Remember, Revival, Restoration

Call to Worship

Psalm 84 (ESV)

How lovely is your dwelling place,

O Lord of hosts!

2  My soul longs, yes, faints

for the courts of the Lord;

my heart and flesh sing for joy

to the living God.

3  Even the sparrow finds a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she may lay her young,

at your altars, O Lord of hosts,

my King and my God.

4  Blessed are those who dwell in your house,

ever singing your praise!

5  Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

in whose heart are the highways to Zion.

6  As they go through the Valley of Baca

they make it a place of springs;

the early rain also covers it with pools.

7  They go from strength to strength;

each one appears before God in Zion.

8  O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer;

give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah

9  Behold our shield, O God;

look on the face of your anointed!

10  For a day in your courts is better

than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God

than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

11  For the Lord God is a sun and shield;

the Lord bestows favor and honor.

No good thing does he withhold

from those who walk uprightly.

12  O Lord of hosts,

blessed is the one who trusts in you!

Pray

Assurance of Pardon-(if nothing written out use this)

The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting, I declare to you in the name of Jesus X that you are in Him forgiven. May the God of mercy who forgives you all of your sins strengthen you in all goodness and by the power of the HS keep you in eternal life-Amen

Pastoral Prayer- end w/ Lord’s prayer-Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be thy name, they kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory Amen

Introduction

Big Idea: Ps. 85 shows us the proper mindset for approaching life: Remember where we have come from, Ask for revival, Hope for God’s future kingdom.

Turn to Ps. 85.

Mindset/perspective ill.

See this morning that

BI: Ps. 85 shows us the proper mindset for approaching life: Remember where we have come from, Ask for revival, Hope for God’s future kingdom.

vs. 1-3 the Psalmist begins by:

1. Remembering past deliverance (vs. 1-3)

Read 1-3

Historical context is unclear. What is clear, the psalmist is remembering how God has delivered them in the past. Could be from babylonian exile, could be from occupation by a foreign power (possibly the Philistines). Text doesn’t make what they were delivered from clear, but the historical context isn’t the point.

The point is that the psalmist begins by remembering that God has delivered them in the past. God showed them favor, he restored their fortunes, He forgave & covered their sin, withdrew His anger.

In doing this the Psalmist is simply practicing something that God repeatedly told his people to do throughout the OT. Remember what He had done-created festivals-Passover-specifically for that purpose. He knows that we are forgetful people & to follow HIm today, need to remember where we came from what He has done for us & in us in the past.

Golf Balls.

Remember how God has worked, what He has delivered you from, how He has blessed you. How He has saved you. Remember.

2. Cry for present Revival (vs. 4-7)

Read vs. 4-7

Shift from the past to the present

Prayer for God to once again deliver-we’ve seen you do it in the past, please do it again

Asking Him for salvation, restoration, revival

As part of his request the psalmist appeals to God’s character-specifically his “steadfast love”

Hebrew word hesed-translated a few different ways in the OT-lovingkindness, faithfulness, loyal love, goodness, compassion,

When God appeared to Moses in Exodus & described Himself twice in that description he uses the word hesed

Exodus 34:6–7 (ESV)

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love (hesed) and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love(hesed) for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

The psalmist is appealing to God’s character-God this is how you described yourself-steadfast love-so please, to take action-put your love into action God & deliver us

But even more than just a prayer for deliverance, a prayer for revival

an acknowledgement that we can not bring about our own deliverance, our own revival, it must be the work of God is us-

Finally- we have a...

3. Hope for future Restoration (vs. 8-13)

Read vs. 8-13

shift in tense again-past, present to future

He will speak…the Lord will give what is good…Righteousness will go before Him.

Psalmist is looking to the future, the coming kingdom of God, when there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

God’s steadfast love (hesed) & our faithfulness will meet

God’s righteousness will meet the peace (shalom) that he has created us for.