Love and Care

Devotion by: Nick Nicolai

Psalm 80
¹Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
² before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
and come to save us!
³Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
⁴O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
⁵You have fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
⁶You make us the scorn of our neighbours;
our enemies laugh among themselves.
⁷Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.
⁸You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
⁹You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
¹⁰The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
¹¹it sent out its branches to the sea,
and its shoots to the River.
¹²Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
¹³The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.
¹⁴Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
¹⁵ the stock that your right hand planted.
¹⁶They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;
may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
¹⁷But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.
¹⁸Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.
¹⁹Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

This seems to me to be a plea of forgiveness to God to restore Israel and its chosen people. Just before I sat down to write this, I was sitting in a room with two Israeli engineers, going over the flight plan for a test flight. My airplane is manufactured in Israel but final assembly & finish work is done here in the US. As my fellow pilot, also a Christian, and I got to know these engineers better we began to discuss religion—Judaism and Christianity. The were amazed with our Bible knowledge, especially of the old testament. I was amazed at their reluctance to accept Christ as The Messiah. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. Even in the Psalmist’s writings for today, the Jews were unwilling to totally submit to God’s will. They were complaining of their trials and tribulations and were asking to be restored. Today they are still waiting on their Messiah. They are still the source of contention to their neighbors. We truly are blessed that we are the seed of Judah. We are forgiven and have been restored our OUR rightful kingship. We are the vine brought out of Egypt.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, Bless us this holiday season as we prepare for a celebration of life—your life. Especially your birth and resurrection. Help us to not turn away. Help us to use this season as an opportunity to grow the vine. Amen.