Prayer for Restoration
It is important that believers remember that God disciplines His people out of His love for them when they refuse to obey His word (Heb 12:7). God’s desire is that believers repent of their sins and seek restoration with Him. In Psalm 80 we read about the aftermath of God’s disciplining of Israel through pagan nations. Here we see a great prayer of the psalmist for restoration on behalf of a repentant people.
The psalmist begins with a cry to the Great Shepherd to see the plight of His people and come and deliver them from their plight. He prays for God’s grace and restoration (1-3). Brethren, when responding to God’s discipline, humility before the God “enthroned above the Cherubim” is the first step on the road to restoration.
Restoration for Israel involved recognising that it was God that brought calamity upon His people because of their continued idolatry. The psalmist sees this and recognises that their suffering, sorrow, and shame are great because Israel had broken their covenant with YHWH (4-6). The psalmist only recourse is to cry out to God for mercy and grace (7). Brethren, when we sin and are disciplined by the Lord, we must remember that God is just and what we need most is His mercy and grace.
Restoration involves turning from past sins and committing to following the Lord in the present and future (8-19). The psalmist, using a vine as a picture of Israel, looks back on the great blessings of God (8-11). He laments that God has removed His hedge of protection in His rebuke of their sin (12-16). The psalmist, says Israel has learned it lesson from God’s rebuke (16), and in repentance promises faithfulness to the LORD (17-19).