"You have made your people see hard things..." (Psalm 60:3).

The prayer of Psalm 60 is for restoration. The people, due to a long period of breaking God's covenant and commands, were experiencing the consequences of their sin.

God loved them, for they were and are always His chosen nation, but the covenant at Sinai required their obedience. When they broke it, God was forced to withhold His blessings as a method to bring them back into faithfulness. And this song was one where they asked to come back into God's flow of blessing.

Their confession: "You have made your people see hard things." They knew, though under God's discipline, they were still His people. They were descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and God had purchased them at the Passover and exodus. They were sure: we belong to God.

But, for a time, God had made them see hard things. He was chastening them, deriving a way to stimulate repentance and return for His people. He had told them, at the very beginning, how their role as ambassadors of His truth and love to the world required their allegiance. If they rebelled, He could not allow the nations to watch as He blessed them. He had to produce consequences in their lives. So they had to see hard things.

Their lives were dried up, unfruitful shadows of their true potential in Him. They were spiritually dull, distant from Him, neglecting their walk with God. They were powerless, and they felt it so. They didn't have the vitality and life they possessed while walking in God's light.

And they knew God had done it to them.

So, they returned, for His grace and mercy are endless. He is ever ready to receive His wayward people back to Himself. Every day, His mercy is new for His people.

So they came back, and so did their strength. Soon, they became victorious again. God began granting them victories and might. Like the blood returning to a sleeping limb, they came back to functionality and life.

Sometimes the "hard things" and consequences are God's most loving and helpful instruments to aid us. He cares for His people. Covered by the blood of Christ, we are His. But rebellion requires His attention, and, as a loving Father, He will do what is needed to bring us back to Himself.

He cannot let it go. If needed, He will allow us to see hard things. But it is all love, and His way of spurring us back into the light.

Thank you, Lord, for the hard things.