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My commentary suggests that this psalm was written after the
Jewish people returned from the seventy years of Babylonian captivity.
Once they returned, life was hard and they didn’t always obey God, but they
were making a new start. “The victorious Christian life is a
series of new beginnings … It is a sin to disobey God and fall, but
it is also a sin to stay fallen. We must always make a new
beginning, and this psalm gives us some instructions that we can follow after
times of failure and chastening.”
First, give thanks to the Lord – “God protected
the people as they made the long journey home. He forgave their
sin and gave them a new beginning ... When we turn back to God,
repent, and confess our sins, He turns back to us and restores
us.”
Second, ask Him for renewed life – “A change in
geography will never overcome a flaw in character. The return of the
people to the land was no guarantee that all of them had returned to the
Lord. Not only were they concerned that God’s chastening would end
in their own lives, but they did not want it to be passed on to
their children and grandchildren… They desperately needed His life at
work within them … New life is not something we manufacture ourselves;
new life can come only from the Holy Spirit of God.”
Third, listen for God’s message to you – “God and His
people were now reconciled, and He was speaking peace to them …
He announced future blessings that He would send if His people
continued to walk with Him.”
Father, thank You for the new beginnings You’ve offered me
before. As unworthy as I’ve felt when I have fallen, You have
still sought me out and drawn me back to You, even when I was at my worst.
Verse 8 says, “I will listen to God the Lord. He has ordered
peace for those who worship Him. Don’t let them go back to
foolishness.” Thank You for not giving up on me and letting me go
back to my old life.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
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