Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth! Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, Stir up Your strength, and come and save us! Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved! (vs1-3)
It doesn't matter the sin and the pain that we've brought upon ourselves - the defeat and bondage: God is willing and able to save us from our sin and its consequences. We are not a hopeless people, looking back to the former years, as if God is gone forever. He can restore Himself to us as our First Love, giving us the sweetness of Christ. We've ruined things, but He can rebuild, and it only takes Him.
I see the Psalms preaching this restoration theme continually, because we're in need, because of our sins. We start out loving Christ, then get distracted and deceived, but He returns, after we've been defeated, and now we know that we need Him. I see this because we all struggle with sin our whole life long, so restoration is a lifelong theme. Bless His holy name! He restores what He didn't take away. It is not His fault, but He will fix it. We have tremendous hope in Christ!
Secondly, it doesn't matter how far away we are or how difficult restoration appears to be; it is up to God, and it can happen, as He has said. He says, “O Lord God of hosts, how long will You be angry against the prayer of Your people? You have fed them with the bread of teas, and given them tears to drink in great measure. You have made us a strife to our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. Restore us, O God of hosts; cause You face to shine, and we shall be saved!” (vs4-7). We have not fallen beyond grace. We are not so low as to never rise. It takes God, but His almighty power is used in restoring sinners and saints. He is able to cleanse the stain, to give heart love, and to bring us back to Jesus Christ. He is stronger than our sins, our weaknesses, and the mess we've made. He is able to bring us up the mountain to fellowship, to make us stop trusting ourselves, and to strengthen us to believe and follow Him. He can make us hate this world, love Christ, and receive new passion for His will. God can! That's the gospel. God is mighty and able, and we CRY OUT in prayer, because we believe. We read, “And being not weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform” (Rom 4:19-21). I'm so thankful for hope!
Finally, we are outmatched in ourselves, so we need help (vs8-18). He says, “You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it. You prepared room for it, And caused it to take deep root, And it filled the land. The hills were covered with its shadow, And the mighty cedars with its boughs. She sent out her boughs to the Sea, And her branches to the River. Why have You broken down her hedges, So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit? The boar out of the woods uproots it, And the wild beast of the field devours it”.
This isn't something that we can do and then present to God afterward. We are outnumbered, overpowered, and COMPLETELY in need. He says, “Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; look down from heaven and see, and visit this vine and the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, and the branch that You made strong for Yourself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance”. And, this draws Him near, because He loves to save the oppressed who seek salvation from sin, though the enemy is stronger than we can endure. A man may watch someone suffer, until they are helpless and defeated, and then he intervenes, to insure they aren't hurt too much. God's way is to pity the miserable, so misery is a great reason to pray.
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