Abide in Me
Psalm 80:17 – “Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself.”
By Dick Wynia
Reading: Psalm 80:14-19 [suggested also: John 15:1-11]
Asaph prayed that God would have regard for the son whom God had made strong for himself (v. 15). Who was he talking about? In the Bible, Israel was called God’s firstborn son (Ex. 4:22-23). When God made a covenant with David, he promised that he would establish the throne of David’s son forever, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son.” (2 Sam. 7:14)
These words may have been written when Hezekiah was king of Judah. He was a faithful son of David and like David, a man after God’s heart. Hezekiah invited everyone, the northern tribes and the people of Judah, to come and celebrate the Passover together in Jerusalem. Maybe Asaph was praying for a spiritual revival of all of God’s people under the leadership of Hezekiah.
But ultimately, As
aph was praying for Jesus, the great Son of David. Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” Then he proclaimed God’s answer to Asaph’s prayer: “Abide in me, and I will abide in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:1-5)
This is how God’s vine can live and flourish. We need Jesus to be our King. And we need to hear and believe and live by what Jesus says. To abide in him is to live a life of repentance and obedience by faith in him. He must live in us, and we in him. Only then will there be life in us; only then will God gather in a harvest of righteousness from our lives.
Christ is the great difference—and the only difference—between a fruitful vineyard and empty churches. Jesus says, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:7,8). Make that your commitment and your prayer, that you would abide in Christ by faith.