The Bible is not an easy book. God did not give us a simple instruction manual or a straightforward description, in alphabetical order, of his essential qualities. The Bible, like Jesus' own incarnation, often hides the glory of God as much as it reveals it. That is because God wants us to hunger and thirst for the secrets it reveals; he wants us to ardently seek him and find him. Just like the Lord's admonition that we must become "importunate" in prayer, we must doggedly come to Scripture relying on God's help to understand it. Psalm 82 is one of those knotty, enigmatic sections of the Bible that can confuse as much as they reveal. The primary sticking point here is the talk of "gods". We know that one of the central teachings of the Bible is that there are not many "gods" so why is God using this kind of talk? And who are these gods he is addressing? I cannot unlock all the mysteries here, but I want to draw our attention to some key points to remember. [...]

I'd like to focus on the particular metaphors of psalm 80, but let me get a few preliminaries out of the way. First, we are clearly in a situation that mirrors several preceding psalms: God appears to have forgotten, punished, or rejected his people. It is not clear, but maybe the context is the Assyrian assault on the Northern kingdom. Next, there is a thrice repeated plea: "turn us again God of hosts." There is in this refrain an urgency and stridency. We might say this psalm exemplifies the importunity that Jesus urges with regard to prayer in the Gospel of Luke. Finally, at the end there is the hope that God would send a "son of man," a man whom God favors to deliver his people. When we stand back to pay attention to the controlling images in this psalm we notice two of God's favorites; plants and sheep. God is depicted as the shepherd of this people and as a gardener tending the vine that is his people. Let's think about these images a little. First, note that [...]