Psalm 79-83

June 24

Psalm 79-83

Humanity is a messed up lot. God created us for a relationship with Him and we spend our time and energy trying to find something to fill the hole in our lives that only God can fill. Sometimes we get involved in activities that we know are wrong. We know they are sin, we know we are rebelling against God, but frankly, we don’t care. Sometimes we get into activities or relationships almost by accident. Suddenly we look around and wonder how we got in the situation in which we are living.

Israel rebelled against God. They wanted to be like the other nations. They turned against God who disciplined them and allowed nations to come and destroy their homes and send them into exile. There are consequences for sin. There are consequences for the sins of a nation and for individuals. We cannot make ourselves not guilty, when we are guilty. Sin is disobedience to God. When we are guilty of sin, we turn away from God and as sinners; God cannot stand to look on us because He is holy.

The Psalmist three times cried out; "Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved." (Psalm 80:3, NIV)  We cannot restore ourselves. We cannot make ourselves pleasing to God again. All we can do is turn to God, instead of running away from Him, run toward Him. If we turn to God, He can restore us. He can make us whole again.

“Make your face shine upon us” means for God to show favor. Our rebellion has taken us out of God’s favor. We cannot undo all we have done. We cannot earn our way back into God’s favor. Only God can restore us. All we can do is desire to be restored and to turn back to God. Then we can cry out like the Psalmist and seek God’s restoration. Our only hope of salvation in through God’s grace.

God extended that grace, God made true restoration of the sinners heart possible when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us; When Jesus willingly took the bitter cup and took upon himself the sins of the world; when Jesus died upon the cross; and when He rose again on the third day. God provided restoration and His face shines upon us when we receive His gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.