Tag: restoration

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Psalms Devotionals

The One who restores us.

Psalms

Three times we see basically the same prayer repeated.

Restore us, God; make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved. (Psalm 80:3)

Restore us, God of Armies; make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved. (7)

Restore us, Lord, God of Armies; make your face shine on us, so that we may be saved. (19)

Our only hope of salvation is found in God restoring us, turning our hearts to him.

And ultimately, that was accomplished on the cross where verse 17 was fulfilled.

Jesus, the Son of Man, the one who sits at the Father’s right hand, suffered and died for our sin.

The Father’s hand was on Jesus, strengthening him so that he might complete his mission.

And now, because of Jesus’ work, the Father’s face shines on us. He turns our hearts toward himself. And he saves us.

Let us each day rejoice in this awesome grace we have received.

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2 Corinthians

When there is repentance

2 Corinthians

When someone hurts us it can be easy to hold a grudge. And even if they are truly sorry and apologize, sometimes we withhold that forgiveness.

Or sometimes we forgive, but we let them know in no uncertain terms that it hasn’t been forgotten.

The same is true in church discipline. Someone sins, and is disciplined by the church. They then repent, but people in the church still look sideways at them and keep their distance from them.

It’s almost as if we’re saying, “We can’t make it too easy for them to get back in our good graces again. We have to make them suffer a little more, and then maybe, just maybe we’ll accept them again.”

But Paul tells us here that’s not how we should be. He wrote the Corinthians,

The punishment inflicted on him by the majority is sufficient for him.

Now instead, you ought to forgive and comfort him, so that he will not be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.

I urge you, therefore, to reaffirm your love for him. (2 Corinthians 2:6-8)

What did Paul mean by “the punishment inflicted on him is sufficient for him”?

I believe it means that the punishment has accomplished its purpose: he repented.

And once a person repents, there is no further need for the punishment. Instead, we are to immediately forgive and comfort him, letting him know that not only has God forgiven him, but we have forgiven him as well.

Having done that, we are to then reaffirm our love for him.

God wants us to mourn for our sins. But as we will see later in this letter, there are two kinds of sorrow: a sorrow that leads to repentance and a sorrow that leads to death.

But a sorrow that leads to repentance can also lead to death if that person sorrows excessively due to the fact that the people in the church refuse to forgive him or her. The same is true in personal relationships as well.

And that is not something that God wants; it’s what Satan wants. Satan’s schemes always have the same end in mind, “to steal, kill, and destroy.”

When we refuse to forgive a person and leave them in excessive sorrow, we are participating with Satan, not with God.

How about you? Has someone hurt you? Or has someone committed some grave sin within the church?

Have they repented? If they have, then let us join in with God in showing forgiveness and acceptance to them once again.

Remember the words of our Lord who told us,

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36)

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Psalms

When we put our trust in him

Psalms

In Psalm 146, we see a God who is worthy of our trust. In this psalm, we see the results of trusting in him.

As I mentioned in the blog on Psalm 146, for years, the Israelites had rebelled against God, failing to trust in him, and putting their trust in themselves, in other gods, and other people.

The result? A broken and ruined nation.

But now the people under Ezra, Nehemiah, Zechariah, and Haggai were slowly turning their hearts back to God. And because of that, the healing process had begun.

The psalmist writes,

The LORD builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:2–3)

He then reminds the people of the greatness of God, and just why he is worthy of our praise. Namely, that he is the one that created and sustains all things. (5–9)

He then reminds the people that God doesn’t delight in the strength of men nor their animals that they have tamed for their own use. Rather,

The LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. (11)

And so the psalmist exhorts the people to praise and exalt God in their lives, remembering that he is the one who strengthens the gates of the city and brings blessing in their lives.

He is the one who brings them peace and provides all that they need.

Finally, he reminds them of the blessing that God had given them simply by revealing himself to them, when he had done so directly for no other nation.

The writer of Hebrews tells us, however, that God has not just revealed himself through the prophets and the words they wrote, but now he has revealed himself through Jesus. And now, we can all have access to the Father through him.

More than that, because God became man in Jesus, he understands us completely and has great compassion for us.

So let us draw near to him with confidence. Let us put our trust in him. And if we do, we will find healing, restoration, blessing, and peace.

Categories
Psalms

Dwelling in self-pity

Psalms

Psalm 137 is one of the more depressing psalms in the book, a lament apparently written during the Babylonian captivity.

It pictures the psalmist sitting by the rivers of Babylon, harp in hand, but so depressed by the fall of Jerusalem that he had lost all desire to play it. So instead, he just hangs it on a nearby tree as he mourns over Jerusalem.

Then some of the Babylonians happen by to poke fun at the Jews, saying, “Come on! Sing some songs for us. Entertain us with the songs you used to sing in Jerusalem.”

But the psalmist refused, saying, “How can I sing such songs here in Babylon? How can I show such utter disrespect for the land I love by doing so? I’d rather lose all my skill in the harp and become a mute than do that.”

He then closes by calling curses on Edom and Babylon.

On Edom because though they were brothers (that is, the ancestors of Edom were Esau and the ancestors of Israel Jacob), Edom had rejoiced in Israel’s fall.

On Babylon because of all the atrocities that they poured down upon Jerusalem, even to the killing of Israel’s children. So the psalmist curses them, asking that they would receive what they themselves had dealt to others.

How often do we feel as the psalmist did? We’re down and out, mostly, if not entirely, because of our own sin. Our own family mocks us, and those who hate us just pour salt in our wounds, saying, “Where is this Lord you serve now?”

How do we respond to all this?

We have a choice. We can stay where we are in self-pity, mourning over what we’ve lost, and simply give in to bitterness. But if we do so, we’ll waste away physically and spiritually.

Or we can repent and turn our faces to God as people like Daniel and Nehemiah did.

If we do, God will restore the ruins we’ve made of our lives. And in doing so, he will restore our joy.

What will you do?

The choice is yours.