Lent Day Five
“Rescue and Restore”
Psalm 80:1-7 The Passion Translation
1 God-Enthroned, be revealed in splendor
as you ride upon the cherubim!
How perfectly you lead us, a people set free.
Loving Shepherd of Israel—listen to our hearts’ cry!
Shine forth from your throne of dazzling light.
2 In the sight of Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh,
stir up your mighty power in full display before our eyes.
Breakthrough and reveal yourself
by coming to our rescue.
3 Revive us, O God! Let your beaming face shine upon us
with the sunrise rays of glory;
then nothing will be able to stop us.
4 O God, the Mighty Commander of Angel-Armies,
how much longer will you smolder in anger?
How much longer will you be disgusted with your people
even when they pray?
5 You have fed us with sorrow and grief
and made us drink our tears by the bowlful.
6 You’ve made us a thorn in the side of
all the neighboring lands,
and now they just laugh at us with their mocking scorn.
7 Come back, come back, O God, and restore us!
You are the Commander of Angel-Armies.
Let your beaming face shine upon us
with the sunrise rays of glory,
and then nothing will be able to stop us!
When my bishop-friend Jill Duff prays for the people in her area, she sometimes gets a glimpse of heaven coming down and of God breaking in. She describes it like this: ‘Yes of course it's quite hazy. But it’s a place where children are fed, have fun and laugh; men and women flourish in harmony with joy; where different back-grounds, races and languages bring dynamism in place of division; where families and communities are fully alive, in all their colours, gifts and songs; creation is fresh, green and healthy; justice is done; where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain.’
Lent is a time to seek God in prayer for such break-through. This psalm-prayer of Psalm 80 is a passionate cry of devotion and intercession, calling out to God for this. This translation in The Passion gives it the helpful title: Rescue and Restore, for those are two things God loves to do, and they’re two things we need.
God loves to rescue and restore. That’s why he sent Jesus as our rescuer, to save us from our sins and make us right with God, and to restore us, making us new by giving us a fresh start, filled with God’s Spirit. That’s why Psalm 80 should cause us to praise God, thanking him that he is (v.1) ‘God-enthroned’ and ‘Loving Shepherd’; that he loves (v.2) to ‘breakthrough and reveal’ and (v.7) have his ‘beaming face shine upon us.’ In Christ, he truly is the Great Rescuer and Restorer!
This is also what we need. It’s what our nation needs, which is why we must pray, asking that God would (v.1) ‘be revealed in splendor’; (v.2) ‘breakthrough and reveal’ himself; (v.3) ‘Revive us’ and (v.7) ‘restore us,’ for this is what our nation needs. In short, we pray for spiritual awakening. But when we pray for such revival, the prayer should always be send revival, but start with me. That’s why as followers of Jesus we come humbly before God on our knees, confessing our sin, asking for our rescue and restoration.
This is why we always approach God humbly. We don’t come triumphalistically, but rather fully dependent on Christ, recognising our intrinsic weakness and utter dependence on him. Church leader Mark Sayers is surely right when he says: ‘The next Great Awakening, the next renewal, the coming revival, must be centred on our hearts being changed by God.’
Matthew Porter
Matthew Porter is a follower of Jesus and a leader in God's church. Married to Sam, they have five grown up children and love living in the North of England. Having served churches in Sheffield and York and been an Honorary Chaplain to the Monarch, Matthew is now the Bishop of Bolton.