Whispers From The Grave - A Call For Revival.

Psalm 85 (ESV)

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.

1 Lord, you were favorable to your land;

you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;

you covered all their sin. Selah

3 You withdrew all your wrath;

you turned from your hot anger.

4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

and put away your indignation toward us!

5 Will you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

6 Will you not revive us again,

that your people may rejoice in you?

7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,

and grant us your salvation.

8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;

but let them not turn back to folly.

9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,

that glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,

and righteousness looks down from the sky.

12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good,

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps a way.

Troubles in life don't necessarily mean it’s God’s disapproval. However, it's always wise to take a moment to reflect on ourselves, checking if there's anything we need to address or make right.

A few months ago, I found myself (along with Jean and our children) in a stressful time.

found myself in desperation and in my desperation I’ve been meditating on Psalms.

“…while most of Scripture speaks to us, the Psalms speak for us.”

Athanasius, 4th Century Church Father

It’s like Romans 8:26 “26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

by God’s grace, His Spirit eventually led me to Ps 85, it spoke about my weaknesses and groanings before God

Psalm 85 is a corporate lament with prophetic meditation on the theme of revival/renewal, focusing on God’s future help.

So I found myself longing for God to stir our local church with an authentic biblical revival. much like the psalmist in Psalm 85 who cried out, "Will you not revive us again?"

Psalm 85:1-3 speaks for us to… remember the foundation of God’s favour.

Psalm 85:1–3 (ESV)

1 Lord, you were favorable to your land;

you restored the fortunes of Jacob.

2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;

you covered all their sin. Selah

3 You withdrew all your wrath;

you turned from your hot anger.

The foundation of God’s favour is his mercy when He made a way for the forgiveness of sins.

The Hebrew verb used here, nasa, means to “lift” or “take away” or “bore away” (Leviticus 16:21 “21 And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.” ).

For many of us (if not most) many of our our mistakes/short-comings in our relationships have been sincerely forgiven but we could not escape the consequences of our sins.

The New Bible Commentary (Psalm 85. Longing for Revival)

There can be no renewal/revival until sin is forgiven and wrath appeased.

Thanks be to God, we are both forgiven of our sins and saved from the wrath of God through Jesus Christ!

Hebrews 9:28 ESV

28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Romans 5:9–11 ESV

9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Biblical Revival - a sense of new life or vitality to be in the right relationship with God.

Psalm 85:4-7 speaks for us to… pray for God’s displeasure to be put away and receive God’s gift of grace.

Psalm 85:4–7 (ESV)

4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,

and put away your indignation toward us!

5 Will you be angry with us forever?

Will you prolong your anger to all generations?

6 Will you not revive us again,

that your people may rejoice in you?

7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,

and grant us your salvation.

The psalmist pleads for God to restore Israel as he did before (v.4), honestly identifies their situation in God’s punishment for their sin (v.5), and still pleads for God to forgive and help them.

The New Bible Commentary Psalm 85. Longing for Revival

In the matter of revival/renewal we are dependent on his sovereign will. 4 Restore us again, ‘Turn back to us’—the heart of the matter (3, 5) is that he should be reconciled to us.

2 Corinthians 5:18–19 ESV

18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

The psalmist reflects on past experiences of God's favor and forgiveness, and it's a healthy practice for us too – in the weakness of our short-term memories, remembering times when we felt God's presence and grace.

Many of us in the church know how to go through the motions of faith without genuine zeal. We sing the songs and lift our hands, but our minds are elsewhere. We've become used to at being good Christians outwardly while losing the zeal we once had.

We have forgotten Romans 12:11 “11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

not hyper-pentecostalism where we have an unhealthy drive in seeing the Spirit’s manifestations in our local church and at the same time ignoring to forgive those who wronged us, ignoring the daily essentials of our Christ-formation journey.

The call for revival is not about returning to some idealized past, feeling epic, special or worthy to partake something extraordinary … but it is because God is worthy to be sought even when we are desperate.

It's about being moved by the gospel again, feeling its implications deeply in our lives.

The results of revival are evident when people start genuinely engaging with God's word, experiencing peace, salvation, and a renewed sense of God's goodness and unashamed to be zealous.

Biblical revival begins with prayer, acknowledging our total dependence on God and seeking his intervention in our lives, families, communities and nation.

Ephesians 4:22–24 ESV

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Refreshing renewal is only available in the hands of Christ.

Psalms 85:8-13 speaks for us to… listen to God’s Words of salvation and express hope in God’s loyal love and faithfulness.

Psalm 85:8–13 (ESV)

8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,

for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;

but let them not turn back to folly.

9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,

that glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;

righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,

and righteousness looks down from the sky.

12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good,

and our land will yield its increase.

13 Righteousness will go before him

and make his footsteps a way.

This is a committed posture and yet humbling posture before God.

The psalmists asks to hear what God will say in the future when he rescues his people (v.8) and expresses hope in God’s loyal love to his faithful people.

The New Bible Commentary Psalm 85. Longing for Revival

Those who desire revival/renewal must wait upon God’s word. But this imposes demands: (i) to respond to his love: saints (8, ‘the objects of his committed love who are committed to love him back’); (ii) to forsake the follies of the past (8). (iii) to live in the fear of God (9, 1 Pet. 1:17–19). The consequence is that glory—God in all his glory—will come among his people.

If we are no longer moved by grace and loyal love then Psalms 85 is surely calling us for a revival in God’s grace and loyal love in Jesus Christ.

I’m reminded about the episode in Num 16 where Korah, Dathan and Abiram’s rebellion in God’s working through Moses - the ground swallowed Korah and his entire household and those who managed to escape, God consumed them with fire.

Psalm 85:11 “11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.” I think it’s an inversion of Num 16, those who have no trust in God receives God’s wrath, and those who have a humble posture to trust God delights in his faithfulness and his righteousness

Our desire for revival must be hinged on God’s Word, pursuing his character (what makes God holy, no other gods beside him), and in Ps 85 voices out God’s

loyal love

salvation

righteousness

faithfulness

and in this side of history, God has certainly fulfilled this in the person and work of Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:20–21 ESV

20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

But when the Lord takes the work in hand himself, we experience more than his blessing on what we can do.  We experience what only he can do.

Death Valley in California USA

did you know in that barren-looking land, there are actually millions of seeds laying dormant under the soil.

And once a decade, when conditions like higher-than-avg rain and temperature are just right, it causes the dormant seeds to bloom all at once.

When God’s Spirit handles the work himself, we receive more than just God’s blessing on our efforts, we experience what only Jesus can do.

Let us confess the goodness of God in our forgiveness and redemption through Jesus Christ where he knows our needs for the refreshing of our hearts and found confidence in God alone.

2 Thessalonians 2:16–17 ESV

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.