Read Psalm 80:14-19. 14Turn again, O God of hosts! Look down from heaven, and see; have regard for this vine, 15the stock that your right hand planted, and for the son whom you made strong for yourself. 16They have burned it with fire; they have cut it down; may they perish at the rebuke of your face! 17But let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself! 18Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name! 19Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
It is God who turns first toward us, not us toward God. It is God who looks down from Heaven, not we who look up. It is God’s regard for his vine, not the vine’s regard for the vinedresser. We are saved only by the restorative work of God, the shining face of his compassion. Only by such grace would we ever call upon his name.
What form does this grace take? The man at God’s right hand. The son of man who God has made strong for himself.
Only by our union with the God-man, Jesus Christ, are we restored to new creation fruitfulness. Only in Christ are our hearts transformed so that we will not turn back from God. Only by the drawing of the Spirit of Christ have we been given the faith to call upon his name. Only by to live is Christ can the shining face of Christ shine through us.
Prayer. Jesus, shine through me today as I learn to trust in my place with you at God’s right hand. Amen.
To Live is Christ 