Restore Us

Introduction

Good morning, it is so good to be with you today. I am always grateful to see churches supporting each other, and I am so encouraged to see and experience how the EFCA (Evangelical Free Church of America) network of churches support one another. I’ve been blessed to get to know Pastor Bob and Pastor Alex a bit as we get together for lunch periodically throughout the year with other EFCA pastors in the region.

It is a privilege to worship with you all today. I often think, when visiting a church, that although we may not know each other, it doesn’t matter because the most important thing that we common is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior… He bonds us together as brothers and sisters, and that is truly a glorious thing. We’re going to spend eternity together in Heaven, so if I don’t meet you in this life, I will in the next! Praise God!

And, if you are here visiting, or have been coming for a while and haven’t yet committed your life to Jesus, or you’re here questioning things, exploring, or whatever the case may be… welcome. We are so glad that you are with us today. There is no place I’d rather be than among my brothers and sisters in the Lord!

We gather to worship God and to receive His nourishment through His Word. So, I hope You’re hungry to feast on the Word of God, the Bread of Life, today…

Well, the passage we’re diving into today is Psalm 80 as I understand you are working through the book of Psalms this summer.

Before we step into the passage, I want to share a brief story that I think sets the scene for the tone, context, and purpose of this passage of Scripture…

Before the Lord called me into vocational ministry, I worked in construction remodeling houses. I worked with two other guys, and the gist of the business was buying houses that were in really rough shape…like, really bad and nasty… The concept was to purchase them at a low cost — sometimes they were on foreclosure or tax sale — and then we would “gut them” — we called this “demo day” (or we would have many “demo days”), and then we would remodel the house, or really the word “rebuild” might be more fitting at times.

It was amazing to see the transformation of a house that was essentially garbage to being a house that was beautiful.

And to think, that house started out as a brand-new construction that was beautiful and clean, but over the years who knows what happened, and it became something no one wanted…even uninhabitable.

We all love to see it, don’t we? We love to see messes turned around and redeemed. There are lots of TV shows with concepts like this… HGTV home renovation shows, History Channel’s American Restoration…

If the restored house could talk, or restored car could talk, they would have an amazing testimony to share. What do you think they would say?

I was a mess, but then someone came and rescued me, and now I have new life!

They might even SING! Maybe something like… Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found, was blind but now I see!

The best part of a testimony is the deliverance part! — The restoration or revival… But in order to be delivered or rescued, that means you once needed to be delivered or rescued. You were lost, depraved, and desperate…

Of course, consider the world we live in… There is no shortage of things to pray for…

Wars, division, hatred, anger, violence…

We all know people in our life who need restoration or revival…

People with a terminal illness...

Unsaved family members or friends…

Now, look at your own life… What in your life needs restoration?

Do you have a broken relationship with your child?

A broken relationship with your mom or dad?

With your spouse? With a friend?

You have built up anger or resentment…

Are you feeling exhausted or burned out?

You’re tired — mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually… You’ve been pouring out and haven’t been poured into. You feel you have nothing left to give. You’re frustrated…

Maybe you’re feeling lonely, lacking meaningful community and support…

You’re stressed about finances…

Do you feeling like God isn’t answering your prayers? Or, that you’re praying up to no one? You feel silence and you feel ignored. You’re thinking “what’s the point?”

Maybe you’re dealing with the guilt and shame of hidden sin. You’re fearful of what others might think of you if they found out… Maybe you know you’re forgiven, but you don’t feel forgiven… You’re battling constant condemnation and lies from Satan.

Or, your hidden sin is starting to harden your heart… You’re feel calloused.

How's your heart? How's your walk with Jesus? Was it once alive and thriving, but now your Christian life feels more like routine and you're really just going through the motions? Your relationship with Jesus used to feel intimate, close, and real, but now feels stale?

Well, to be straight with you, the issue can't be with God… the problem has to lie with us…but, what's the problem? What do we do? Read more self-help books? Read more of the latest and greatest authors, watch more YouTube videos about it, listen to more podcasts to figure out the secret?

Psalm 80 is our passage for today. It is a prayer for restoration… It’s a prayer for the return of what once was, and a cry for God's deliverance — for God’s glory and for the good of His people…

Really, Psalm 80 teaches us how to pray for restoration… for revival.

Before we read from God’s Word, would you pray with me…

Pray

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of Your Word. It is more of a gift to us than we could ever properly appreciate or realize. The fact that You, the Creator of the literal universe, wants to talk to us, and — more than that — You want a relationship with us…

We pray with the Psalmist in Psalm 119:130 “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” … so in that vein, Lord, we pray that You would unveil our eyes, our heart, and our mind… that, by Your Spirit, You would open our ears to hear Your Word; that You would open our eyes to see Your goodness and grace; that You would soften our hearts to be shaped and molded by You; and that You would cause each one of us to receive Your Word in the way of which You intend to communicate it to us. Minister to each one of us now, we pray… In Jesus’ Name…

Psalm 80 NIV

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Lilies of the Covenant.” Of Asaph. A psalm.

1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock.

You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,

shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.

Awaken your might;

come and save us.

3 Restore us, O God;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

4 How long, LORD God Almighty,

will your anger smolder

against the prayers of your people?

5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;

you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors,

and our enemies mock us.

7 Restore us, God Almighty;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;

you drove out the nations and planted it.

9 You cleared the ground for it,

and it took root and filled the land.

10 The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches.

11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,

its shoots as far as the River. 

12 Why have you broken down its walls

so that all who pass by pick its grapes?

13 Boars from the forest ravage it,

and insects from the fields feed on it.

14 Return to us, God Almighty!

Look down from heaven and see!

Watch over this vine,

15 the root your right hand has planted,

the son you have raised up for yourself.

16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;

at your rebuke your people perish.

17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,

the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

18 Then we will not turn away from you;

revive us, and we will call on your name.

19 Restore us, LORD God Almighty;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

The context of this Psalm takes place sometime around 722 BC when God sent the nation of Assyria to destroy Israel’s northern capital in response to Israel’s idolatry and evil. The Psalmist, Asaph, sees the cries and pain of the people and the rubble of the city.

As we reflect on this prayer for restoration, we find that Jesus — the Christ, Messiah, Lord, and Savior of the world — is evident throughout…

In the Bible, we recognize that Jesus is the center of the whole thing. Jesus is “concealed” in the Old Testament, and He is “revealed” in the New Testament.

There are three ways Christ serves as our solution and the key to the restoration we need…

These are your three main points if you’re taking notes… You’ll find a brief outline in your bulletin…

Christ our Good Shepherd. — who cares for us in our suffering.

Christ our Mediator. — who reconciles us to God.

Christ our True Vine. — who is our only hope for restoration.

We’ll work through those three aspects of Christ in our time together this morning…

Christ Our Good Shepherd

— Who cares for us in our suffering…

Psalm 80:1–3 (NIV)

1 Hear us, Shepherd of Israel,

you who lead Joseph like a flock.

You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,

shine forth 2 before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh. (tribes of Israel)

Awaken your might;

come and save us.

3 Restore us, O God;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

As the Psalmist, Asaph, cries out to God, a number of things are revealed…

The Psalmist has faith. No one cries out to an empty room…Well, maybe some of us do sometimes. But, that’s not the point! The Psalmist clearly has faith that He is calling out to a God who is…

Real: he cries “hear us”! — meaning, Asaph knows and believes that God is there and able to hear.

Personal: He knows God, calling Him “Shepherd” and recalling how God is a Shepherd (He leads Israel “like a flock” of sheep). Asaph has the posture of a sheep and is addressing God as his Shepherd.

Supremely Authoritative: He declares that God’s posture is one of supreme and sovereign authority: “You who sit enthroned between the cherubim…”

The cherubim are heavenly beings, winged creatures in the seraphim and angel family.

Able: He knows what God is able to do… God is strong (“awaken Your might”) and God can save (“come and save us”!).

If we look at this prayer as a guide to our prayers, we learn to cry out to God aware of who He is, and in our cry out to Him, we worship Him.

If you’re taking notes, write this sentence down: “Let your prayer be worshipful.”

Honor the One you’re seeking. Honor Him… Worship Him… Love Him!

God is always worthy of worship despite our circumstances. Our circumstance does not change God’s status of the LORD who is worthy of all worship, honor, and glory.

When Jesus teaches us to pray in Matthew 6, remember how He begins?

Matthew 6:9 “9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.”

As we address God, we honor Him. When we do this, we’re assuming the correct posture before Him. The posture here is that we are sheep and God is our Shepherd…

A shepherd is someone who tends sheep. Sheep need a shepherd, otherwise they’re lost and aimless.

God uses the imagery of us being sheep all throughout the Bible. It’s an accurate description because we, like sheep, are lost and aimless without a shepherd.

It should make total sense here then, as this is a cry of desperation to God, that the Psalmist is addressing and recalling God as a Shepherd.

Notice too that the language in verse 1 is present tense… “…you who lead Joseph like a flock…”

Even in times of desperation and pain, God is still leading you.

Present tense. An active verb.

God “leads” Israel like a flock of sheep, and He leads you as one of His sheep.

A shepherd is one who tends, cares for, feeds, and guards his sheep.

Be comforted by that sweet picture…

Parents serve as this for their children… No matter how old they are…

When our son Judah had acid reflux at night and woke up constantly throughout the night, at times he has gasping for air… every night for 2 months mind you… As parents, we comforted and cared for Judah. He was an infant and things weren’t fully developed yet, so we just had to wait it out… It was going to resolve, but he needed to grow and develop… But, we cared for him in the midst of it. We were with him, and things were going to be OK. We held him and loved him through it.

Likewise, the tough circumstances we face in this life are evidence that things are not as they ought to be fully, but God will bring all things to fruition — to a perfect completion someday — because He is our Shepherd. He leads us, He guides us, He cares for us… He is preparing a place for us in Heaven with Him.

In this life, the journey of maturing is often painful, but the fruit that comes from it is beautiful.

Consider this quote from Joni Eareckson Tada (a paraplegic who has served the Lord faithfully and powerfully for decades)… She says "God permits what He hates in order to accomplish what He loves."

Yet, in the midst of it, God provides us with exactly what we need…

Christ Our Mediator

— Who reconciles us to God…

Psalm 80:4–7 (NIV)

4 How long, LORD God Almighty,

will your anger smolder

against the prayers of your people?

5 You have fed them with the bread of tears;

you have made them drink tears by the bowlful.

6 You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors,

and our enemies mock us.

7 Restore us, God Almighty;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

There seems to be a conflict here between the people and God, and — because of this conflict — Israel is suffering at the hands of their enemies.

Israel feels ignored by God (verses 4-5), and Israel is being mocked by the world (verse 6).

So, this causes us to wonder: How can God ignore our prayers? Doesn’t James 4:8 say “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you…”?

Yes, it does… and that is an amazing comfort… and I quote that verse all the time, I love it…

However, read the second half of James 4:8… “…Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

We’re given an amazing invitation to draw near to God with an amazing promise that He will, in turn, draw near to us… AND we need to examine ourselves.

The context of Psalm 80 is Israel being at war and getting destroyed by the Assyrians. God is allowing this to happen because of their idolatry and evil… They have turned from God. This doesn’t mean God has turned from them, but it does mean that God is allowing this to happen to them.

Why would God allow this to happen to them?

God is permitting evil to accomplish what He loves.

What does He love? His people turning to Him.

Israel has turned away from God to their idolatry and evil.

God is allowing this to happen to them so that they turn from their ways and return to Him.

Israel needs to examine themselves and return to God…

How do you need to examine yourself?

What might be keeping you from deeper intimacy with God?

1 Peter 3:7 “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

Husbands, are you loving your wives?

1 Peter 4:7 “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.”

I wish I had time to dig deeper into what self-controlled and sober-minded means, but consider for yourself deeply: Are you being self-controlled? Sober-minded?

There aren’t any addictions running your schedule?

Where is there idolatry in your heart?

Have you made comfort and ease an idol?

Are your children an idol?

Are sports an idol to you?

With it being summer and such, have you made vacation an idol?

It’s all you can think about and it’s what you’re putting your hope in to make you happy and solve all of your problems? Then, when you go on vacation you’re also actually taking a vacation from God too?

I find that’s the most difficult thing about vacation… you’re out of routine and what often suffers first is your daily time in prayer and in the Word.

Where is there pride in your heart?

When your prayer life lacks you’re really saying to God “Thanks for offer, God, but no thanks; I’ve got this one myself… I don’t need You.”

Or, you’re lacking belief that God answers prayer. If we really believed it, we would literally pray about everything!

Two verses after James tells us James 4:8 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” … He says — James 4:10 “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

True heart examination requires humility…

Part of the examination of our hearts is considering who or what we’re really putting our trust in…

Consider these “scary” words from Jesus…

Matthew 7:22–23 ESV

22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

The key to understanding this passage is that this person, being rejected by God on the day of Judgement, is relying on themselves and their works; not on God and His grace. They are justifying themselves by their works, pointing to what they have accomplished for God, rather than pointing to what Jesus Christ has done for them…

On Judgement Day, if you’re standing before God and He asks you why He should let you into heaven, there is only one correct way to answer that question… English/Grammar people — this answer must be in the third person, not the first person…

If your answer starts with “I”, it’s wrong. It’s not even “I had enough faith” or “I believe”. — because that points to you being “good enough”.

The answer is “Jesus Christ paid for my sin on the cross… by His wounds I have been healed.”

Grace, grace, God’s grace — grace that will pardon and cleanse within.

Grace, grace, God’s grace — grace that is greater than all our sin!

Christ serves as our Mediator for the problem of sin that separated us from God prior to salvation…

1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”

Jesus is the Bridge between God and man.

Jesus, our Mediator, makes us at peace with God, the Father. Praise the Lord!

Jesus Christ — our Good Shepherd and our Mediator — is our only hope for restoration… and that leads us to our last point…

Christ Our True Vine

— Who is our only hope for restoration…

Psalm 80:8–19 (NIV)

8 You transplanted a vine from Egypt;

you drove out the nations and planted it.

9 You cleared the ground for it,

and it took root and filled the land.

10 The mountains were covered with its shade,

the mighty cedars with its branches.

11 Its branches reached as far as the Sea,

its shoots as far as the River. 

12 Why have you broken down its walls

so that all who pass by pick its grapes?

13 Boars from the forest ravage it,

and insects from the fields feed on it.

14 Return to us, God Almighty!

Look down from heaven and see!

Watch over this vine,

15 the root your right hand has planted,

the son you have raised up for yourself.

16 Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire;

at your rebuke your people perish.

17 Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand,

the son of man you have raised up for yourself.

18 Then we will not turn away from you;

revive us, and we will call on your name.

19 Restore us, LORD God Almighty;

make your face shine on us,

that we may be saved.

The Psalmist, Asaph, is referring to Israel here as the “vine” and is now recalling of God’s provision in the past and desiring God’s provision and blessing to come… a desire to not see God’s work go to waste… a desire to see God’s Name be known…

Notice the language in verses 8 and 9…

God…

“transplanted” the vine.

“drove out the nations” and “planted” it.

“cleared” and caused it to take root and fill the land…

God is the Gardener. He is the One who plants and causes fruit to bear… And, God is the One who takes away, as what seems to have happened here… As Job cries in Job 1:21 “…The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.””

But in Romans 8:28–29 we see some perspective… “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”

He is working all things for good, and in the midst of the pain, God is conforming you into the imagine of His Son, Jesus. You are being made to be like Jesus.

Likewise, here, God is disciplining and shaping Israel. He is causing them to see their sin, be convicted of their sin, turn from their sin (repent), and pursue Him.

It’s working… Because they’re crying out to Him.

In your suffering, are you turning to God? The One who welcomes you with open arms?

Let us change the way we pray in the midst of suffering… instead of merely praying for comfort and healing (which is fine to pray), pray for your experience of suffering to drive you deeper into God’s Word, deeper into prayer, devotion, and communion with Him. God wants you to draw near to Himself. He will do what He needs to turn you back towards Him.

Just as a parent cares for their child, God, our Heavenly Father, cares for us. So much so, that He sent His Son, Jesus…

God has made a way for us to get to Him… by coming down to us through His Son, Jesus — who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

In contrast to Israel being a vine, Jesus Christ is the True Vine.

In John 15:5 Jesus says “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

Jesus is the Better Vine, He is the True Vine.

If you are a follower of Jesus, God has adopted you as a son or daughter, and we grow from the True and Better Vine, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Just as the first vine, Israel, was broken — Jesus, the True and Better Vine, was broken on our behalf.

But, of course we know, that He did not stay broken… on the Third Day He rose again — defeating sin and death forever! So now for all who put their hope and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:9 tells us “…if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

I often summarize the Gospel this way: “Christ came to pay a debt that He didn’t owe, because we owed a debt that we couldn’t pay.”

Praise God for His amazing grace!

Have you put your hope and trust in Him as Savior and Lord?

One last thought as we wrap up… (Conclusion)

Look at Psalm 80 as a whole and notice the refrain that’s repeated three times in verses 3, 7, and 19…

Psalm 80:3 (NIV) “Restore us, O God; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.”

Psalm 80:7 (NIV) “Restore us, God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.”

Psalm 80:19 (NIV) “Restore us, LORD God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.”

As the cry to God grows, it deepens in intimacy with The Lord…

The last address in verse 19 is God’s personal name: YAHWEH.

In the Old Testament when you see “LORD” (all capital letters) it is referring to God’s personal, specific Name, which is “YAHWEH”.

Think about this… God has given us His personal name… Not a generic name, but His personal Name that only belongs to Him…

He is a perfect Heavenly Father who desires to be close to His children…

Psalm 23:1–4 ESV

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me…

Notice this too… what’s the language of Psalm 23:4? — “Walking” in the “valley of the shadow of death”…

I don’t know about you, but if I’m walking in a “valley of the shadow of death”, I’m running! …right?!

When I was a kid and had to go in the basement at night, I made sure those lights were on… if those lights were off, it’s game over. The light switch was at the bottom of the stairs, so the walk down to the basement was scary enough because I was approaching a pitch-black basement, but then the walk back up the stairs? — that meant I had to turn the lights off to the basement, turn my back to the dark abyss of the basement, and then go upstairs… trust me, I would RUN up those stairs…

So, how can we walk through a pitch-black basement? Or, walk in the valley of the shadow of death?

— because YAHWEH is with us… There is power in His presence…

All throughout the Bible we see God calling us to “not fear” BECAUSE He is with us. To break the concept down: it’s a call of instruction (“do not fear”) followed up with the key to accomplish the command: His presence.

As we pray for restoration in our life and in our world — we long to see it — we seek Jesus who is our Good Shepherd, our Mediator, and our True Vine.

Ultimately, He will bring all things to a perfect restoration…

Revelation 21:1–4 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

We have hope in that day of final restoration…

Prayer

Lord, with the Psalmist, Asaph, we pray that You would restore us, Lord, make Your face shine on us that we may be saved. You are the Only Way. We pray that You would revive Your Church — to make Your Name known among the nations. That at the Name of Jesus every knee would bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord… For Your glory!

I pray, by the power of Your Spirit, Your blessing on the people of Oakbrook Church… the words of blessing from Numbers chapter 6… May You, Lord, bless and keep these brothers and sisters. May You make Your face to shine upon them and be gracious to them… Turn Your face towards them and give them Your peace, which always surpasses all of our understanding, in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And all God’s people agreed and said “Amen”.