A Garden Story

Psalm 80 / Isaiah 5 / Matthew 21 / Philippians 3

Asaph (Psalm 80)

Probably by Asaph, chief musician of King David

v1 - To God

v3 - Restore Us, that we may be saved (rescued)

v6 - God does the punishing

v7 - The vineyard story begins; God plants a garden (think of Eden)

v12 - God broke down the protective walls

v13 - wild animals got in

v15 - CLUE… the garden was made FOR the Son

v19 - Restore Us, that we may be saved

Isaiah (Isaiah 5)

Isaiah 5:4–6 “What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.”

It seems the people of Israel ignored and disobeyed God ; they took what God had provided, and misused, abused it

Colossians 1:16 “For by [Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”

Jesus (Matthew 21)

Matthew 21:33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country.”

Jesus’ telling of the parable focuses on what the people did; especially with the son

v35 - the master sent servants, and they beat them

v36 - they did they same again

Matthew 21:37–38 “Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’”

Remember, it was people who said they loved God who demanded that Jesus be crucified

In all 3 garden stories, God does the punishing for ruining what He did

Paul (Philippians 3)

Philippians 3:4 “though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more:”

Philippians 3:7–8 “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ”

So in the Psalm, in Jesus’ story, and in Paul’s letter… it all comes back to Jesus.

What will you do with Jesus?

Like in Eden, and in Asaph’s garden, God has given and does give all we need.

We inherited a defect in our hearts and disrespect, disobey, and hate him (usually secretly).

But, because of God’s Love and plan for us, because of Jesus, we can be like Asaph and Isaiah: We can ask God to save us.

We can trust Jesus, and enjoy His garden forever.