Sermon for 7/24/22 "Revive Us Again!" 13 Minutes

Psalm 85

This morning I'll be reading Psalm 85 verses 1 through 13. And I'll be reading from the King James Version Bible. Psalm 85:1-13 This psalm is covering a time of restoration of Israel. A time that God was faithful to them and forgave them for their sins. Psalm 85 (KJV 1900) To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. 1 Lord, thou hast been Favourable 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. 9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; That glory may dwell in our land. 10 Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; And righteousness shall look down from heaven. 12 Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; And our land shall yield her increase. 13 Righteousness shall go before him; And shall set us in the way of his steps. God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday we looked at Luke 10:38-42 and we saw where we needed to answer the question,,, “Are We Distracted?”,,, and if we are,,, what must we do to fix the situation quickly.

We saw that Martha made the correct choice when she went to the Lord and asked Him to help her,,, even though she wasn’t actually asking the right question,,, she got the right answer!

Jesus told her,,, just as He will tell you,,, that,,, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”.

Don’t allow your distractions to get between you and God,,, no matter what they may be,,, or how important you think they may be,,, nothing is more important,,, than your relationship with God,,, and the time that you need,,, to make that relationship strong and vibrant today.

Answer the question honestly,,, “Are We Distracted?”,,, and then be sure that we do whatever needs to be done,,, to strengthen that relationship at that time.

Because,,, “Distractions”,,, even “Distractions” that we think are important at the time,,, can keep us from the “Kingdom of God” if we aren’t careful,,, and we don’t want that to happen.

So we must be sure that we are observant to our daily routine and watch for things that get in our way of God’s voice,,, and be sure that we can hear Him,,, without any “Distractions” between you,,, and God!

This morning we will look at these verses in Psalm 85 and see how they help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 1 through 3 say: 1 Lord, thou hast been Favourable 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.

This psalm begins with praise to God for restoring the nation.

This restoration shows us that God had forgiven and covered all their sins,,, and had set aside His wrath and anger.

Some scholars say this psalm was written in the early days of the exiles’ return from the Babylonian Captivity; but that seems hard to prove.

But,,, their view,,, does stress that the forgiveness of the nations’ sins ended God’s wrath and prompted His people’s return.

And for that they are praising God!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 4 through 7 say: 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.

The psalmist prayed that the Lord would again turn His wrath away and deliver them.

He wanted the Lord to put away His displeasure,,, and discontinue being angry.

Apparently the past restoration referred to in verses 1–3 inspired this prayer for another restoration.

Revived,,, they would again be able to rejoice and experience His unfailing love.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 8 and 9 say: 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. 9 Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; That glory may dwell in our land.

The psalmist said he would listen for word from the LORD who promises peace unto His people,,, and,,, to His … saints.

He gives salvation so that His glory may be evident in the land.

“Glory” means the manifestation of His presence.

These ideas expressed in God’s revelation to Israel find their ultimate fulfillment in Christ.

My Bible Knowledge Commentary says,,, this promise of peace and salvation through the glory of the One who dwells among men may have been in John’s mind when he wrote John 1:14.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 10 through 13 say: 10 Mercy and truth are met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth; And righteousness shall look down from heaven. 12 Yea, the Lord shall give that which is good; And our land shall yield her increase. 13 Righteousness shall go before him; And shall set us in the way of his steps.

Taken strictly by themselves,,, the two virtues Mercy and truth,,, may be regarded as unlikely mates.

Truth can be interpreted as a standard of rightness and factual preciseness that you couldn’t deviate from.

It can be pushed to rigidity and intolerance,,, so that a sinner caught in error,,, would feel like he would never have a chance at the judgment of God.

He might just give up.

But here,,, truth is wonderfully mellowed by being joined with mercy.

God is looking out for the wayward sinner at heart,,, and in freedom steps beyond the boundaries that rigidity would set up,,, in order to set the sinner free.

So,,, also,,, righteousness,,, as a legal term that stands for conformity to the law,,, is softened by the blessings of peace,,, which is harmony and well-being,,, and is regarded as the fruit of righteousness.

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In verse 11 the same thought is stated a bit differently.

Truth is depicted as a plant springing up out of the earth,,, and righteousness peering out of the portals of heaven.

All of these are good gifts of God,,, that cause the land to flourish.

None of these,,, are human products.

They are furnished by God as guideposts along a way.

The import of this message from God for the Israelites is clear.

Their present suffering did not mean that God was angry and had abandoned them.

God was very near and His gifts were many.

It was their privilege to draw near and partake of them.

----------------------------------------------------------- To be revived,,, requires seeking God’s forgiveness for the sins that we have committed.

When we do that,,, God is merciful,,, and will revive us,,, just as He did the Israelites in the Old Testament.

The Israelites made mistake after mistake,,, but God always forgave them,,, if they truly turned from their wicked ways.

God was always right there with them,,, waiting for them to turn back to Him.

He will do that for each of us as well.

God is the same as He was yesterday,,, today,,, and tomorrow,,, He never changes,,, so what He did in the past,,, He will do today,,, and in the future as well.

----------------------------------------------------------- Our country needs change,,, but that won’t happen unless we change as well.

Each one of us,,, individually.

Be sure that you are walking with God the way that you should,,, and if not,,, you must be able to humble yourselves like the Israelites and seek God’s forgiveness,,, so that we as the Christians of this nation can show everyone,,, by our actions,,, what needs to be done!

Then,,, just maybe,,, they will follow our example,,, and change,,, before it is too late.

God is waiting.

He is here with us.

But we must truly seek Him and His guidance going forward,,, as a nation together,,, if we want God to “Revive Us Again!”

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