Help us, God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name's sake. (Ps. 79:9)
Expanded Passage: Psalm 79
In the past few years, our world has gone through sickness, war, natural disasters, death, and so much more. Hardship has not been difficult to see. The prayer I utter the most these days is, “Lord, have mercy on us.” We desperately need God to help us and do what he does best: deliver, save, and renew. In today’s verses, we are reminded that God has the characteristics of being merciful, mighty, gracious, and restorative to things that are messy and broken.
We need God to invade our lives and “help us, . . . deliver us and forgive our sins.” This psalm is an invitation for us to pray for ourselves, for others, and our world, and see God make all things new. God takes the hopeless situations and turns them into something we couldn't imagine, offering restoration and forgiveness for all.
Let us reflect on our own lives where there is sin or characteristics that do not align with the Spirit—then take a moment of repentance to acknowledge how we have fallen short and need God to come in and change our hearts. Then, we can receive the grace and forgiveness of God that gives us restoration in him. We can live in the transformative journey from repentance to restoration in the light of Psalm 79.
Reflect on the restoration and forgiveness God has given you.
Sarah Linder is a lay minister for congregational care at College Wesleyan Church in Marion, Indiana, and a stay-at-home mom of three boys.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
