John Calvin Commentary Psalms 80:1

"Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; Thou that sittest [above] the cherubim, shine forth." — Psalms 80:1 (ASV)

Hearken, O Shepherd of Israel! Before naming Manasseh and Ephraim, the prophet mentions Joseph. Why does he speak of Joseph rather than Judah? Is it not because his design was to treat separately of the kingdom of Israel, whose government was in the family and posterity of Joseph?

Nor, since God sent special prophets among them after he had struck them with his rods, is there any inconsistency that, at the same time, the prayer is added for God to gather the remnant to himself. Moreover, so that they might not delude themselves by trusting in their spurious worship, the prophet, by applying to God the title Him who sitteth between the Cherubim, calls them back to the pure doctrine of the law.

The mercy-seat was a pledge of God’s presence, where he had promised to be near his people to hear their prayers. It was unlawful for men to change this divinely instituted form at their own pleasure. The Israelites, then, are admonished to return to their original state if they were to expect to find God gracious towards them.

Besides, by the title attributed here to God, his wonderful love towards men is expressed—in his humbling and, so to speak, lowering himself to come down to them, and choosing for himself a seat and habitation on earth, so that he might dwell among them.

Properly speaking, God cannot be said to sit; nor should it be supposed that he, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, can be confined to a certain place (1 Kings 8:27). But, to accommodate human weakness, he is represented as placed between the two Cherubim, so that the faithful might not imagine him to be far from them and, consequently, be perplexed with doubt and apprehension in approaching him.

At the same time, the remark I previously made must be remembered: that the Israelites are here given a rule for praying correctly, so that they might be drawn away from the worship of the god they fabricated and set up themselves at Dan and Bethel, and so that, rejecting all superstitions, they might submit to be guided by the true light of faith and follow the Word of God.