Thoughts for the Day

Prayer for the Restoration of God’s Favour. To the leader. Of the Korahites. A Psalm.

Lord, you were favourable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you pardoned all their sin.Selah
You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.

Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation towards us.
Will you be angry with us for ever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again,
so that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people,
to his faithful, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
Surely his salvation is at hand for those who fear him,
that his glory may dwell in our land.

Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will kiss each other.
Faithfulness will spring up from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from the sky.
The Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
Righteousness will go before him,
and will make a path for his steps.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

We can all look back with nostalgia, thinking the past was better than the present and far rosier than now. Summer days for me in the late 50's and early 60's were full of sun, and winters were less wet, for instance. But that was to forget the lack of sun cream in the summer (we used olive oil to attract the sun), and the bitter cold winters when there was no heat in the house in the mornings except in the kitchen, with ice on the inside of the windows, and when the cutlery was so cold you didn't want to be the one laying the breakfast table. Strange what memory does!

In Psalm 85 the writer is not pining for the past which as we have just seen can be an illusion, rather he is remembering God's mercies to the nation and its people. Perhaps this was written after the return from exile in Babylon when we know that after their return to Jerusalem the returnees had a very poor time of it (see Further Thoughts).

Today, we are more likely to blame ourselves than God for our national calamities - for the situation in the Middle East and in Ukraine, or for the floods in Spain. We can see that we are selfishly destroying our world, but like the psalmist we too can listen to God's voice. He speaks of peace and wants to dwell with us. Just look at the last verse with its vision of the future. God's love will rescue the faithful, and God's righteousness rather than condemning sin will bring with it peace. These four things for us met in Jesus. God came, and comes again today through the Holy Spirit, to bring harmony out of disorder, and when we see the evidence of His steps we need to follow. As Spurgeon said “God’s march…will leave a track where his people will joyfully follow.”

↠ Ask yourself 'Where is Love in the world, and can I join in'? For that is evidence of God at work!

Lord Jesus Christ,
help us to listen to Your voice
that whispers in our ear and to our heart,
and that speaks of love and peace.
May we learn to look back and see
Your gracious hand at work in
our life and in our world,
and today may follow where
You are leading.
Amen.