Restore us, oh Lord God of hosts. Let your face shine that we may be saved.
– Psalm 80:19
This verse is repeated three different times. In Psalm 80:3, “Restore us, oh God, let your face shine that we may be saved.” Verse 7, “Restore us, oh God of hosts. Let your face shine that we may be saved.” And then verse 19, “Restore us, oh Lord God of hosts. Let your face shine that we may be saved.”
Psalm 80:19 is a prayer for restoration.
What a prayer that we can just pray directly in our lives. Particularly when we have sinned against God, when we have wandered from God, when we have turned from His ways. This is a prayer for restoration to God. Whenever there is any kind of brokenness or need for repair in our relationship with God.
And aren’t you glad that God always answers this prayer? When we sin against God, when we wander from God. We never have to worry that he will not restore us. Jesus has sealed our covenant relationship with God, with his blood, and it is sure and steadfast. He is an anchor for our souls, for our lives. In such a way that even when we sin. Even when we violate this covenant relationship we have with God… That God is gracious, and merciful, and forgives us, will not let us wander too far from him.
And when we turn to him, he will restore us. And not just restore us lightly. Listen to the language. “Let your face shine upon us that we may be saved.” Restored to favor with God, before God. All of this only possible through his grace and his love in Jesus. So, let’s just pray this prayer together.
Psalm 80:19 encourages us to come before God as we are.
God, in light of Psalm 80:3, 7, and 19, we pray that you would restore us to you. Lord, please forgive us for any sin, offense, or transgression in us, in the ways we have thought, what we’ve desired, what we’ve said, and how we’ve acted with our motives, and anything we have done. God, anything in us that is not fully pleasing to you, we pray for your cleansing and your restoration.
Oh, I would just encourage you, as we’re praying right now, to be specific in your heart and mind. God, as you bring things to our hearts and our minds that are not pleasing to you in us, we pray for your restoration and we praise you for your restoration. Lord, we praise you, that you hold us close to yourself, that you keep us from further wandering by your grace, that you turn us back through the conviction of your Holy Spirit.
God, we pray, in all of our lives, for sensitivity to your conviction, that when we sin, that we would be quick by your grace and your mercy to confess our sin and to turn back to you and to trust in your restoring grace. God, we want to live with your face shining upon us. We want to live in favor before you, by the grace and by the blood of Jesus, walking closely with you.
This verse reminds us of the hope of restoration we have in Jesus.
Oh, Lord God of hosts, may that be the story of our lives today, walking closely with you, with your face shining upon us as we’re growing in holiness. God, restore us to your image that you’ve made us to live in. Oh, God, we praise you for your grace that makes all this possible. Jesus, we praise you for dying on the cross to seal this covenant relationship we have with you, oh God, Lord of hosts, by your blood.
And we pray you would help us to lead others to restoration, to you. God, we pray that you would help us today, to share the gospel in a way that leads somebody else to restoration, to you.
Prayer for the Palestinian Arabs
And God, we pray for this around the world, we pray for Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza, amidst all the conflict, and war, and unrest that is there. God, please cause the peace and restoration of Jesus to spread among Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza. Please, oh God, may they come to know your shining face. In Jesus we pray for this, for the spread of the gospel through churches there, through Christians who are there, and for hundreds of thousands who have little to no knowledge of the gospel.
God, please restore them to yourself. Let your face shine upon them amidst such conflict, and suffering, and evil in the world. God, please save them, we pray. All of this according to your Word in Psalm 80:3, 7, and 19. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Restore us, oh Lord God of hosts. Let Your face shine that we may be saved. Amen.
David Platt serves as a pastor in metro Washington, D.C. He is the founder of Radical.
David received his Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and is the author of Don’t Hold Back, Radical, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Before You Vote, as well as the multiple volumes of the Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary series.
Along with his wife and children, he lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area.
