Restoration is different from renovation. To restore something is to bring it back to the way it was in the beginning. To renovate it is to make it over into something new and different.
For two years in the early 70s, we lived in Westport, Conneticut. Not far from our rented home was a colonial house—Nine Hearths—so named because there was a fireplace in most of the rooms. I was fortunate to see some of the inside of that house and to learn of its historical significance. The owners were extremely proud of it, and they had gone to great lengths to restore it to the way it would have been in 1755, unbleached muslin curtains on rods secured with hand-forged iron nails, for example. The house was not renovated; it was restored and preserved.
Things aren’t going well for the psalmist. An urgent appeal is made to God, no less than three times. (verses 3, 7, 19) “Restore us, O God.” Don’t turn away from us. Shine on us and we will be saved. Bring us back to the way we were in our relationship with you. This is a good prayer for us, too, and one God is pleased to answer.
Let your face shine on me, O God. Amen. — KBL