Title: The Need For Revival
Psalms 85:1-8
Lord, thou hast been favorable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.
3 Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.
4 Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease.
5 Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?
6 Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?
7 Shew us thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation.
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.
Let us study this Psalms.
- Looking Back
Psalms 85:1-3 are completed actions, usually the past.
David was looking back. He said, God had “brought back the captivity of Jacob.” Then he continued, “Thou didst forgive the iniquity of Thy people; Thou didst pardon all their sin. Thou didst withdraw all Thy wrath; Thou didst turn from Thy hot anger” (Psa. 85:1-3).
Fast forward to modern day Israel. Let’s look at Israel today.
Let us apply these three verses to us. I look at our lives as Christian. God saved us. God became favorable to our lives. God forgave all our sins. God started blessing us.
- Three reasons why we need revival
While Psalms 85:1-3 has all the making of past actions, Psalms 85:4-7 has all the making of present, ongoing action, the current state of YHWH’s anger toward Israel and even towards us.
David gives three reasons why we need revival”?
A. Revival will restrain the righteous anger of God.
“Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away Thy indignation toward us! Wilt Thou be angry with us for ever? Wilt Thou prolong Thy anger to all generations? Wilt Thou not revive us again, that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?” (Psa. 85:4-6).
As I say, Psalms 85:4-6 is about the current state of the people of Israel and their ongoing action and of course God’s anger toward them. It is clear from these words that God must visit His righteous anger against an unrevived people. When you are unrevived, you are on a dangerous footing. You are dry, fruitless and without spirituality. You become a problem everywhere you go. An unrevived person is an unrestrained person, an unresponsive person and a person of unrest. Their state is vividly described to us in three words which significantly punctuate this psalm.
The first word is found in verse 2 – “the iniquity of Thy people.”
Iniquity denotes wickedness.
If he is living in an unrevived state, ruled by his old nature, then this wickedness will find expression in subtle forms of iniquity.
What is the subtle form of iniquity?
Iniquity is that evil in our hearts which tries to explain away God’s demands upon our lives in order that we may continue to sin.
The second word is what the psalmist plainly calls “sin” again, found in verse 2.
“Sin is the transgression of the law,” or, as the Revised Standard Version puts it, “Sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). Wickedness always leads to lawlessness, or the arrogant violation of the will of God.
What are the subtle forms of iniquity in the church today?
Sin of nonattendance at church gatherings.
Sin of unreliability in Christian service.
Sin of unholiness in everyday life.
Sin of “double standards.” – A “philosophy of persuasion” is being used to introduce thousands of our young people into ways of immorality, unchastity and easy divorce.
The third word is carelessness.
God “will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints: but let them not turn again to folly” (Psa. 85:8). Folly is the state or quality of being foolish, lack of understanding or sense.
Folly is the result of carelessness. How often we hear the expression, “I couldn’t care less.”
This is what Peter means when he says, “For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God” (1 Pet. 4:17). We talk about the judgment of an evil world, but we forget that the risen Lord is Judge also of His own church. As He walks among the candlesticks His eyes burn as “a flame of fire” at the sight of iniquity, sin and folly (Rev. 1:13-14).
God has a high standard of holiness for His church and His people, and we must not forget it. Consider for instance such utterances as:
“Thy decrees are very sure; holiness befits Thy house, O Lord, for evermore” (Psa. 93:5).
“It is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:16).
“For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (1 Thes. 4:7).
Chapters 2 and 3 of the Book of the Revelation. Speaking to the church, Jesus says:
“I will…remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent” (2:5).
“Repent then. If not, I will come to you soon and war…with the sword of My mouth” (2:16).
“Remember…what you received and heard; keep that, and repent” (3:3).
“Be zealous and repent” (3:19).
B. Revival Will Restore the Conscious Awareness of God
“Wilt Thou not revive us again, that Thy people may rejoice in Thee? Show us Thy steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us Thy salvation. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people, to His saints, to those who turn to Him in their hearts” (Psa. 85:6-8).
Somebody has described revival as “a person or a community saturated with the presence of God,” and this is an accurate description; for when God breaks into a life or a community, nothing else matters save the person of Jesus, the glory of Jesus, the name of Jesus. Revival is not some emotion or worked-up excitement. It is rather an invasion from heaven which brings to man a conscious awareness of God.
C. Revival Will Reveal the Gracious Activities of God
“Surely His salvation is at hand for those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness and peace will kiss each other. Faithfulness will spring up from the ground, and righteousness will look down from the sky. Yea, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before Him, and make His footsteps a way” (Psa. 85:9-13).
Since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden there has never been a moment in time when God has not been active. Jesus indicated this when He said, “My Father is working still, and I am working” (John 5:17). He is active all over the world at this very hour.
The activity of God in the world today is twofold.
First, there is His saving activity
Secondly, there is His sanctifying activity.
