This is the 4^th sermon of this year’s Advent series, Awakened Imaginations.  Psalm 80 is a call to prayer… fervent, desperate prayer.  Three times the refrain is repeated:

                Psalm 80:3  Restore us, O God; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

                Psalm 80:7  Restore us, O God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.

                Psalm 80:19  Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make your face shine upon us, that we may be saved. 

Assyria is in the midst of overtaking the northern tribes of Israel.  The situation looks bleak and is bleak.  Is this a prayer that we also need to be praying today… Restore us, O God?  Some may think things in the church and in our lives today are just fine and that we have no need of restoration or revival.  Is God a first love in our lives or is our love for God simply one of many other loves we have?   We love football, apple pie and… oh yes… we love God too.  Have we lost our first love and not even know it?  Jesus teaches us… turn from sin and secondary matters and love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  Psalm 80 is a timely prayer for our day too.  May we be passionate for God and desperate for Him to save.   Let us not give in to our tendencies to be self-focused, self reliant, self-made.