Let Your Face Shine – Psalm 80

A text – Psalm 80:1-7

¹ Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
² before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up your might, and come to save us!

³ Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

⁴ O Lord God of hosts, how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
⁵ You have fed them with the bread of tears and given them tears to drink in full measure.
⁶ You make us the scorn of our neighbors; our enemies laugh among themselves.

⁷ Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we may be saved.

A reflection:

Psalm 80 praises God, and it also scolds God for being absent and unresponsive to the people’s prayers. It makes the case that God is the royal shepherd, the owner and keeper of Israel, who is above everyone and everything in the universe, and who has chosen Israel as God’s own people. And yet the people feel left alone, praying into an empty sky.

This dark time of year, when we look up into the night sky, we too might feel it is empty. It is a challenging time of year to feel cared for and attended to, with so much going on and folks striving to make a perfect holiday season.  One could easily feel loneliness rather than belonging, isolation rather than togetherness, especially if our loved ones are far away from us over Christmas.

What does the writer of this psalm wait for? Verse 7 says it all: “Restore us, O God of hosts; let your face shine, that we might be saved.” If you have ever felt lonely for a friend and then seen that friend walking toward you, their smiling face anticipating a hug from you, you have seen a face shine. If you have ever been ignored by your beloved or your child during an argument and then seen them turn toward you and make a joke and grin, you have seen a face shine. And your face shines then, too. There is light.

Perhaps that is one of the main sources of light that we seek in the darkness of Advent. The shining faces of our neighbors and our loved ones shine and in turn make us shine. Yes, we look for the Christmas star and the heavenly choir, but we see that glory in one another, too. And when we see it, we are restored to one another.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for the darkness of Advent that gives way to light. Help us to know that we can be the light for others who seek restoration of friendship and love. Help us to not only patiently seek the light of your face but also be that light for others. Amen.