August 26, Restoration

Today’s reading: Psalms 126-130

“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed. Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them’”
- Psalm 126:1-2.

A few of the psalms were written in the sixth century BC, and all of them were edited and took the shape and order we know today when Israel was in exile in Babylon. There, they were pining away in a foreign land for their beloved Jerusalem and all it represented. Then the Lord began to bring them back, and it was almost too good to be true—but it was. You may have lost something, either through your own misdeeds or an act of God, that defies explanation. Today’s passage reminds you that when the Lord restores what you lost, it will be a joyous and happy occasion. God is truly a God of restoration, as was also pointed out in Joel 2:25-26:

“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten—the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed.”

Do you need to be reminded today that your God is a God of restoration? Can you maintain hope that what you have lost can and will be restored? Can you thank God today for your restoration before you see it?