Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
The prayer is addressed to God as the One who dwells between the cherubim, the Shepherd of Israel who leads Joseph like a flock. It asks Him to turn His people back to Himself again and to show His favor by causing His face to shine upon them, with the promise that then they shall be saved.
In the Assyrian crisis this was the prayer offered by Hezekiah in the temple when he spread Sennacherib's taunting letter before the Lord, asking God alone to save Judah from Assyria. The deliverance sought for Judah was for the sake of God's honor as Supreme Ruler, with the honor of Jehovah at stake, so that all the kingdoms of the earth might know that the Lord alone is God and that the God of the Hebrews still lives and reigns.
Such pleading for Judah and for God's honor is in harmony with the mind of God. This harmony is seen in Solomon's dedication prayer that God would maintain the cause of Israel at all times as the matter should require, especially when in war or oppression by an enemy the leaders of Israel enter the house of prayer to plead for deliverance, so that all people of the earth may know that the Lord is God and there is none else.
The prayer is addressed to God as the One who dwells between the cherubim, the Shepherd of Israel who leads Joseph like a flock. It asks Him to turn His people back to Himself again and to show His favor by causing His face to shine upon them, with the promise that then they shall be saved.
In the Assyrian crisis this was the prayer offered by Hezekiah in the temple when he spread Sennacherib's taunting letter before the Lord, asking God alone to save Judah from Assyria. The deliverance sought for Judah was for the sake of God's honor as Supreme Ruler, with the honor of Jehovah at stake, so that all the kingdoms of the earth might know that the Lord alone is God and that the God of the Hebrews still lives and reigns.
Such pleading for Judah and for God's honor is in harmony with the mind of God. This harmony is seen in Solomon's dedication prayer that God would maintain the cause of Israel at all times as the matter should require, especially when in war or oppression by an enemy the leaders of Israel enter the house of prayer to plead for deliverance, so that all people of the earth may know that the Lord is God and there is none else.