Revive us!

Come back, we beg you, O God of Heaven's Armies. Look down from heaven and see our plight. Take care of this grapevine that you yourself have planted, this son you have raised for yourself. For we are chopped up and burned by our enemies. May they perish at the sight of your frown. Strengthen the man that you love, the son of your choice. Then we will never abandon you again. Revive us so we can call on your name once more. Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven's Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. Psalm 80: 14 -19 NLT

Revive us so that we can call on your name once more!

I wonder why we have to be revived to call on God's name. Perhaps if we are dull and lifeless, we have no reason to call. If we are beaten down, carrying a heavy load and seeing no hope in life, it would be hard to have the energy to call on God's name. In the midst of depression, it is hard to see a life without that overwhelming sadness. We can't understand that someone is there to rescue us.

But if we are refreshed and revived, we can see hope and love. We know that God is there and that God loves us. Calling on God's name is therefore not a struggle but a joy and a necessity

God, revive us to call on your name once more! In the name of the Risen Savior, Amen.

Copyright 2012 Amelia G. Sims

Tears by the Bucketful

O Lord God of Heaven's Armies, how long will you be angry with our prayers? You have fed us with sorrow and made us drink tears by the bucketful. You have made us a scorn of neighboring nations. Our enemies treat us as a joke. Turn us again to yourself, O God of Heaven's Armies. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. You brought us from Egypt like a grapevine; you drove away the pagan nations and transplanted us into your land. You cleared the ground for us, and we took root and filled the land. Our shade covered the mountains; our branches covered the mighty cedars. We spread our branches west to the Mediterranean Sea; our shoots spread east to the Euphrates River. But now, why have you broken down our walls so that all who pass by may steal our fruit? The wild boar from the forest devours it, and the wild animals feed on it. Psalm 80: 4-13 NLT

Drinking tears by the bucketful. How much would you have to cry to produce a bucketful of tears? I don't think we are meant to take this literally as much as picture how many tears have fallen. But the psalmist is not talking about producing those tears. The psalmist is saying that God has put them on a diet of sorrow and tears. Sorrow is what they have eaten. Tears are what they are drinking.

Perhaps this is God's sorrow and God's tears.

Over what we have done.

God has proven time and again to be our savior. Yet, our behavior does not show any kind of recognition of this fact. No wonder all who pass by steals our fruit!

God, do not be angry any longer over our prayers. We ask for forgiveness and mercy. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Copyright 2012 Amelia G. Sims

Turn me to You

Please listen, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph's descendants like a flock. O God, enthroned above the cherubim, display your radiant glory to Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Show us your mighty power. Come to rescue us! Turn us again to yourself, O God. Make your face shine down upon us. Only then will we be saved. Psalm 80: 1-3 NLT

Turn us again to yourself. Have you ever felt like you were facing away from God? That nothing you did brought you any closer to God or turned you back?

I have felt that way. It feels like no matter what you do, you can't seem to be facing God. It is as though the air is molasses and you can't move from the direction you are headed. Soon, it becomes a hopeless endeavor and you stop trying to turn.

The psalmist asks God to turn them back. If God can shine God's face on the people, they will be saved.

In other words, sometimes it is not something you can do, turning back to God. Sometimes it is something you have to ask God to do for you.

Are you with me?

God, please turn yourself back to me, back to us. Make your face shine upon me, upon us. Only then will we be saved. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Copyright 2012 Amelia G. Sims