Thursday, December 13, 2012

Advent Day 12: Only Then Will We Be Saved

“Turn us again to yourself, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Make your face shine down upon us.Only then will we be saved.”  
-Psalm 80:19 


In today’s scripture, Asaph pleads with God to save and restore his people. He agonizes over the Lord’s severe punishment for Israel, who was once God’s fruitful vine, and begs for divine favor.  He concludes his prayer by asking for God’s divine power to flow through His hand and into the man at His right hand. 

Bible scholars believe that this imagery could allude to Benjamin, whose name means “son of the right hand,” or it could allude to the entire nation of Israel, pictured earlier as a son.  But many believe “son of man” points to the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ who often referred to himself as the son of man.  Beyond what the psalmist may have known, the Lord did indeed watch over his people until in the fullness of the time the expected son came to birth, the man at “your right hand” in whom we have been given new life and an unprecedented access to God to call upon  His name.   

Just as Asaph called upon God for a spiritual revival for Israel, we need to pray for revival in America.  We need to call upon God to restore our nation to the principles found in His Word upon which our Constitution and the laws of our country were based.  We need to pray for our leaders to reaffirm our Christian heritage and make decisions to protect the lives of our country’s unborn children, for a biblical view of marriage, and for the strengthening of the family throughout our nation. 

Our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ offers all the people of the earth the gift of salvation.  Our prayers during this Christmas season should be that all people acknowledge and repent of their sins and accept “the Messiah” as their Savior.    

Prayer:
Father, forgive us for turning away from Your Word and seeking the world’s way over Your Way.  Your Word teaches us that the nations and peoples who claim You as Lord will be blessed and will prosper and we thank you for showing us this to be true.  Turn our hearts back to You in confession and repentance and continue to lead and bless our nation and the world.

In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen

Linda O’Quinn

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