Psalms
85:6
Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
I.
Introduction
Someone asked Billy Sunday one time “Why do you keep having
revivals when it doesn’t last?” Billy Sunday replied “why do you keep taking
baths?” One of the great theologians of the early 20th Century, G. Campbell
Morgan said this: “Revival cannot be organized, but we can set our sails to
catch the wind from heaven when God chooses to blow upon His people once again.
What a strong statement about revival, is it not?
When we look at the Jews of the Old Testament, we see a pattern of
how God would always try to reach out to his people to renew them. They would
do so, but over time, they would turn away from God and, as we might say up
here in the mountains, ‘backslide back into ruin.’ This psalm is a great
example to us of what we are to do if we want to have true revival in our
lives. We have to bathe ourselves in the glory of God, and must renew ourselves
to emulate Jesus Christ on a daily basis. But let’s look at how the psalmist
approaches the throne.
II.
Remembrance
of Past Revival (vv. 1-3)
I find myself often looking to the past. Being that my first
degree is in history, for a good long while, my job was to look into the past
to glean information that might help me in the present and in the future! But,
like Oswalt Chambers put it, “it is no use to pray for the old days; stand
square where you are and make the present better than any past has been. Base
all your relationship to God and go forward, and presently you will find that
what is emerging is infinitely better than the past ever was.” It is good to
study history, even your personal history, but we cannot get stuck there if we
want true revival in our lives!
It’s pretty easy to look back, isn’t it? I remember when I was in
school, I had a professor who wanted us to read Jimmy Carter’s An Hour Before Daylight, which is Carter’s book about his childhood. When
we finished reading it, the professor asked us, “How accurate do you think that
Carter’s memories were of his childhood?” The meaning of this was to ask us, in
a certain way, did Carter have on rose-tinted glasses while looking back at his
childhood? We view things in a more positive light when we look back, don’t we?
We tend to forget, especially when we are looking back on a hard time, what got
us into that hard time in the first place! And we tend to forget the way that
we were able to get back out of it, which was with a lot of hard work, a lot of
sweat, blood, and tears, lots of prayer, and with lots of dependence on God. If
we look back and don’t remember that God has pulled us through problems and
difficulties, then we cannot have true revival in our lives. We can’t run
around with our rose-colored glasses on.
God’s people were looking back in these first three verses. As one
commentary put it, the lament begins with a reference to a previous time of
similar difficulty when God forgave and restored his people. This is what God
had done for his people in the past, and they now ask, in effect, that he do
the same for them once more. He is praying that God will do what he had once
done!
As we do look back at what God has done for us, remember what the
apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:1, which says “see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be
called children of God; and so we are.” God always loves us and gives us the best for our lives. We’ve said
this before: God never does anything for evil, and he will always remember us.
And sometimes that even means punishing us for the deeds that we have done. But
there is hope!
III. Request for Present Revival (vv. 4-7)
Have you ever gotten to a point in your life where you needed help
RIGHT NOW? I mean, something is happening, and if you don’t get help right
away, then things are going to go downhill VERY fast. I read a story a while
back about a man who went up in a plane with his friend for a short joy ride.
Halfway through the flight, the pilot passed out completely. The friend, who
had never flown a plane before, quickly radioed for help from anyone who could!
In a nearby plane, another pilot heard the pleas for help. He talked to the
non-pilot man about what he needed to do, how to steer, and most importantly,
how to land the plane. Before long, the plane was getting close to an airport,
and after a somewhat rough landing, the non-pilot man walked away from the
plane. This man had begged for help from someone who knew what they were doing,
and who knew what to do.
The psalmist had made his case that God had helped in the past,
and now he is asking for that to happen once again in verses 4 through 7. He
has already shown that the only source of renewal for the lives of those is the
one true God. Since God was merciful before, there needs to be a fresh
demonstration of God’s mercy towards His people in their present need. He begs “restore us again, God our savior, and put away
your displeasure towards us.” And
almost like a child, he asks “will
you be angry with us forever?” The
psalmist knew that God was angry for the things done in the past. But he is
asking, pleading, for God to revive the people once again. To have them turn
back towards Him. To provide the way forward. The psalmist knows that it is
only through the joy of the Lord that we can be revived!
The psalmist ends this section with one last plea towards the
past, but looking towards the future. In verse 7, he writes “show us your unfailing love, Lord, and grant us
your salvation.” This is clearly
showing that God’s love IS unfailing, and it is undeserved. We have a heavenly
Father that wants to give us the strength to be renewed even though we don’t
deserve it. We have turned away from him over and over, just like the Jews of
old. We have proclaimed ourselves to be followers of Christ, but we don’t act
like it. We don’t emulate Christ all the time. We try, certainly. We do our
best mostly, but we fail. And that is the problem of our sin. But that is what
revival is. It is the freedom of sin, it is the freedom from sin! It is the
ability to take joy back in the Lord! And it is realizing that we have the
ability to have revival in our own lives when we pray for it.
IV. Revelation of Future Revival (vv. 8-13)
Look at what the Lord says to us through the psalmist in verse 8
through 13. I want to read this whole passage because it should give you
chillbumps.
I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his
people, his faithful servants— but let them not turn to folly. Surely his
salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.
Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other.
Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from
heaven. The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its
harvest. Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps.
The prayer of the psalmist should give us great hope! He promises
peace to his people. Love and faithfulness meet together, and amazingly enough
in one of the most poetic verses of the entire Bible, righteousness and peace
are so close that they kiss one another. Another translation says that goodness
and peace will kiss. Basically, when we live in a fashion that is honoring God,
we will see the blessings that He will give us! We will have that true revival
that starts with us. It is only God’s presence that could guarantee such an
idyllic state of affairs, and such certainty was the solution to the problems
of these people originally. And it continues to be the solution to our problems
even today! And it starts with the prayer of one person, and with the revival
of one person to start.
V.
Conclusion
Never give up praying for spiritual awakening. In Luke 18:1, Jesus
taught that we should always pray and not lose heart. In the spring of 1904 a
young Welshman named Evan Roberts was repeatedly awakened to pray from 1:00 to
5:00 a.m. By November a powerful spiritual awakening was spreading through
Wales.
God worked through the testimony of a young new believer named
Florrie Evans. When Pastor Joseph Evans asked for testimonies Florrie arose and
with a trembling voice said, "I love Jesus with all my heart." God
used this to melt the hearts of many others.
The London Times reported remarkable changes that took place in
the public spirit. For example, in Swansea people who had left their parents in
the "workhouse" for the poor came to take them out. Entire
congregations were on their knees in prayer and "for the first time there
was not a single case of drunkenness at the Swansea County Petty
Sessions." The Bible Society saw orders for Scriptures multiply to three
times the level for the previous year. At Bangor University revival fires were
spreading in January of 1905. There were "only a third or a fourth
of the students attending some of the classes...Beginning with a spontaneous
outburst of praise and prayer among the men students, the movement spread . .
at a united prayer meeting...some...broke down sobbing."
In 1904 the Atlanta newspapers reported an amazing revival of
prayer sweeping the city. On November 2nd the Supreme Court of Georgia closed
so people could attend prayer meetings. Stores, factories, offices and even
saloons followed suit.
Revival came to north China in 1932 in answer to several years of
prayer. At one point, Norwegian missionary Maria Monsen wondered what good her
praying could do. She longed to see God's river of life flood spiritually dry
China. Then she realized that the mighty Yangtze River began when the tiny
drops of rain came together from the top of the mountains. Maria sought a
prayer partner who would join her in claiming the promise "that if two of
you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them
by My Father in heaven" (Mt. 18:19). When she finally found someone she
exclaimed, "The awakening has begun! Two of us have agreed!" The rain
drops of revival prayer were coming together.
In November of 1930 Maria announced, "A great revival is
coming soon and it will begin in the North China Mission." She was
convinced that the missionaries had fulfilled the conditions for revival found
in 2 Chron 7:14. In 1932 about forty Christians were meeting in a town in
North China for prayer four times a day beginning at 5:00 a.m. Believers were
convicted of sin. Two men repented of hating each other. Love was strong and
deep. Joy abounded. When revival came more people were born again than in any
previous year in North China. One missionary estimated that 3,000 people came
to Christ in his town. Pastors, missionaries, and Bible women experienced a
deeper Christian life than they had ever known before.
In 1936 revival fires broke out on the campus of Wheaton College
west of Chicago. A senior named Don Hillis arose in chapel to voice a plea for
revival. Students responded with an all-day prayer meeting on Saturday. Both
faculty and students confessed sin and made things right with one another.
The Wheaton campus was touched again in 1943 following a message
on confession of sin during special services. The captain of the cross-country
team arose to confess that he had violated college policy by leading his team
in a Sunday race. Pride, criticism, and cheating were confessed by other
students. Lunch and dinner slipped by unnoticed while the meeting continued
into the evening service.
"Stop the bus!" a member of the Wheaton College Glee
Club shouted. The Glee Club was touring in Florida in 1950. A revival that had
broken out on the campus in Illinois had touched this student hundreds of miles
away. He confessed he had broken the rules and other students began to turn to
God. God's promise is still true. If we seek Him with all our heart, we shall
surely find Him ready to pour the riches of His grace and love into the lives
of His people (Jer 29:13).
Let's follow the example of others who prayed until revival came,
both in our nation, in our own region, in our county, in our community, but
most importantly, starting in our own lives first. And we can do that through
prayer. Let’s pray.
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