Psalm 85
Sunday, 06 November 2022
“Restore us again, God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us.” -Psalm 85:4
This Psalm begins by encouraging us to think back and remember who God is- the One who has restored and blessed us, forgiving us our sins, turning away from His wrath. It could have been in the context of the nation brought back from exile and it is a period of restoration.
The Psalm illustrates that the greater the presence of God’s righteousness in response to our obedience to God, the more God’s blessings flow. This is in line with Matt.6:25-33—the more we seek God’s righteousness and His kingdom, the more we will experience God taking care of everything else in our lives. God’s people can expect affliction when they commit sin and turn away from God; but when we return to Him in humility, He will restore and cause us to rejoice in Him! When God forgives sin, He shows mercy to those to whom He grants salvation; for salvation is of mere mercy. The God who extended His mercy and forgiveness to His people in the days of old, is the same yesterday, today and forever— He is a loving, gracious and merciful God!
The Psalm also conveys a wonderful prayer for revival. Revival is not man made, but given by God. Revival implies that the people who were once alive, have died in a spiritual sense and now need to be given spiritual life again. It’s not just the individual but the church as well needs revival. Many think of revivals as being a movement of God in the world so that unbelievers come to Christ but revivals do not start in the world; they start in the church. The church needs a fresh breath of life to remember the great things God has done in the past, repent of things not pleasing to Him and ask for His glory to dwell in their midst.
Each of these portions of the Psalm help us in understanding what God would say to us as His people as we seek renewal and revival. God wants us to live in close intimate relationship with Him. He wants to forgive our sin and restore us as we call on Him for restoration. Whenever the people of God honestly stand before the living God and see Him as He is, as He has revealed Himself to be—not who you prefer Him to be or manipulate Him to be—there will always come a cry of confession, repentance and restoration.
On receiving the revival, we aren’t to sit idle but be engaged in His work while awaiting Christ’s return. We are to be working for His kingdom and for the glory of His name throughout our lives. If we pay attention to God, faithful love and truth will come together in our lives. That means that out of God’s grace, He will speak truth to us. If we pay attention, we will see that God will provide what is good. He will show us the way of right living, the way that benefits us (Psalm 85:12-13) for which we need to listen to God and His instructions.
Let’s analyze ourselves: How closely are we listening to God? How much attention are we paying to God? Shall we surrender ourselves to our Heavenly Father who can revive our lives so that we can live a life that is pleasing to Him alone?
Think on: "A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God." - Charles Finney
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