Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock; you who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. Awaken your might; come and save us. 3 Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. 4 O LORD God Almighty, how long will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people? 5 You have fed them with the bread of tears; you have made them drink tears by the bowlful. 6 You have made us a source of contention to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us. 7 Restore us, O God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

The Psalmist is obviously writing during a time that Israel was not flourishing. Their pride had been stripped from them and their glory was gone. In this Psalm he looks back and sees how God had brought them out of Egypt and given them the land of Canaan. He talks about how God had made them a great nation. He is giving God the glory and recognizes that his only hope is his trust in God. What he does not understand is why God would bless them with such blessings and then take these away from them. He sees their plight as punishment from God.

There are times that many of us are high and all is well. We then find ourselves crashing to the ground. It is following this kind of crash that our faith is really tested. We can become bitter toward God or those around us. We can blame others for our plight. Or we may just give up as we doubt the goodness of God or perhaps even his very existence. We may be filled with despair as we look at our lives and wonder if our situation is the result of our sin and therefore we are being punished. While this attitude may come from the purest motives, Satan will use it to fill our hearts with doubt and despair to destroy our faith if given opportunity.

But we want to know why. Why me? Why at this time? Why this particular thing? God does not always tell us why. It may be punishment. It may be warning. It may be (like Job) because of our righteous devotion to God. It may be as Solomon put it, time and chance that happens to us all. It may be to test us. It may be to give us opportunity to grow and become what we could never be without the trial. It is so that we can trust God in everything.

Lord God, I thank you for your wonderful care, protection and love. You have blessed me in ways beyond my imagination. Help me to never think that any of my life is my own but to always acknowledge that it is from you and your gracious hand. I thank you for my family. I thank you for your saving grace extended to me thru your Son. Help my faith. In Jesus name.

May God bless each of us as we trust him in all we are and do.