PSALMS FOR A TIME OF PROTEST

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Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved! You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. Why then have you broken down its walls, so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit? Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, the stock that your right hand planted, and for the son whom you made strong for yourself. But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself! Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Psalm 80:7‭-‬8‭, ‬12‭, ‬14‭-‬15‭, ‬17‭, ‬19 ESV
¶The cry of a people in need of deliverance, not so much from their sin as from their persecution, of not so much from the wrongs that they have done as from the wrongs being done to them, with all the potential that follows for PTSD with its fear, anger, and avoidance. What is needed is a voice, a prayer, a thoughtful call for peaceful deliverance. This the Psalms amply provide. The son of man did actually come, not with destructive power, but with staying power. This fruit, endurance ("hypomone", the ability to "stay under" hardship), He left us with His Spirit. Not with the power to destroy, but with the power to build up. The Son of Man did come, leading and praying from the Psalms. Let the Psalms lead your protest with prayers for deliverance. The rest of the Spirit's fruit, love, joy, and peace, will follow.

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