RESTORATION
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
and come to save us!3 Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.4 O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 You make us the scorn of our neighbors;
our enemies laugh among themselves.7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.14 Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven and see;
have regard for this vine,
15 the stock that your right hand planted.
16 It has been burned with fire; it has been cut down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.
18 Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
I have come to appreciate old things (cars, toys, etc) which are repaired, re-claimed, and restored. Rather than tossing things out onto to the trash pile, I prefer to enjoy the new life that can be breathed into them. In this psalm, there is an appeal for God to appreciate the restoration of God’s people. In short, in the days of the psalmist, God’s people had allowed their lives and lifestyles to become tarnished and corrupted. But they still had prayer, as God had not given up on them.
Do you have the potential of becoming a restored classic? Let God help you polish up your life as we walk more closely with the Lord.
Prayer
God of my salvation, help me to remember how good you have been to me. Let me let go of the things in my life which retract from the beauty you created me to be. Restore me to be an instrument of your love and peace. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
