Read Psalm 80:8-13. 8You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. 9You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land. 10The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. 11It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River. 12Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? 13The boar from the forest ravages it, and all that move in the field feed on it.
It doesn’t make sense. Why would God so carefully move his vine (Israel) from Egypt to Canaan, clear the ground for it, plant it, water it, and cause it to grow larger than mountains and cedars, just to break down its walls and let it be ravaged by the forest boar (Babylon).
How often do we, like Asaph, ask God the “why” question? Why did you save me from Hell just to let me go through this hellish life? But have we forgotten our sin? Have we forgotten God’s holiness? And have we forgotten that God is far more concerned with our holiness than our happiness?
In writing about the vine of Israel, the prophet Isaiah declares:
Isaiah 5:5. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
Why would God do this to his vineyard? Isaiah continues:
Isaiah 5:15-16. 15Man is humbled, and each one is brought low, and the eyes of the haughty are brought low. 16But the Lord of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.
Praise God for the true vine, the true Israel, Jesus his son. On the cross he was simultaneously brought low, yet exalted in justice. He was broken down for us. He was ravaged for us. All who passed along the way mocked and jeered. Why? So that we might never again forget the relationship between our sin and God’s holiness. So that our “why” questions might all be answered with “who.”
To live is Christ is to trust God’s trampling of your little vineyard so that you might abide in the vine of his love and mercy. It is finding exaltation in being brought low, and rest in being ravaged.
Prayer. Jesus, humble me today so that you might be exalted in me. Amen.
To Live is Christ 