Restore us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be restored!
– Lamentations 5:21
This is almost the last verse in Lamentations, and it’s a cry at the end of this lament, in this book, for God to do what only God can do to restore, specifically to restore people to himself. We know this is the root of all suffering and pain. All the things that we lament in this fallen world are a reality because we are separated from God. It’s been the story ever since Genesis 3. So it makes total sense at the end of this book, filled with lament, for this to be the cry, “Restore us to yourself”. Our greatest need is restoration to God in each one of our lives. Our greatest need in the world, like all creation, is restoration to God.
Lamentations 5:21 explains how suffering points us to our need for God.
The good news of the Bible is that Jesus has made this possible for us in relationship with God. For us to be restored to him. And ultimately for all creation, one day to be restored to him. And yet while we live in this fallen world right now, we feel the effects of that separation all around us. When you experience suffering, pain, hardship, let it lead you to deeper longing for full restoration to God and crying out for that restoration.
This is why the Bible ends with the cry, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly!”. Bring about the restoration that we need, that we long for. And at the same time, we know that God is restoring even today, as we cry out to him, he restores people to himself. He restores and redeems broken situations as we cry out to him. So let’s pray that, based on Lamentations 5.
God, we long for ultimate restoration to you. God, in this fallen world, we are overwhelmed many days with heaviness and sadness and sorrow and frustration as we live in a world that is separated from you. And so we pray, God, restore us to yourself. Draw us, each of us, closer to yourself today. Help us to lead others to restoration in you. God, we pray that you’d help us to faithfully share the gospel, the good news of restoration and redemption, with others today that they might be drawn to you.
Lamentations 5:21 reveals the aching of creation for the return of the King.
And God, we long for the day when there will be no more sorrow and suffering, no more sin, no more sadness, no more hurt, no more pain. Come on, Lord Jesus, come quickly we pray. And we pray that you would help us to trust in you to walk patiently with you as we wait for that day, as we wait for the restoration of all things.
And God, we ask for you to show your power to restore. Not just in our lives and others’ lives amidst the hurt and the pain, the sorrow and the sadness we feel around us in the world. God, show yourself as the Restorer. You alone can bring about the restoration we long for. So we pray that you would do that in our lives, through our lives, and the lives of those around us as we wait for the day when restoration will be full and final, and complete.
Prayer for the Sirvi People
And God, we pray that you would restore all the peoples to yourself. We pray specifically today for the Sirvi people of India. For 350,000 of them who have little to no knowledge of your grace and your love in the gospel. God, we pray for the spread of your restoring, redeeming grace in Jesus to the Sirvi people of India. Please, God, may it be so. Restore all the peoples, all the nations to yourself. And God, we pray that you’d use our lives however you desire toward that end. We praise you as the Restorer. And we look forward, oh God, to the day when restoration will be full and final and complete. Please help us to faithfully walk with trust in you, glorify you as we wait for that day eagerly. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
