Face” because it is the only face of God which man has ever see, or can behold; and who, in the New Testament is revealed as the very image of the invisible God—“the effulgence of His glory, and the express image of His substance.”

“Cause Thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.”

“In the light of the King’s countenance is life, and His favour is as a cloud of the latter rain.” (Pro_16:15) At the rising of the Sun of Righteousness all clouds and darkness must vanish. All the evils which have befallen Israel during their night of weeping have been consequent, as we have seen on the hiding of God’s face from them. “In overflowing wrath,” He says, “I hid My face from thee for a moment”—one of God’s moments measured by the line of eternity; but that glorious face shall yet again be turned upon them: “With everlasting kindness will I have mercy upon thee, saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer.” Then we “shall be saved.” Oh, yes, to behold that countenance, once marred for us more than that of any man, to walk in its light, to gaze upon it until we are transformed into the same image—that is full and perfect salvation. It is our blessed privilege now to gaze upon it by faith: “Whom having not seen we love; on whom though now we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving [already by anticipation] the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls” (1Pe_1:8-9). But this period of invisibility and of silence will not last for ever. The day of unveiling and of manifestation is drawing nigh, when His blessed “feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east”; when Israel shall behold Him with their eyes, and pointing to Him, as it were, with their hands, shall say:

“Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is Jehovah; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” (Isa_25:9) And we too, my dear reader, shall see with our own eyes “the King in His beauty,” and experience the very fulness and completeness of His “salvation,” which shall include also the redemption of our bodies. Already we are the sons of God, but it is not made manifest what we shall be. We know, however, that “when He shall be made manifest, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” And “every one that hat this hope set on Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.”