Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock.
You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,
shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.

Awaken your might; come and save us.

Restore us, O God;
make your face shine on us,
that we may be saved.

Psalm 80:1-3

If you read/pray more of Psalm 80 you’ll discover that this is no happy psalm: “You’ve fed us the bread of tears, you’ve made us drink tears by the bowlful.” No happy psalm at all. 

It’s interesting that the Psalmist calls the nation of Israel “Joseph.” Joseph was the favoured child of the favoured wife of the man first called Israel (Jacob). In fact, all the names mentioned—Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh—were favourites or sons of a favourite. We’re not much for having favourites in our day (rightly so) but for the Psalmist to speak to God this way is to say, “Remember your favourites? We’re the apple of Your eye. You said so. And WE ARE IN TROUBLE!”

You can pray like this. You too are His favourite. Truly you are. What is true of Jesus is now true of you. Like the Psalmist, you may not be feeling like a favourite today but you are His and He has not forgotten you (Isaiah 49.15-16).

Please pray for our brother Andy Atkins who has contracted a serious infection (not COVID) and is fighting for his life in ICU. Pray for Judy and their family. Please also pray for Sue Carmichael, Cindy Ott, Susan Windsor, Aleta Voss and any of His other favourites this day.

With you,
Andrew