Daily Devotional Tuesday 25th July 2023
by William Moody
Psalm 85
Revive Us Again
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
85:1 LORD, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you covered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.
4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,
and grant us your salvation.
8 Let me hear what God the LORD will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
but let them not turn back to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
12 Yes, the LORD will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way.(ESV)
How can we be confident of God’s forgiveness and blessing when we individually or as a church have sinned? Hope is to be found, first in how God has acted in mercy in the past (v1-3). This is something the sons of Korah who wrote this Psalm would resonate with. Their ancestor Korah, rebelled against Moses and the Lord (Numbers 16), and suffered God’s judgment in his death. His family though were not destroyed and his descendants continued as Levites involved in the worship of the Lord.
The Sons of Korah pray for restoration, perseverance and revival (v4-7). This prayer is done humbly and with a listening ear (v8-9). In days of trial we need to listen to what God has to teach us.
Their great confidence comes from the character of God, marked with steadfast love, faithfulness, righteousness and peace (v10-11). Their awareness of God, assures the Sons of Korah that God is the abundantly giving God who always acts righteously.
Have you a view of God that is similar to the Sons of Korah? Have you a view of God that causes you to seek to draw closer to God?
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