Psalm 80:7
Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.
Here we read again the repeated 'chorus' of this psalm, that we looked at back in v3. We reflected on the great blessing it is to have God turn his face towards us and smile on us. But alongside the encouragement, this
verse also contains an uncomfortable truth.
Why do we need God to smile on us? Not simply to make us feel better. But 'that we may be saved'. This God, whose blessing the palmist prays for repeatedly, is the one whose anger smoulders against his people for
their rejection of him. They, and we, and everyone we will ever meet rightly deserve God's judgement. We need to be saved.
I was surprised by the number of people who liked 'The
Blessing' and shared it online, who wouldn't necessarily think of themselves at Christians. But perhaps I shouldn't have been. After all, who wouldn't want the warm glow of blessing and favour from a higher power? It might not something they thought they needed, but it's still nice to have. The icing the cake.
Perhaps a 'blessing' song based on this verse wouldn't go
down so well.... 'may his blessing be upon you, who are rightly facing judgement for your sin. May his blessing be upon you, so that you can be rescued from hell. May his blessing be upon you, because without it you will remain lost for ever.' For the person who doesn't yet see themselves as needing to be saved this verse doesn't seem to deliver quite the same warm glow. But for any of us who recognise our own sin, and God's holy righteousness, this verse is precious. What greater
blessing could there be than to be saved fully and forever from all our sin and failure, so that we will never face God's judgement? This blessing is not just a warm glow, the icing on the cake. It's the thing we most need. And we can ask for it with even more confidence than the psalmist, because we live this side of the cross. So today, let's ask God to forgive our sins because of Jesus' death in our place. And let's praise him that he has rescued us to enjoy the blessings of forgiveness and restored
relationship with him forever.
