Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion! When the LORD restores his people, let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad! – Psalm 53:6

Today's Scripture Reading (July 9, 2022): Psalm 53

George Ball (1909-1994), an American diplomat and banker, argued that "Nostalgia is a seductive liar." And he was right. We often seem to remember only the good about the past, and the struggles seem to be usually either long forgotten or minimized. I remember the good things about my history and often dream of its simplicity, but deep down, I also know that the past was never as simple as I remember it. There was stress in the past, just as there is in the present. No age is free of it, but sometimes we forget that.

For Israel, there existed a nostalgia for the time of David. It was the golden age, the age to which they longed to return. And the hope was that one day the Messiah would come, and he would be a Moses and a David rolled into one. But in many ways, the people's hope in the coming of a new David was just nostalgia.

David suffered through much during his life. And even David longed for the day when the Messiah would come, and victory would arise out of Zion. Israel longed for a restoration that went far beyond anything that David could accomplish. As good a King as David was, there was always a need to be rescued from the day-to-day stress of life. The day of this rescue was a time for which David longed.

And so do we. When we think with nostalgia about the simple times that existed in the past, what we are really longing for is a time in the future when the Messiah will come. It is a day  John describes to us in his "Revelation."

Then I saw "a new heaven and a new earth," for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new" (Revelation 21:1-5)!

We are not waiting for David but the second coming of Jesus. And all we can ask is that he would come and make all things new.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Psalm 58