"Save Us"

[Psalm 80]

I believe most of you have already heard the news about the election of President Lee Myung-bak. In the Korean media, I have seen reports on how he came to be elected, covering his journey from the past to the present. An interesting point is that President-elect Lee Myung-bak shares the same birthday as my wife, December 19. In fact, December 19 is also the anniversary of his wedding. The reason he got married on his birthday was so that he would never forget his wedding anniversary. As for me, I got engaged on my wife’s birthday, December 19, because I wanted to give only one gift (a two-in-one deal)... hahaha. After hearing the news about Lee Myung-bak’s election as president, I later received an email titled "Godo Won’s Letter" that comes to my inbox daily, and the title of the message was “True Leadership.” In the letter, it says:

"What is true leadership? A leader is not just someone who handles tasks efficiently. A leader is someone who does 'the right thing.' A leader is not someone who uses any means or methods to achieve their goals, but rather someone who moves according to the right values. A leader is someone who knows their strengths and weaknesses precisely and works to overcome their weaknesses."
[From The Shadow of Leadership by Gary McIntosh and Samuel Rima]

"A leader walks the fine line between light and shadow. They must always look at themselves with sharp eyes to make sure that the path they are walking is the right one. There are two ways to do this: one is through self-reflection, and the other is by seeing oneself reflected through the eyes of others. If a leader does not walk the right path, they will cast a large shadow before the nation and history."

This letter probably arrived after hearing about Lee Myung-bak's election as president.

After hearing President-elect Lee Myung-bak’s words through the news, it seems that he made three promises: first, to revive the economy; second, to reconcile the divided society; and third, to serve the people humbly. It is now his responsibility to faithfully uphold these promises. I wonder whether he can truly revive the Korean economy and bring unity to a society that has been divided for so long. As Korean Christians, when a new president is elected, especially one who is also an elder in the church, we must first support him with our prayers. And we must continue praying for our homeland, Korea.

Today, from the scripture, I would like to receive three lessons on what kind of prayer requests we should have when we pray.

The first prayer request is "Shine Your light upon us."

Let us look at verses 1, 3, 7, and 19 of Psalm 80:
"Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth!" (v. 1);
"Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved." (v. 3);
"O God of hosts, restore us; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved." (v. 7);
"O Lord God of hosts, restore us; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved." (v. 19).

The reason the psalmist repeatedly asks God four times in this passage to "shine Your light upon us," or "let Your face shine upon us," is because the psalmist and the people of Israel were experiencing a time of great darkness. This "dark time" refers, in other words, to a situation of extreme misery (Park Yun-seon). What does this situation of extreme misery refer to? It refers to a time when, due to God’s anger (v. 4), the strong nations surrounding Israel were competing to devour Israel (v. 6). In short, it refers to a situation in which Israel was destroyed because of God’s withdrawal of protection (v. 16).

Why had the people of Israel reached such a state, where they were destroyed due to the withdrawal of God’s protection? The reason was their sin. While today’s passage does not specify what their sin was, it is clear that their sin provoked God’s wrath, and as a result, they were disciplined by Him (Park Yun-seon). Therefore, in this dark time, the psalmist felt that because of the sins of Israel, God had hidden His face from them, which is why he begged God, "Shine Your face upon us."

This past Monday, there was a reunion of alumni from Westminster Seminary, and I visited the church of an elder pastor. There, I received a sermon CD from another elder pastor as a gift. While listening to this sermon CD in my car, I received a grace that I would like to share. The grace was simply this: "Christianity is God searching for us, and our life of faith is us searching for God." While sharing this message, the elder pastor gave an example of "hide and seek." He said that when parents play hide and seek with their young children, they usually hide in a way that makes it somewhat easy for the children to find them. If the parents hide so thoroughly that the children cannot find them at all, then those parents would seem strange. Typically, parents either hide in a way that allows the children to find them, or they give clues when the children cannot find them.

Our God is not one who hides from us so thoroughly that we cannot find Him due to our unrepented sins. God is a God who wants to reveal Himself to us. Therefore, when we are disciplined by God because of our sins and everything seems dark, we must pray, just as the psalmist did: "Lord, shine Your face upon us."

As we celebrate and rejoice in the birth of Jesus during this Christmas season, we also look forward to His second coming, especially longing for the New Jerusalem and the new earth. In Revelation 21:23, the Apostle John speaks of the New Jerusalem and the new earth saying:
"The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light."

In the heaven that we are heading toward, there will be no darkness. In that place, the sun or moon will not be needed, for the glory of God and the Lamb will be the light that illuminates it. I hope that, with this hope, even when we encounter dark situations while living on this earth, we do not lose hope, but instead continue to pray, "Lord, shine Your light upon us," as we press forward.

The second prayer topic is "Turn Us Back to You".

Looking again at verses 3, 7, and 19 of Psalm 80, the psalmist prays to God, saying, “O God, restore us...” “O God of hosts, restore us...” “O Lord God of hosts, restore us...” This prayer seems to be a plea for the people of Israel, who are in captivity in a foreign land, to be allowed to return to their homeland (Park Yun-seon). What does this teach us? It tells us that because of the sins of the people of Israel, God's anger came upon them, and they were humiliated by the strong nations neighboring Israel. Eventually, one of these nations destroyed Israel, leading to the people being taken into captivity. Therefore, the psalmist prays, “O God, restore us,” meaning he is asking God to free the people of Israel from their captivity and allow them to return to their homeland (v. 3).

In particular, the psalmist recalls how God delivered the people of Israel from Egypt during the Exodus and brought them into the Promised Land, Canaán. He also remembers the golden age during the reigns of David and Solomon, when Israel flourished. The psalmist, recognizing God's grace, prays that God would once again grant such restoration (vv. 8-11). In verses 8 and 9, the psalmist compares the people of Israel to a "vine" that was brought out of Egypt and planted in the land of Canaán, taking root and spreading throughout the land. Verses 10 and 11 describe how God caused the population of Israel to grow and expanded their territory, particularly during the reigns of David and Solomon, extending Israel's borders to the Euphrates River—marking the golden age of Israel.

However, in verses 12 and 13, the psalmist laments how Israel has declined, acknowledging that this occurred through God's intervention. We see that the psalmist, with a heart of self-reproach and repentance, recognizes God's sovereignty in the situation (Park Yun-seon). Why has Israel declined in this way? The reason is their sin. As a result, under God's anger, the people of Israel received His discipline.

When applying this passage to ourselves, we learn that before we ask God to “restore us,” we must first repent of our sins. A couple of years ago, during the New Year's Eve service, I preached on the 5 "R's": Repentance, Restoration, Reconciliation, Reformation, and Revival. Without a prayer of repentance offered with a broken and contrite heart before God, true restoration cannot happen. If we desire true revival, we must begin with repentance. Only then can there be true restoration, reconciliation, reformation, and revival. How should we repent? We must not take God's judgment lightly (v. 16). In other words, when we experience God's correction, we must be vigilant, fall before Him, and repent of our sins. We should also pray to God, saying, “Strengthen us for Your sake” (v. 17). Furthermore, we must pray as the psalmist did, asking God, “Revive us!” (v. 18).

The third prayer topic is ‘Come and Save Us’.

In Psalm 80:2, 3, 7, and 19, the psalmist says: “… Send out Your power and come to save us”, “… Let us obtain salvation” (2x), “… We will be saved.” He prayed to God for the people of Israel, who were in an extremely dark and miserable situation, saying, “Shine Your light upon us,” “Turn us back,” and his final prayer request was, “God, save us.” In making this prayer, the psalmist relied on God’s power: “… Send out Your power and come to save us” (v. 2).

Why did the psalmist rely on God’s power? The reason is that the psalmist and the people of Israel were in a dire, dark situation, and they realized that their strength was failing them (Park Yun-seon). In this weakening situation, they thoroughly understood that they could no longer save themselves by their own strength, and because of this, they turned to God even more, longing for His grace of salvation. In this way, while praying for God to save the people of Israel, the psalmist recalled the golden age of Israel and again prayed: “For Your name’s sake, strengthen Your people” (v. 15). As a response to this prayer, when God’s people experienced the power of God’s salvation, they experienced His strengthening.

We need to realize our weakness. In other words, we need to deeply recognize our own powerlessness. When we do this, we must rely on God’s power and live out our faith with the strength He gives us. If we try to live out our faith with our own strength, we will obscure God’s glory in our pride. Therefore, even in the adversities and sufferings that come through God’s sovereign providence, or like the people of Israel in today’s passage, who received God’s loving discipline because of their sins, we need to learn to rely on God’s power and undergo training in depending on Him. Moreover, we must pray to God, earnestly desiring His grace of salvation, and depend on Him.

“Lord, save us.”

Pastor James Kim’s Sharing
(On my wife’s birthday)