The Psalmist is calling on God to once again restore the fortunes of Israel. He reminds himself of the times when God had restored the nation in the past. He had shown favour to Israel, and had forgiven them their sins. Forgiveness of sins is an essential ingredient of restoration.
In our own lives we can be very reluctant to face up to our sin. This is not just a matter of being reluctant to admit that we have done wrong, but not believing that God will forgive us. God's forgiveness is central to His plans.
At the same time as believing that God will forgive us, we also need to face up to the fact of His anger against our sin. We find it difficult to believe that God can both be angry against our sin and at the same time forgive us. But God's forgiveness is not Him saying "it doesn't matter", but rather of Him saying "it does matter, but I forgive you". It is because sin really does matter that Jesus had to go to the cross.
Receiving His forgiveness and restoration is not the end of the matter. We need to be faithful, not to return to folly and to fear the Lord. There needs to be a transformation of our lives.
When there is the Lord's forgiveness and the faithful response of the people there is an amazing outpouring of blessing. On the cross God has offered His forgiveness, we need to believe.
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