SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR4/30/2012
9:41:04 AM
My Worship Time Focus: “Restore Us!”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Psalm
80:1-3
Message
of the verses: We will begin to look at Psalm 80 in
today’s SD by looking at several introductions to the psalm by different Bible
Commentators.
“DIVISION: The Psalm divides itself naturally at the
refrain which occurs three times: "Turn us again, O God," etc. #Ps 80:1-3 is an opening address to the Lord
God of Israel; from #Ps 80:4-7 is a lamentation over the national woe, and from
#Ps 80:8-19 the same complaint is repeated, the nation being represented in a
beautiful allegory as a vine. It is a
mournful Psalm, and its lilies are lilies of the valley.” (Charles H. Spurgeon)
“This
is Asaph’s prayer to God on behalf of the Northern Kingdom (‘Israel, Samaria’)
after it was taken captive by Assyria in 722-21 B. C. while ‘Joseph’ can refer
to the whole nation (77:15; 8-:4-5), the mention in verse 2 of Ephraim and
Manasseh (Joseph’s sons) and Benjamin (Joseph’s brother) suggests that the
Northern Kingdom is meant. These are the
children and grandchildren of Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife. Samaria, the capital of the Northern Kingdom,
was located in Ephraim. The temple was
still standing in Jerusalem (v. 1), and the fall of Samaria should have been a
warning to Judah not to disobey the Lord.
That Asaph would pray for Samaria and ask God for restoration and reunion
for the whole nation indicates that some of the old rivalries were ending and
that some of the people of Judah were concerned over ‘the ruin of Joseph’ (Amos
6:6). It’s unfortunate that it sometimes
takes dissension, division, and destruction to bring brothers closer
together. Joseph and his brothers are a
case in point. The refrain ‘Restore us’
(vv. 3, 7, 19) marks out the three requests Asaph made to the Lord for both kingdoms.” (Warren Wiersbe)
“Save Your Flock”
(vv. 1-3): “1 For the choir director; set to El Shoshannim;
Eduth. A Psalm of Asaph: Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph
like a flock; You who are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth! 2 Before
Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up Your power And come to save us! 3 O
God, restore us And
cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.”
Asaph
begins this psalm in verse one by asking God to Shepherd Israel, thus we see a
very common metaphor from the Scriptures and that is that God’s children are called
His flock and of course He is our Shepherd.
We see this many times in both the OT and NT, but I want to just mention
one occasion from the OT that is very familiar to us all and that is Psalm 23. This psalm begins with the very familiar
words “The Lord is my Shepherd,” and the whole psalm speaks of how the Lord
cares for His sheep (His children). In
John chapter ten we see the Lord Jesus speak of Himself being “The Good
Shepherd” and goes on to speak of how He will die for His sheep. In 1Peter 5 we see the terms Chief Shepherd,
who is Jesus Christ, and also the shepherd, which is speaking of the pastors or
the leaders of the local churches. God
is called “Shepherd of Israel” in verse one of Psalm 80.
As
Dr. Wiersbe wrote in his introduction we see from verse two that Asaph is
praying on behalf of the Northern Kingdom of Israel asking the Lord to save
them. We know that the Northern Kingdom
was made up of ten tribes who split off from the whole nation of Israel after
Solomon died, and although from a human point of view this seemed wrong, or at
least not good, we read that it was the plan of God for this to be done. We read this in 2Kings.
Just
a note here: My computer is not working
right. I had this devotion done and
somehow a portion of it got deleted.
This was very upsetting to me, but I know who is in charge of all
things, but I also know that the enemy of all of us does not want me to do
these SD’s each day and could be the one who causes these kinds of
problems.
I
want to write about the refrain that is seen in three different verses in Psalm
80 beginning in verse three, and that refrain is “restore us.” Asaph is asking the Lord to restore the
children of Israel to their God is how I see this verse and that reminds me of
revival. I think that there are some
people in the Church today who do not understand what revival is all
about. We have to have something given
to us and then not take advantage of it in order for us to get it back. Asaph is saying restore us and that means to
me to get something that perhaps we have lost.
I am in no way saying that a true born again believer in Jesus Christ
can lose his or her salvation, but they can grow cold in their walk with the
Lord and loose fellowship with Him They
can give up on praying, going to church, reading and studying their Bibles and
spending time with fellow believers to mention a few things, but not lose their
salvation. Dr. Wiersbe quotes and old
Scottish Pastor in many of his commentaries who said “The secret to the
Christian life is a series of new beginnings.”
I love the meaning of this statement, and it has meant a lot to me in
hearing them and thinking about them because even though I am a born again
believer in Jesus Christ I fall into sin on occasions and just as Jesus washed
the feet of His disciples telling them that walking around in the world will
cause one’s feet to get dirty, so when we walk around in the world we sin and
are in need of getting clean. 1John 1:9
says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Psalm 139:23-24 says “23 Search me, O God,
and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24 And see if there be any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” These verses teach us the need for “a series
of new beginnings.”
How
does revival begin? I have heard that
major revivals began with one person praying for a revival, and then others
joining him and then the flames of revivals start to burn and as the song says
“It only takes a spark to get a fire going,” so revival begins and spreads and
eventually God’s children are seeking the Lord in ways they had not done for a
while, and they are going out and telling others about the saving power of
Jesus Christ and out of the revival of God’s children comes new people being
born again. It seems to me that Asaph is
asking God to revive the children of Israel.
Spiritual meaning for my life
today: I desire the Lord to restore me and begin a
revival in my heart and pray that it will spread all around the world.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
God begin a revival in my heart and fill me with Yourself so that I will
desire the things that You desire. 4/30/2012
11:52:37 AM
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