“O Lord God of hosts, restore us; cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.” Psalm 80:19
This is the 3rd time Asaph prays this Prayer in the Psalm. At the beginning he cries out “Oh, give ear, Shepherd of Israel, ..shine forth! ..come to save us!” The rest of the Psalm is filled with Intercession and Pleadings. But the refrain, “O Lord God of hosts, restore us; cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved” is uttered 3 times in his Prayer. Why?
The simple truth is, we are all prone to backsliding and straying. Asaph knew this! Unless God “Restores us”, unless God “Causes His Face to Shine on us”, ALL of us WILL go astray! Jesus said in John 15 “apart from Me you can do nothing”. This is a reality that makes this Psalm so critical to embrace and believe. May God help us join Asaph today in his 3 fold Petition!