Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock; thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh stir up thy strength, and come and save us. (vv 1-2)
This psalm is a plea for the ultimate key to deliverance from the enemy - revival. The writer appeals to the Leader and Protector - Israel's Shepherd's - on behalf of three tribes who have evidently suffered greatly at the hands of their enemies. But he is aware of a need that transcends the alleviation of their current problems.
The Israelite nation has to return to God.
As long as they continued to bow to other gods, they would suffer dire consequences. However, because salvation belongs to God, only He could restore the nation to the path of righteousness. The psalm writer is not under any illusion that they would turn from their evil ways in their own strength, so thrice he makes this plea:
Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. (v 3)
Turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. (v 7)
Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved. (v 19)
This prayer should be on our lips as we cry out for God to glorify His name in our day. No amount of good deeds can cause a spiritual awakening without fire from heaven, so we must fervently pray for the Lord to fulfil His salvation plan. Only He:
... is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come to God through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them. (Hebrews 10:25 Amp)
As the above scripture points out - not only is He able to save, Jesus is in prayer as we speak. Let us join voices with Him. Let us intercede, not only for our families to know Him, but on behalf of our nation's church leaders and those in authority, including teachers, political and business leaders, judges, and other decision makers ( 1 Tim 2: 1-5). Let us pray for the Lord to turn our nation's hearts to Him.
Dear Father, we pray for your mercy upon our land. We ask that you cause the flame of revival to burn in our hearts, and spread like wildfire through our nation. Add the souls of many to your church in the coming days.
Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
Amen
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