Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

The face of God

Saturday, December 14, 2002

Psalm 80:4-5, 14-19
4) O LORD God Almighty, how long will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people?
5) You have fed them with the bread of tears;
you have made them drink tears by the bowlful. ...
14) Return to us, O God Almighty!
Look down from heaven and see!
Watch over this vine,
15) the root your right hand has planted,
the son you have raised up for yourself.
16) Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;
at your rebuke your people perish.
17) Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,
the son of man you have raised up for yourself.
18) Then we will not turn away from you;
revive us, and we will call on your name.
19) Restore us, O LORD God Almighty;
make your face shine upon us,
that we may be saved.

Many of us have experienced personal tragedy. But this psalm is written about the disaster that had befallen the entire nation of Israel, captivity that would eventually last 70 years.

Very few of us have participated in this kind of catastrophe - a plague, a war of occupation, neighbors and friends killed or taken prisoner, families separated and perhaps destroyed, no hope anywhere. What would we say to God? What kind of prayers would we pray?

Asaph, the writer of this psalm, wails to his God, and cries out for him to return. He is afraid, he is angry, he is depressed; but he does not give up hope. He does not stop talking to God. He acknowledges that God has brought the pain, and that God is the one to redeem his people from the pain.

And then in the midst of his own thoughts comes the prophecy, the word from God that reminds Asaph and his listeners that God has not forsaken them, words that promise the coming of "the son of man you have raised up for yourself."

In their despair, the people of Israel depended on the fulfillment of that promise. It would fuel revival and restoration, bring joy to the people, turn all things bright and beautiful again. That so many of them turned away from Jesus, refusing to accept his claim to be that very "son of man," is a tragedy of far greater proportions than the Assyrian exile.

We do not want to do the same.

Lord, let us recognize and know you when we see your face. Do not let us be put to shame. Restore us, make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

Devotions Archive

The face of God

Saturday, December 14, 2002