 |
| www.st-rephaels.com |
Scripture: Psalm
80
Focus Verse “Restore
us, O Lord Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.” Ps.
80:19 (NIV)
This
psalm names Asaph as the author. In the ‘song’, the words of our focus verse
appear three times, in verses 3, 7, and 19. These words are a plea for God to
restore His people.
The
writer believes God has been angry at the nation Israel. The Lord has not
honored their prayers. The people have grieved the state of their country.
Neighboring nations have laughed at the people. Israel’s enemies mocked them.
Asaph
reminds the Lord that He brought the nation out of bondage in Egypt and allowed
them to remove other peoples from the land. At
the time of Asaph’s writing, God has thrown open the protective gates to the
nation and permitted anyone to pass through and partake of the fruits of
Israel.
The
writer pleads with God to return to them and to watch over them. When He
speaks, the people perish. Asaph refers to the Messiah in verse 17. He then
asks God to revive them and promises the people will call on Him.
Our 21st
Century world needs to pray for God to look down on us and guide us through
these messy times. Our nation needs to look to the Lord, call out His name, and
ask for His mercy. It is the only way we can be restored as a nation.
Hi Cecelia! Oh my yes, we are in 'messy times' indeed. It seems that our country was based on the best of Christian values, and those are certainly challenged in these times. I honestly have no idea who can bring us back to times of peace in this presidential election. I know that I rely heavily on prayer and trust.
ReplyDeleteMay God bring us the right people, with right judgement!
Ceil
Ceil: Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I often hear of 2 Chronicles 7:14 and how we need to follow the guidelines God laid out for the Hebrew people. However, I must admit I fall short about doing this.
DeleteWow, Cecelia. When I was reading this post I thought, "We need to pray this for our nation today." Then you said the same thing in your conclusion. Our times are messy, indeed. Help us, Father, to seek you first.
ReplyDeleteJen: You refer to the scripture,"Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will added to you. As a society, we have forgotten to do this. We should be ashamed.
Delete