Will You not again revive us, that Your people might rejoice in You?

Help us. O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; and deliver us and forgive our sins for the sake of Your name.

Psalm 85:6; 79:9, LEB

Our nation has once again come to a time in which we are given the privilege and responsibility to cast our votes for the political candidates of our choice. The lines of demarcation are clear. There is really no question as to where the candidates stand on key issues. The only thing that remains is for us to go to the polling places on election day, cast our votes, and pray for God’s will to be done.

But this raises an interesting question: how are we to pray? I have seen so many posts on social media echoing the much-repeated request, “God bless America.” Everytime I read that statement, I think, “God has already blessed this nation in a multitude of ways.” His blessings have been abundant and clear. So, maybe we need to add a word to our request that God bless America. Perhaps we should add the word “again”.

As the psalmist prays for his nation, it is of great interest to note the emphasis he places on God’s name: “for the glory of Your name”. and “for the sake of Your name.” He makes four appeals to God in the two verses quoted above: revive us, help us, deliver us, forgive us – and his appeal that God would perform these four works “for the glory of His name”.

It would be wise for each of us to ask ourselves a very serious question: what is the motivating factor behind my prayers for America? If it is anything other than the glory of His name, then perhaps it is time for us to have a change of prayer perspective. Let’s think for a moment about the four appeals of the psalmist in these verses.

First, there is the appeal for revival: “Revive us again, that Your people might rejoice in You.” Even though this appeal is from another verse, and even from another chapter in the Book of Psalms, it could be thought of as the foundation of the other three appeals. Revival is the bottom-line need for a nation that has strayed from its commitment to God.

It only takes a cursory reading of the Old Testament to see this pattern in the historical record of Israel. They would stray far from the initial commitments they had made to God, which would result in God’s hand of judgment coming to rest upon them. It would be during those times that the people would begin to call out for God to revive them – to restore them to the state of spiritual favor they had lost. In the estimation of this writer, our nation is in desperate of need of a spiritual awakening and a time of revival. So, let us pray that God would revive us, FOR THE GLORY OF HIS NAME.

Second, the psalmist makes an appeal for help: “Help us. O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name.” We are in constant need of the help of God. There is never a moment of time during which we do not need His help. But, as seen again in the record of Israel’s historical progression, there were times in which they became haughty, thinking to themselves that they no longer needed God. They had become self-sufficient, thinking that they had attained their status and their prosperity by their own ingenuity.

When one of the major political parties in our nation states forthrightly that they want to take God out of their platform, then it leaves no room for doubt that there is a large segment of our nation’s population that sees no need for God. We are in definite and desperate need of God’s help. So. let us pray that God would help us: FOR THE GLORY OF HIS NAME.

The psalmist’s third appeal is for deliverance: “Deliver us for the sake of Your name.” Deliverance can be thought of in different ways. In physical terms this appeal might be based on the desire to be delivered from bondage or servitude of some type to another nation. There were many times in Israel’s long, storied history in which they were subjugated to other nations.

But it could also be thought of in terms of a spiritual bondage. Many times the people of Israel strayed, spiritually, committing “spiritual adultery” as they sought to somehow maintain their worship of God while at the same time engaging in the worship of the gods of other nations. This is certainly a present-day reality in our nation. The founding fathers clearly envisioned a nation which would be built upon the foundation of Christian principles and practices. We have now allowed other “gods” of other nations to invade our nation, to enslave multitudes of our citizens, and to force Christianity into silence. So, let us pray for God’s deliverance: FOR THE GLORY OF HIS NAME.

And finally, the appeal is made for forgiveness: “Forgive our sins for the sake of Your name.” There is so much, from a Biblical perspective, for which we need God’s gracious gift of forgiveness. As a nation, we all need to be concerned about decisions that have been made which move us in a direction diametrically opposite to the clear teachings of Scripture. The sanctity of human life; the Biblical view of marriage; the Bible’s instructions on human sexuality; the Bible’s emphasis on the necessity of maintaining a firm and full commitment to God and His Word; and so many others, show clearly how desperately we need to plead with God for His forgiveness for decisions that have led us far from Him rather than closer to Him. So, let us pray for God’s forgiveness: FOR THE GLORY OF HIS NAME.

I encourage each of us to take seriously the privilege of going to the polls on election day to cast our votes for the candidates of our choice. However, before we go, and before we cast that ballot, let’s make sure that we are voting based on Christian, Biblical convictions. Let us take our stand, and raise our voice, FOR THE GLORY OF HIS NAME!

Blessings.