Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Let your face shine, that we may be saved.
Psalm 80:19
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved
The Psalmist’s voice echoes through time
centuries of longing caught up and brought up
into your presence
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved
And that far off voice is also our voice
so we come
Some of us come with excitement and joy
Some of us come with exhaustion and fear
Some of us come surrounded by family
Some of us come feeling utterly alone
But all of us come from a world filled with darkness
into this place where we long to see some light
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved
For surely it is salvation that we need
Our stories are marked by our own weakness
Our lives marred with the scars of our own sin
And they bear the pain inflicted by others as well
For the world’s story bends under the weight of brokenness;
We hear the story of the fabric of family fraying in society
of relationships torn apart and homes broken
We hear the story of violence against the most vulnerable
the suffering of women, children, and those on the margins
We hear the story of creation groaning for restoration as well
a planet slowly suffering from humanity’s lack of care
We hear the story of war and the horrors that come with it
innocent lives lost and displaced in conflicted cities and refugee camps
We hear these stories and pray
Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved
We hear these stories and choose to come
so that in this place, that we call the House of the Lord,
we might once again hear the old, old story of the coming of Christ
For in a world filled with darkness,
what came into being in him was light
that light was the life of all people
it shone in the darkness
and the darkness could not overcome it
And the light shines in the darkness still today
finding every crack and pressing it’s way into desperate places
So that brokenness is met with restoration
violence with sheltering care
suffering with healing
hatred with an unshakable sacrificial love
The same love that breaks every hard heart
and overcomes every obstacle
A love that will one day cause every knee to bend
and every tongue to confess
A love that we learned from this Christmas child
who would grow up to save the world
In this place we hear his story and pray
Thank you, O Lord God of hosts;
In Jesus your face shines, and we have been saved!
amen
Wonderful! Helps me to focus on our Creator and Savior and remember that He is the reason for the season. Living in the world full of sin and sickness and wars necessitates the need for our Savior, Jesus Christ.
So often my longings end up on a wish list for Christmas or in a “Kitchen Remodel” board on Pinterest. Click after click, line after line I secretly hope to satisfy my deepest desires. But it never works. Band Aids won’t heal a “World whose story bends under the weight of brokenness.” (Love that line bro!) Your prayer of advent longing felt like a invitation to put my desires back into the hands of the one who will actually come through in the end. Thanks for that! Keep writing!
Thanks Nate. I wrote it as a “me first” reminder. Glad it resonated!