Lord, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you covered all their sin. Selah
You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.
Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.
Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
but let them not turn back to folly.
Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
This psalmist seeks the Lord in the midst of a crisis, some physical calamity or attack by an enemy. He remembers how in the past the Lord delivered his people from similar situations. He thanks God for forgiving them their sin, realizing that the sin was responsible for their suffering.
Now the situation is the same. The people have sinned. The Psalmist pleads with God on their behalf to forgive, knowing that without repentance and forgiveness there will be no deliverance. He prays that once forgiven, the people would not revert back to their old ways again and thus incur the Lord’s discipline again. He is confident that the Lord will forgive for He has promised to do so to those who fear Him and earnestly seek Him by faith.
This idea that calamities and crises arise because of sin may seem odd to us in the 21st Century. Our culture does not think that our sins invite God’s discipline or punishment. Our culture rarely labels individual lifestyle choices as sins or though it is great in moralizing over what is perceived as injustice or sin when the right of self determination is infringed. What culture would consider sin is to deny a person the right to choose. In our enlightened way of thinking, we do not think God would punish any sin save that one.
Many in our world think that God does not punish. He just does not act this way. Yet the words of this Psalmist are the inspired word of God. Therefore, we can only admit that our sins can and often do cause problems and illness whether or not we believe it. Thus we must always steer clear of sin, but when we do fail, we must seek the Lord for forgiveness.