READING: Isaiah 43-45, Psalm 80
“Make your face shine on us.”
Psalm 80:3
How many times do we need God’s intervention? When we have health concerns? When families are falling apart? When financial woes abound? When our children are wayward? When our church is struggling? Or more specifically, when our own wrong has brought God’s displeasure upon us? In all these cases, we need God’s help.
Though scholars debate the context of Psalm 80, the text includes several pleas for God to restore His people: “Restore us, God; make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved” (Psa. 80:3; see also vv. 7, 14, 19). The people have apparently suffered the hand of God’s judgment, and the psalmist asks God to smile on His people again and bring revival to them. The recurrent cry is both a confession of need and a cry for God’s mercy and blessing; it is a continual request for God’s renewed favor. He who is the “Lord of hosts” – the God with angelic armies at His side – is the focus of this refrain.
The good news today is that God does indeed offer renewal to His people when they seek it. He smiles on us when we never deserve it.
ACTION STEPS:
- If you are wandering from God, ask Him to renew you.
- Offer grace today to someone who does not deserve it. Model God’s favor on others.
PRAYER: “God, please make Your face shine on us today.”
TOMORROW’S READING: Isaiah 46-49, Psalm 135
