Psalm 80 Turn Me Back to You O God

Daily Bible Study for Tuesday October 18, 2016

By: Hanny Lynn Stearns 

Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.

“Multiplying God’s Word Around The Globe”

Chapter Reading for Today: Please read in your Bible before proceeding. Note that most translations are considered paraphrases. The Young’s Literal Translation provides a more accurate translation since he is the one who authored a concordance. Others are helpful for seeing a different perspective, but we cannot always depend on their wording. I hope this is helpful to you. If you are studying in another version, that is fine. I am studying from the KJV, but for the purpose of this study, I will keep it with the New King James Version.

One final note: I will put the scripture in italics to differentiate from my own writing. I am adding red to the letters when it is Jesus talking – just like the Bible. Thank you.

Bible Gateway Verse of the Day

Psalm 27:14

Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!

Psalm 80

Turn Me Back to You O God!

If ever there was a Psalm written from a sinful people who needed God to change their hearts – this one is it. From the beginning to the end of this chapter, we can see that the writer is expressing a heartfelt desire for the Lord to bring His people back to Him. Why do we have to ask the Lord to bring us back to Him? Why can’t we just do that on our own? As one who has struggled greatly with these issues, I can truly relate to their cries in today’s chapter. Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father:

Thank You for helping Your children see the need we have for You to turn our hearts back to You. We have gone the way of the transgressors far too often as we have given place to the devil and allowed ourselves to walk more in the flesh than in the Spirit. Father, I ask You today to give me the anointing and utterance to bring Your message to Your people. Open our ears to hear and our spiritual eyes to see truth like never before. Soften our hearts so that we are moved toward You with a sincere heart – not men’s religious traditions. Father, I ask You to continue to bring in more countries to this study. Currently there have been people from at least 16 nations read Your word through this Bible study and we are so grateful for that! Bring them from the north, south, east and west for Your glory and their prosperity in You. Father, as we study, we will purpose to be doers of Your word and not forgetful hearers. Thank You in advance for causing this message to go out unhindered and unchecked by any outside force or my flesh. Thank You for always watching over Your word to perform it in our lives as we do it. Your word says in everything we are to give You thanks for this is Your will for us in Christ Jesus. As we do, we know that the walls will come down and breakthrough will come. We thank You for that right now in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen. 

Three times in this section of verses we see the people crying out to God asking Him to turn them back to Him and show them His favor. They knew that if He did that, they would be saved. Saved from what? The enemy. In this passage, we see that the Lord planted a vineyard – Israel. He built her up – His own special people. He planted them and caused them to spread and grow and His desire for them was peace and a fruitful harvest. But they kept turning away from the Lord and His ways. Why? Because the human heart (flesh) in not good…

Psalm 14:3

They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one.

The fact of the matter is that there has never been a human being on the planet – except for Jesus who has chosen to live a sinless life for the Lord. That’s why we needed Jesus. Otherwise we could never get to live an eternity with the Father in the new heavens and new earth. He is holy and sin cannot enter into His holy, perfect and pure presence. Many people think they are righteous… 

Proverbs 20:6

Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?

The Bible is full, beginning to end of the Lord’s words calling people to return to Him. Let’s look at a portion I opened to today in Hosea…

Hosea 6:1-10

Come, and let us return to the Lord; for He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up. ² After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight.
³ Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.

⁴ “O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you?
For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away.
⁵ Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and your judgments are like light that goes forth.
⁶ For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

⁷ “But like men they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt treacherously with Me.
⁸ Gilead is a city of evildoers and defiled with blood.
⁹ As bands of robbers lie in wait for a man, so the company of priests murder on the way to Shechem; surely they commit lewdness.
¹⁰ I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the harlotry of Ephraim;
Israel is defiled.

If we look through the entire Bible, God is calling a people who have been completely unfaithful to Him to come back. He has shown us mercy and lovingkindness time and again, yet we have gone the way of a harlot, like an unfaithful wife. Our hearts in the flesh are quick to give in to selfish lusts (desires) of many kinds. What can a person do if they cannot return to the Lord on their own? Well friends, there is good news here. But first, let’s look at Hosea’s account here for a moment. Can you see Jesus in here? The whole Bible shows us Jesus in one way or another from beginning to end. He is the First and The Last – the Beginning and the End.

Look at what I have highlighted in yellow. This is a sign of what Jesus would be used by the Father to do for us so we could be enabled to come into His presence. On the third day when Jesus was raised up, we were also raised up so that we could live in His sight. Jesus went to hell for us so we don’t have to. Jesus overcame death for us so we don’t have to die. Jesus bore our infirmities so we don’t have to be sick. And He became poor for us so we could become rich. There is very deep meaning in all of this. Each point could warrant a very in depth study. For today we will keep it to how we return to the Lord.

God made us to be in constant fellowship with Him. He made us to love us. When He made us He gave us a choice to love Him. But, this had to be a choice. Forcing us to love Him would be no love at all. When we come in to the world we are 100% self-centered. From infancy in the natural, we are by the fallen nature a selfish being. As we grow up, we become less and less selfish and more and more considerate of others. At least that is the plan. And the same principle applies when one accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Now they are born of the Spirit – and have become as newborn babes. Like natural born babies, newborn babies in Jesus, no matter what their number of years may be – are a selfish bunch.

Living one’s life without Christ is to live mainly focused on oneself and anything that concerns or interests them at any given time. But once the Lord’s Holy Spirit comes to live inside of us, everything changes. Suddenly we have His desires inside us. We are alive unto God again, like little children in the world. We desire the sweet innocence of love and living unashamed of the precious things of God. Now we have this…

Philippians 2:13

for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

As born again children, we want to do the right thing. And when we fail to, we are quick to repent and eager to return to the Lord. Here’s what the Lord said about returning to Him…

Isaiah 30:15

For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

“In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” But you would not,

Friends, I have a personal testimony on this very verse. I spent several years battling (quite unnecessarily in deed!) with food and sugar addiction. Like the passage today where we see that the wild beasts were devouring the vineyard of the Lord, (more on that in a minute) meaning the enemy, I was being devoured by the enemy with a spirit of infirmity that brought me so low at times I thought I just could not take any more. The pain and suffering was so intense. I would feel like I had the flu. The symptoms were undiagnosable because it was a spiritual issue – not a physical one.

Whenever I was disobedient to the Lord by eating foods that the Lord had asked me to avoid, I would be stricken by the enemy. It would come on me so suddenly, and usually it lasted a few days. One time it lasted 7 long days. I dropped to me knees beside my bed one night and just cried out to the Lord. I asked Him about this. I just needed to understand. All of a sudden, out of my spirit, I heard the voice of the Holy Spirit say to me these words, “In quietness and rest is your strength.”

What it took me time to understand is that I had to be calm and trust in the Lord – with my eating issues. He would be my strength in a place of peace, but I was having none of that. Instead, I was still insisting on doing things my own way. Over time I came to realize that though I said I loved the Lord with all my heart, I really was not loving Him because I was not obeying Him fully, nor was I trusting Him. I was still living in fear of lack. As I continued to press into the Lord, He would show me this verse over and over again until I finally started to grab a hold of it…

Zechariah 4:6-7

⁶ So he answered and said to me:

“This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.
⁷ ‘Who are you, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!
And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”’”

Look at the Easy to Read Version

⁶ He said, “This is the message from the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Your help will not come from your own strength and power. No, your help will come from my Spirit.’ This is what the Lord All-Powerful says. ⁷ That tall mountain will be like a flat place for Zerubbabel. He will build the Temple, and when the most important stone is put in place, the people will shout, ‘Beautiful! Beautiful!’”

By continuing to look at the word of God, His Spirit in me was turning my heart like a watercourse – just like He says He can do in His word. It is so amazing…

Proverbs 21:1

The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.

If, and that is a great big “if”, a person will submit to the Lord’s leading, they will be turned in their heart from a stony heart to that of a heart of flesh. And God can do it, make no mistake…

Ezekiel 36:26

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Usually the word “flesh” in the Bible means our selfish human desires. In this case, it means to take a hard heart and make it soft. Only God’s good Spirit in us can make that happen. Conversely however, people can get born again and filled with the Holy Spirit of God and still choose to walk more by the flesh than by the Spirit – resisting His promptings and corrections. They remain as spiritual babies and even if they are saved and go to church for 60 + years. They continue in their “training pants.” That is so SADD-U-CEE!

So, what did I do to get to where I am today? I kept trusting the Lord even when I wasn’t, if that makes sense. What one must do is never take their nose out of the Bible. We have to be entrenched in the word. We have to keep our eyes on the Lord even when that mountain still seems as tall as Mt. Everest. If we don’t give up and we keep pressing in to the Lord, He will make it happen for us. He is the Deliverer. He is the one that can make us go from selfish, self-centered and stubborn crotchety old people into loving, giving and kind people who have His heart at work in us more fully. 

God is a giver and He is the greatest expression of love there will ever be. As of this writing, I have lost 85 pounds of body fat that I never would have lost had it not been for the Lord. I was so addicted to the food and sugar that the numbers on the scale were beginning to climb like airplane taking off from Chicago international airport – up, up and away! As much as I wanted to please the Lord, I simply could not get myself there. I had to have Holy Spirit inside of me to get me there. Hallelujah!

Here is a verse that is one of the greatest promises that every backsliding Christian can depend on for help when they have fallen back into sin…

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Do you see how it says “He” will cleanse us from all unrighteousness? There are several verses in the word of God that shows people crying out to God to help them stop sinning. Again, we could get deep into the scriptures on this topic. The Bible has so much to say about this and, of course, rightly so. A man or woman of God with His Holy Spirit is going to want to do the right thing, but their flesh is going to scream loud to have its own way. Then add to that the temptations that come from the devil. Those two things combined make for a losing battle for the human soul. Why? Because the devil is a supernatural being. We cannot fight him on our own. We would lose in the first round.

Secondly, the flesh is strong. How strongly do you want that ice cream after dinner? Or how does that pizza on the TV commercial seem to “call your name?” Because the flesh likes to be satisfied with worldly things. But the Spirit loves what God loves. He is meek and gentle. He is loving and giving. Jesus was willing to lay down everything He could possibly desire in this earthly life to do the will of the Father. He learned obedience by…

Hebrews 5:8

though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

Any child of God who cries out to Him in an honest, heartfelt prayer to cleanse them from all unrighteousness will have their prayer answered if they are truly believing God for those answers. He is happy to do it. But we have to be willing. He will never force His way on us. We always have to ask. Now that I have come to a new place where my eating is concerned, it seems the Lord is uncovering more “rocks” in my heart that need to be crushed. Let’s move on to look at what the Lord did when He chose His people Israel. In this passage, we will see what happens when the stone the builders rejected became the Chief Cornerstone…

Luke 20:9-19

⁹ Then He began to tell the people this parable: “A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. ¹⁰ Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. ¹¹ Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. ¹² And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out.

¹³ “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ ¹⁴ But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.’ ¹⁵ So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? ¹⁶ He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.”

And when they heard it they said, “Certainly not!”

¹⁷ Then He looked at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’?

¹⁸ Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

¹⁹ And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on Him, but they feared the people —for they knew He had spoken this parable against them.

In our chapter today, the vine that God brought out of Egypt is the Israelites. The Lord planted them in their own land and caused them to flourish and spread. Remember that the Bible talks about how they grew in number so much that the Egyptians feared that they would take over their land? Then they made them slaves. God stepped in and took this weak, smallest of all nations group of captives and brought them into a land flowing with abundance – aka, milk and honey. But after He brought them out and established them, their home was burned to the ground. The book of Jeremiah is a great one to see how the events unfolded.

Just like today’s chapter mentions, they were devoured by wild beasts – meaning the devil and his helpers. And they were burned up – or, in other words, consumed. In the parable of the vineyard, the Lord had established His people and went away. Jesus set up His kingdom on the earth and then He went away, leaving people to rule and reign in His place until His return. But the religious leaders of the day were so hateful to the people that they would destroy anyone who was a threat to their position. They acted like they loved God, but their hearts were far from Him. Then God sent His prophets in to talk to the leaders – even the kings to try to get them to turn back to Him. But the kings feared the people more than they feared (reverenced) God. As a result, their sin opened the door for the enemy to come in and steal, kill and destroy.

People who really love God are a target for the enemy. Just this week, my husband and I allowed the enemy into our camp right here at home and he was able to steal a lot from us. We learned a big lesson in this matter and rest on the fact that the Lord will restore to us double of what was taken away. After all the prophets were sent to speak to Israel, the Lord sent His Son, the heir to all He has. Jesus came and what did they do? They took Him outside of the camp – to Calvary, and they crucified Him. The enemy thought he had fully plundered the owner of the vineyard, but behold, three days later the Lord of glory stood up, raised from the dead with the keys to death and hell…

Revelation 1:18

I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

And when Jesus stood up, He caused all of us in the vineyard to stand up with Him, victorious – hallelujah! Death has lost its sting and we have the victory in Christ Jesus our Lord! Praise His name forever. The wicked people will be destroyed when Jesus comes back. They will be thrown into the lake of fire. But those who “fall on Him, the Chief Cornerstone, will be broken of their prideful, selfish ways and be called sons of the Most High God. On those whom His judgment falls, they will be crushed into powder.

No person will enter the kingdom of heaven unless they have first fallen on the Rock – Jesus. He is the Chief Cornerstone of the kingdom of God. Without Him, no house can be built that will last. A house without a cornerstone cannot stand. We are God’s house - the people of His vineyard. The people we look at in our Psalm today are crying out for God’s hand to be upon those who are doing the right thing by walking with the Lord. 

They are the ones who, while they know they may have done wrong, still want to do right. They asked for His hand to move on them so they would not turn away from Him. The people knew that without God’s help, they were doomed to a life of sin. They also knew that it would take the promptings of the Spirit of God to keep them turning in the right direction. That’s wisdom my friends. As long as we keep seeking the Lord and humbling ourselves before Him, He will lift us up to new places as we walk closely with Him. We must be sincere. That’s the one requirement that makes it all happen.

How do you think that Paul was used so mightily by the Lord to start and grow the Church of Jesus Christ in all the known world during his time on earth? He was daily putting down his flesh to keep it under following in like manner to the Master…

1 Corinthians 9:27

But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

In the book of Romans, Paul talked a lot about how he had to battle the fight within himself to do what his flesh wanted verses doing what God wanted him to do. All of you reading this study are certainly well acquainted with the battle between the flesh and the Spirit. It is very real and very powerful indeed! One must not kid themselves when it comes to this matter. The flesh part of us (the mind, the will and the emotions) do not get born again when we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Our spirit man gets renewed or regenerated. That’s the part in us that wants to do God’s will like the verse in Philippians noted earlier.

There are some wonderful scriptures that we can see that will encourage us. Since God knows what is going to happen in the future, we hear a great word from Him here…

Isaiah 35:10

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

There is an expected end for the people of God. Those who do love God and want to learn to love Him more will be given that opportunity. Also, look at this…

Jeremiah 24:7

Then I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me with their whole heart.

The entire passage in Jeremiah 24 is excellent of course. I encourage you to read it on your own. There is much in God’s word that shows how He will change us and mold us into an image that bears His Son’s resemblance. Now that is a big task – amen?! LOL! I know for me, this last eleven years of walking with the Lord has been a series of lessons, corrections, confession, repentance and additionally, full of love, comfort, peace and joy such as I have never known anywhere else. I have been loved with a real and everlasting love by my Daddy in heaven. I have had the hands of Jesus holding mine as I stumbled along trying to learn. He has captured my many tears and healed up so many wounds.

This process for the Christian is a lifelong thing. I have only walked seriously with the Lord for these 11 short years, but I feel like I have lived 11 lifetimes in those years. It has been painful and wonderful - exceedingly so, more than words could ever tell. The more we grow up, it seems the more we get corrected. I believe that maturity allows us to be able to stand up under it better where immaturity runs away crying like a whimpering puppy. Only God can get us to “straighten up and fly right” so to speak.

The question for us is; do we want to? Are we willing to make the journey with Him? He has told me previously, “Hanny, if you remain flexible, teachable and available, you will be in good shape.” No longer do I have to walk around feeling condemned or unloved and unwanted. It doesn’t matter what people say about me or if they do not like me. What matters is the love of my Savior and Lord. My heavenly Father loves me with an everlasting love, and He wants to shower each and every person with that love. He has more than enough to go around. Does this describe you my friend? Do you want to receive that love from the Father? Will you depend on Him to change your heart from that of stone to flesh? The choice is yours.

 

                        Let’s pray…

Heavenly Father:

Without You I would be walking around like a lost puppy headed for the edge of a very high cliff. My choices have not always been the right ones. Nor have they been what is pleasing in Your sight. Father, I am asking You to show me anything that needs to be changed in my life. I am submitting myself to You once again and asking You to create in me a clean heart, O God. Help me see what corrections and course adjustments I need to make so I am walking in Your will to the glory of Your holy name. Father, as You show me these things, I am purposing in my heart to humble myself under Your mighty right hand and follow the direction You have for me. I will confess and repent of any and all sin that You reveal to me. Draw me close to You as I come near to Your throne of grace and mercy. Shed light on the darkness that remains in my heart so I can be an asset to You in Your kingdom work. Place me where You want me in the vineyard Lord and I will do my part. Thank You in advance for the answers to this prayer in Jesus precious name. Amen.

There are three main points to consider from today’s study…

Only God can turn a heart of stone into a heart of flesh

It is God’s Spirit in us to that wants to do the right thing once we are born again

God has kingdom work for us as we willingly submit ourselves to His right ways

Questions:

What does it mean when the Bible says, “Cause your face to shine?

How does God change a human heart from a stony heart to a soft heart?

What must we do in order for that to happen?

In what way has this study helped you the most?

What will you do differently as a result of this lesson?

Who can you share this study with?

What has been on your heart lately that you need to get right with the Lord?

And God Said… You fill in the blanks.

Psalm 51

51 Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
² Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

³ For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,^[a]
And blameless when You judge.

⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
⁶ Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts,
And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.

⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
⁸ Make me hear joy and gladness,
That the bones You have broken may rejoice.
⁹ Hide Your face from my sins,
And blot out all my iniquities.

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
¹¹ Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
¹³ Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted to You.

¹⁴ Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
The God of my salvation,
And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness.
¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips,
And my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
¹⁶ For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering.
¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
A broken and a contrite heart—
These, O God, You will not despise.

¹⁸ Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion;
Build the walls of Jerusalem.
¹⁹ Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness,
With burnt offering and whole burnt offering;
Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar.