Submitted by Pastor Richard Boettner, Rock Port Baptist Church

For this week’s OTSS column I am writing about prayer and how important it is for each us to experience God and bring our requests to Him. Since August 2020 at the Rock Port Baptist Church we have been “Walking Through the Psalms.” Today I want to elaborate on Psalm 80 which is a Prayer of Asaph. I shared this with our church family Sunday, January 31. I have entitled this Psalm “A Collective Team Effort for Restoration.” I invite you to consider with me the following points from Psalm 80.

1) We should pray with a correct understanding of who God is and what He is doing. Asaph addressed God as the “Shepherd of Israel.” He also recognized God’s holiness as “the One who sits enthroned between the cherubim” (vs. 1,2). God is perfectly powerful and always caring. Jesus fulfilled this view of God from Asaph by also being our Good Shepherd with personal care for each of us (John 10:11). Jesus’ sinless, holy life is not only a model for us, but gives us true salvation and power to come to Him in prayer (Hebrews 4:14-16).

2) We should also pray with persistence recognizing that answers may not come right away, but the process of struggling will enable us to experience God over time and grow in maturity. Consider Asaph’s example as his first prayer says simply as “Restore us O God” (vs. 3). Later he prays again “Restore us God Almighty” (vs. 7). And finally at the end of the Psalm he reaches a complete understanding and trust in God as he prays “Restore us, Lord God Almighty” (vs. 19). Notice as well that he does not just pray for restoration for himself, but uses the plural word “us” which I see as a team effort. This starts with our church family and should include our entire community and world as we pray.

3) During our prayers we can struggle in an honest and humble manner. Asaph does that too, with forthcoming complaints such as “You have fed them with the bread of tears” (vs. 5) and “Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish” (vs. 16). These are not pleasant circumstances, but Asaph is confident that God will hear, He will understand, and He will restore. He will care even when things are at their worst.

4) We can also reflect during our prayers on God’s past faithfulness and give thanks. Asaph does this with good memories of God’s past provision. Consider these: “You transplanted a vine from Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches. Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River” (vs. 8-11). Good foundations from the past enable to face the future with confidence. We can pray expecting things to get better, for God to be present and experienced in our current problems and trouble, and for restoration to happen.

5) Finally, we can pray because whatever the circumstances, Jesus is always greater. Asaph looks forward to the coming of Jesus Christ with this statement: “Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the son of man you have raised up for yourself” (vs. 17). The promise of Jesus’ Resurrection gives us confidence that we will see eternal life as well. Even depressing circumstances or death itself, cannot separate us from God’s love, or change our eternal destiny. Paul’s testimony of experiencing Jesus is also helpful to remember: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).

I pray you will be blessed by this column and Bible study from Psalm 80. Please feel free to contact me at rockportbaptistchurch.com, and may the “team effort” begin.