Our Worship
Let’s soak in this verse for our worship today. Prayer: Lord, your face glows with love toward us. We ask only that you look upon us in our dark places. Restore us today, Lord. Amen.
Spend some time here noticing what you see and feel when you imagine God’s shining gaze finding your eyes.
Psalm 80:3 English Standard Version (ESV)
Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Our Longings
Before moving too quickly into noticing your longings, just receive God’s love for you and soak for a moment in the worship you just enjoyed.
- What are you bringing to this prayerful time with God today (worries, hopes, fears, etc.)?
- What longings arise as you sense Him gazing at you in love?
Allow yourself whatever time is necessary here in prayer to get in touch with these longings.
Scripture
Isaiah 64:5-9 English Standard Version (ESV)
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?[b]
6 We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
7 There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in[c]?the hand of our iniquities.8 But now, O?Lord, you are our Father;
we are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the work of your hand.
9 Be not so terribly angry, O?Lord,
and remember not iniquity forever.
Behold, please look, we are all your people.
Our Meditation
Our Advent reflections thus far have been focused on our waiting posture toward God where we find ourselves calling out to Him to awaken us and to rip the heavens open as He comes to set things right. With this posture, we can easily identify with Isaiah in our energetic plea for justice.
Sometimes the evil we see in this world is so acrid, and our power to stop it so impotent, we have no other choice but to cry out with all that we have for God to intervene.
5 You meet him who joyfully works righteousness,
those who remember you in your ways.
This kind of prayer is an energetic and spirited waiting for God to act. We are buoyed by our faith. We believe and trust in God’s redeeming love and power to rend open the heavens and we cry out, arms thrust heavenward, for justice.
The first part of Isaiah 64:5 feels like a promise to us when we are in this kind of season of our spiritual journey because we know we are sincere in our joyful efforts to be workers of righteousness.
But sometimes the evil in this world, the evil that has been done to us, and the evil we’ve done to others conspire to render us doubtful, like we read in the latter half of Isaiah 64:5.
Behold, you were angry, and we sinned;
in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?[b]
We cry out:
You don’t seem to hear me anymore, God?
Are you there?
The evil I see, the wounds I’ve tried to salve with my sin and the harm I’ve done others makes me wonder if I can still be saved.
Many times in our journey we’ll find ourselves wondering if verse 7 is really talking about us. Where previously we directed our gaze to God in prayer while shaking our fists forcefully at evil fully believing God would prevail, now we suddenly find ourselves not even calling out to God and not even bothering to offer our hand to Him as He draws near.
7 There is no one who calls upon your name,
who rouses himself to take hold of you;
It can feel like we’ve been abandoned and left to melt in the hand of our iniquities.
for you have hidden your face from us,
and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.
But the good news of this coming newborn King this Advent season is the reminder that we are not melting in the hand of evil – instead, we are like clay in the loving hands of a Master Potter!
We’ve been occupied so far in these reflections with what it means to awaken this Advent season, to joyfully anticipate our coming King.
But what happens when we can’t seem to wake ourselves up?
What happens when it feels like we are dead in the hand of our sin?
What happens if we don’t have the energy anymore to feebly lift our hand to embrace the outstretched hand of our rescuing King?
What happens when we are lifelessly stewing in the effluvious cesspool of our own making disabled by our own darkness?
When you have no strength left to lift your hand, it’s precisely in this moment you discover you are being held in His.
This Advent season, we are waiting expectantly for the arrival of this Master Potter.
- Where are you today?
- Is God meeting with you as you strive to joyfully remember Him and work righteousness?
- Or do you find yourself feeling abandoned, with no energy left to even seek God?
- Wherever you find yourself, what do you sense God is sculpting during this Advent season?
- How can you cooperate?
Intercession
Pray Psalm 80:3 for yourself and one other person today.
A Closing Prayer
Lord God,
Thank you, Lord, that you are a God who intervenes, first in a manger two thousand years ago, and now again, in this very moment, with my life in your hands.
Amen.
This Evening and Tomorrow Morning
- This evening, continue to rest in whatever God gave you during your time of worship with Psalm 80:3. Return to this often over this Advent season.
- When you awaken tomorrow morning for prayer, consider praying the latter part of Isaiah 64:9 over your family, lovingly reminding God they are His people, and let God know you desire His best for them.
Scriptures from Our Advent Series
Texts for First Advent Week: Isaiah 64:1-9; 1 Corinthians 1:3-9; Mark 13:24-37; Psalm 80:1-7, 16-18
