Restore Our Joy in You: A Prayer for God-Centered Revival

0:00 Last week, we were doing some work on our basement, the basement bathroom in particular. We were getting ready to host a family of seven. We have five in our family. Getting ready to host a family of seven whom we love very dearly for the very first time. But a couple of days before the family flew in, we were putting some final touches on the bathroom, paint, installing a nice vintage mirror that Faye thrifted, a couple of cute shelves.

0:32 When my wife noticed that the mat in front of our kitchen sink was unusually wet. like not the four-year-old spilled her water kind of wet but wetter than that but we hoped it was just the four-year-old so we hung the mat out it dried we put it we put it down again that night and went to bed this was a little like the time that Gideon put out the fleece and asked God to make it wet and then when it was wet asked to make it dry, except our fleece was just wet all the time.

1:10 So the next morning, the same thing, and we notice now that our flooring was swelling and warping. We're dead tired from all the work that we've done downstairs. Our seven guests come in 24 hours, and now we have water coming from we know not where.

1:30 We now know where. Some combination of a dysfunctional dishwasher and a badly, really badly configured drain pipe. They ultimately had to rip out the floor and the sink and part of the wall, the pipe, the dishwasher, a number of our cabinets, and a few pieces of our hearts in the process. So as you might imagine, the seagulls have had some low moments over the last weeks. Tired moments, discouraged moments, wrestling with God moments. Now to be clear, this kind of low that we have been experiencing, it's light and it's momentary compared with what some of you are bearing. And I know because we've prayed for you, even in the last couple of days.

2:31 Our low has been light and momentary, but we've had our low moments, and I'm sharing about them now with you because I was stumbling through them while I was preparing to preach these verses to you, and they ministered to me deeply. And as they ministered to me, I prayed for you." Because we all have low moments of various kinds and so we're all regularly in need of reviving. And that's the kind of prayer we're looking at this morning. And while the low moment for Israel, which we'll talk about in a moment, while the low moment for Israel was a severe judgment, likely exile, this really is a psalm and a prayer for all of our low moments in the Lord. We're going to look first at our need for revival, then at our hope for revival, and lastly at the fruit of revival.

3:35 Need, hope, and fruit. So let me pray and ask God to awaken and strengthen us this morning through these verses. Heavenly Father, I now pray what we just sang in that favorite song, Jesus Paid It All. We are weak and in need of strength. Our strength is small. For some of us this morning, it's barely discernible. And so we come to you because you said that in me, through Christ, you will find your all in all. Everything we need, everything that would satisfy the longings in our heart, we're gonna find in you.

4:29 And you've given us Psalm 85. And it's profitable. It's profitable for teaching, for correction, for reproof, for training in righteousness. It's profitable for reviving. So whatever we need this morning, we pray that you would now speak through your word and do it, and do more than we think we need. By your Spirit, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. Like I mentioned, the central prayer of Psalm 85, I believe, is this prayer for revival, for restoration, and I get that from verses 4 through 6. Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us. Will you be angry with us forever?

5:26 Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? Israel, we see throughout the Old Testament experience these cycles. God would show up with stunning mercy and rescue them from their enemies like he did in Egypt and at the Red Sea and then dozens of times after that. and then they would inevitably grow comfortable and complacent and they'd return back to the idols that they had worshiped the sins that they would not leave behind and then God would judge them to humble them and to lead them back to repentance and that's where we find them here praying in another valley of judgment and they're tasting God's anger because they've sinned against him again. And they know they've sinned against him. We'll see that.

6:27 And they're tasting God's anger because God will do whatever he has to do to wake his people up and bring them home to him, even if that means exile. and now they've woken up and they've come to their senses, at least these sons of Korah have, the ones who wrote this psalm, and so they pray, restore us again, O God, revive us, and I just want you to see that there's remarkable faith and prayer, faith and power in a prayer like that. They could have just prayed, we know we've sinned against you, so forgive us, comfort us, let us back into the land again.

7:15 But no, they pray, revive us, restore us, literally turn and give us life is what the prayer is here. Do something inside of us that we can't do ourselves. Awaken our weak and wandering faith. Burn away whatever's keeping us from you. Stir our hearts into flame again. Start a revival right here between our lungs. And they asked him to do something like that, something impossible like that, because they knew that he works these kinds of miracles in human hearts. He's not just sovereign over forests and thunderstorms and elections. No, he's sovereign over fears and feelings and faith.

8:18 The Apostle Paul, he knew this about God, and he had a painfully low moment. I wonder if you've ever felt what he describes here. And he says in 2 Corinthians 1, 8 and 9, we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. It's pretty low.

8:40 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. The God over our low moments is a God who can raise the dead. Of course he can get you through this. Of course he can revive your dull and struggling heart. He raises the dead. So pray bigger prayers, prayers like this one. Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? Revive my sleepy heart.

9:36 Revive my aching heart. Revive my wayward heart. Now, before I go on to say more about this reviving God and the hope that we have in him, the question that I wrestled with more than any other one this week was whether we should still pray verses four and five. restore us again oh god of our salvation put away your indignation toward us will you be angry with us forever will you prolong your anger to all generations will you not revive us again my question has been does god still get angry with us like that?

10:29 Should we pray like that? When we go through low moments in faith, moments of serious trial or doubt or temptation, is God angry with us? And there's three things I want to say to you. First, if you believe in Jesus, if you've been saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, there is therefore now no condemnation for you. Your days of wrath have ended. Thank you. God has already put away his wrath and indignation once for all by crushing his son for you.

11:29 We don't have to wake up and wonder if we're going to live under wrath today. No, he paid it all. If we belong to Jesus and live in Him by faith, we're living all day, every day under the Father's grace and mercy and love. He's not angry with you anymore like this. I hope you can believe that. Now that's not to say that our sin doesn't displease Him. It does. And this is the second thing to say here. Even beloved, forgiven, no condemnation children of God can grieve the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4 verse 30. And so God still disciplines us.

12:24 Hebrews 12. He disciplines us like any good father would, and that discipline is often painful. We just heard Paul say, I feel like I've received the sentence of death, and yet no wrath in that. Just the father's love helping him, reminding him to rely on his father's love and strength and care.

12:54 The discipline is often very painful, but that pain is never wrath. It's fatherly love. It's not punishment. It's a keeping pain, a refining pain. Our low moments in Christ are all acts of love meant to lead us to more of Christ. That being said, and this is the third thing, if you're here this morning and you're knowingly persisting in unrepentant sin,

13:36 verses like these should make you tremble. unrepentant sin makes him very angry. It fills him with righteous, violent wrath.

13:56 Righteous. Israel's exile was this, was an awful judgment, and we read about it all through the Old Testament. We've read a lot about it this summer in the Psalms. It was an awful judgment against their unbelief. And now here in Psalm 85 for us this morning, it's a merciful warning to us about what happens when we won't walk away from sin. I want you to walk away from that sin. those who are his will never taste his wrath again. Never. But those who pretend to be his while continuing in sin, they have every reason to fear. You have every reason to fear.

14:53 So if that's you, you should pray, Put away your indignation toward me. Will you be angry with me forever? No, give me faith to finally believe and repent and walk in the light. Give me eyes to see Jesus for who he is, Lord, Savior, and treasure. A treasure far more valuable and satisfying than anything sin has ever done for me. Give me courage to finally put my sin to death and walk away. Revive me, O Lord. So, we've now heard this prayer for revival in Psalm 85, and we felt Israel's desperate need for revival and our desperate need for revival, and continually, regularly, we're needing revival.

15:54 The Israelites are languishing, probably in exile, they're languishing spiritually, relationally, emotionally. They're feeling the consequences of God's anger. And again, they know that he's right to be angry with them. So what can they say to him? What can they possibly say to the God whom they've sinned against again? They have nowhere to stand. nowhere as we see in verses six and seven nowhere but his mercy show us your steadfast love oh lord and grant us your salvation let me hear what god the lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints. We know how wicked we've been.

16:56 We know we don't deserve your forgiveness and comfort, but we're asking for it anyway because we know who you are. You're the God of steadfast love. You're the saving God. That's who you are. And so even while our lives are anything but peaceful, even while the wars wage around us and our enemies get the upper hand and make our lives miserable, even then we're We're going to trust that you're going to speak peace to your people, to your saints, even now. And where does that confidence come from? They can have this kind of confidence despite how far they've strayed from God and how much they deserve His judgment. They can have this confidence because this God has revealed Himself to be a certain kind of God.

17:55 Exodus 34, verses 6 and 7, and we hear these verses all through Psalm 85. The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. He doesn't have to be that way with sinners. Do you know that? he would have been totally just to just wipe us all out because of our sin but that's not who he is even when he was obviously angry with Israel and again he was right to be angry even then the psalmist know him enough to know that he would speak mercy again over them to those who were truly his. And they knew this in part because they had watched him do it so many times before. This is verses one through three. Watch them look back. Lord, you were favorable to your land. You restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people. You covered all their sin. You withdrew all your wrath. You turned away from your hot anger. You restored, you forgave, you covered, you withdrew, you turned away. In other words, we're not asking you to do for us something that you haven't already done for us. And we're not asking you to be anyone than who you've always been for us, even before us, before the foundation of the world.

19:50 This is who you are, and this is what you've done. And now when we look back on our past, we go looking for mercy and for hope, we have so much more to say than they did, don't we? Our past is so much better than theirs. Do you see that? they could remember what God did in Egypt and the wilderness and Canaan but we have Bethlehem and Calvary if we're going to pray like this we get to pray Jesus you came into the world and were born in a manger you were obedient to the point of death even death on a cross you were pierced for our transgressions. You were crushed for our iniquities. You were wounded so that we might be healed. You became poor so that we might become rich. You suffered the righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God. And then three days later, you rose, conquered death to give us life.

21:14 the sons of Korah couldn't say that yet. So they said, you restored, you forgave, you covered. They would have died to pray the prayers that we get to pray. The prayers we pray every day in Jesus' name. And yet some of you, you still doubt God's mercy. you don't want to doubt it. And you might not even admit that you doubt it, but you doubt it. You don't want to feel all the guilt and the shame that you carry around with you. And yet for a hundred different reasons, in your mind, in your story, in your family, for a hundred reasons, it's just so hard to believe that he could really be this way.

22:19 I hope this prayer, it makes that kind of mercy feel possible again. That's what I've prayed for you. Israel had utterly rejected God for the millionth time, and they knew that they deserved what they were suffering, and they still knew that God would be merciful to them. even now you will speak peace to your people. And I hear God, I hear him leaning in through these verses to say to some of you, beloved, how much more do I have to do to prove my mercy to you? God loves to revive the undeserving. Yes, even you, because he loves to show mercy.

23:14 It's who he is. We've looked now at the need for revival then and now. We've looked at our hope for revival, this merciful God who can raise the dead and of course revive weak and struggling hearts. With the time we have left, I'm going to look briefly at three fruits of this kind of revival. When God works this kind of spiritual life and resolve in a people, what happens next? And I see at least three great fruits in this Psalm. First, this kind of revival, it fuels our joy. It fuels our joy. This is a pretty wild way for sinners to pray. God, we're suffering right now because you're angry with us, and you're right to be angry with us because we've rebelled against you blatantly and persistently, but we're asking you to forgive us anyway, and not just to forgive us, but to make us really, really happy.

24:27 Can you believe that? will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you how can they pray like that how can they sin like they have and then turn around and ask for joy it's because they know that God wants them to be happy.

24:57 That's the only way to make sense of this verse. We believe that you'll be willing to revive us again, despite how many times we've sinned against you, because we know you want us to rejoice in you. That's why. And he does. That's the kind of God we have. Do you know him?

25:22 It's literally too good to be true, but the holy God of the universe, the God that we've sinned against in Christ is personally, sovereignly, and eternally invested in your happiness. Has anyone known a God like this? He doesn't just want an obedient people. He's not just looking for slaves who will do exactly what he tells them to do. No, he wants his people to be as happy as humanly possible in him. and notice that's how they pray they pray specifically for a joy in God will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you he's the joy in other words this isn't the kind of rejoicing that we did when the plumber fixed our leak this week don't get me wrong we were all kinds of happy when there wasn't wetness in front of our kitchen sink anymore. And we were thankful, very thankful for dear William and the good work that he did. But this is a different kind of rejoicing. Yes, God promises to provide relief and establish peace for his people, but they don't only rejoice in him for what he does for them. No, he is their exceeding joy. And this is what we saw last week in Psalm 84. How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts. My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord. That's what I want. My heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

27:25 find the best circumstances in the most beautiful place on earth with your very best friends and these guys they a thousand times would rather be with God happiness as pastor Jonathan reminded us it's getting to be with Jesus And that's what Jesus himself says, John 15, 11, these things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be full. In other words, I want you to be as happy as humanly possible. Joy to the full, like I am. So as we pray for God to revive us, we're looking for more than relief from suffering. We want more than that.

28:24 We're looking for more than just reconciliation in that painful relationship. We're looking for more than just freedom from temptation. No, we want greater, fuller joy in this God. but joy isn't the only fruit of this God-right revival. There's a second fruit, and it's hiding in verse 8. I want you to see it. 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.

29:06 Restore us, O Lord, and then don't let us turn away from you again. The root Hebrew word for turn back is actually used several times throughout the psalm. The Hebrew listeners would have heard it again and again. You restored, same word, the fortunes, verse 1. You turned, verse 3, from anger. Restore us again, verse 4. Will you not revive us again, verse 7, turn back and give us life. And then verse 8, and again they would have heard this. but let them not turn back to folly. You have turned in the past and restored us. We're asking you to turn back now and give us life, and then don't let us turn back to our sin. This is the second fruit. It's our faithfulness to God is the second fruit of this revival. And again, this is just how far this mercy reaches.

30:06 He not only forgives us and satisfies us in Christ, but he also keeps us. And he works obedience in us. He keeps us faithful. So where in your life this morning, where are you being lured back into folly? What besetting sins tempt you to turn away from this stunning mercy? Ask God for a revival with resolve. A resolve to reject all the temptations of folly and to embrace gladly all that this God has commanded you to do with this short life that you have before glory.

31:05 And that leads to our third fruit, glory. When God revives us like this, we experience greater joy in Him, and we turn away from folly, from sin and temptation to greater faithfulness, and so His glory fills the land.

31:29 These are the three great fruits I see here. Our joy, our faithfulness, and His glory. And I see this in verses 8 and 9. This may have been the most encouraging thing I saw all week. Again, 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. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. What does that mean?

32:04 If God gives this kind of revival and unleashes this kind of joy in us, how would glory dwell All in our land. What were the sons of Korah imagining when they prayed this? There's no indication here, at least that I can see, that they were at all or mainly thinking of pillars of fire or mountains of smoke. God had shown His glory to them in those ways in the past. No, I think they're mainly imagining God's glory in and among the people.

32:44 They're thinking of all the evidences of his presence and power in their relationships, in their families, in their neighborhoods and workplaces, in their worship. God will be glorified in a land when his people live out their faith in obedience with joy revive us again will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you and that glory may dwell in our land because when your people are satisfied in all that you are for us in Christ you look really great you get the glory and this is what we want to happen in these cities. We want this to happen all over the world. We want this glory to fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. It's a sensitive picture for us in our home, but this is what we want. We want glory streaming down and swelling up to fill everything we see and know, and that happens according to this psalm and a hundred other texts, it happens through our faith-filled rejoicing in Him. This is how God spreads His glory in all the earth. It's through your rejoicing in Him.

34:13 When the sons of Korah kneel down to ask for mercy and revival and glory, they sing one of the most beautiful pictures in all of Scripture, and it comes in verse 10. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet. Righteousness and peace kiss each other.

34:37 It's beautiful because it's scandalous. When it comes to sinners, sinners like you and me, how can righteousness and peace ever meet? Much less kiss. God is perfectly righteous. He never does wrong, excuses wrong, or overlooks wrong. Holy, holy, holy.

35:09 And we've all sinned, even this week. We just confessed it, even this morning. And any sin, even just one, against a God that's this holy, deserves the fullness of His wrath in hell forever.

35:34 It would be evil for God to simply just speak peace over our wickedness. And this brings us to the table. righteousness and peace, they meet for sinners in Jesus. They come together like two massive beings at the cross. And they don't just meet, they don't just reluctantly work together, agree to work together for a couple of years. No, they kiss. There's no tension or distance between these two in this God and this gospel. No, in this gospel message, in this Christ whom we worship, our Savior, the justice of God is satisfied, the mercy of God is purchased, and so God can speak peace over us despite what we deserve.

36:37 He can speak peace over sinners like me. Justice and mercy they kiss for all who believe beneath the broken body and poured out blood of Jesus. Because of Jesus, God's not angry with you anymore. He stands ready to forgive you, to revive you, and to fill your hearts to bursting with joy in Him. Let me pray. Heavenly Father, we come again this morning and we pray, will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? And as we pray, asking for all of your power to work in all of our weakness and awaken all the things that have become dull or distracted or bored with you, as we pray that, we look back to the cross. Jesus paid it all. Help us to believe it. And then you've demonstrated your mercy to us a thousand more times since then. So we look back and we say, this is who you are, the God of steadfast love, the merciful God, the saving God, we're asking you to do what you have always done for your people. And we're asking for you to do it now. And then we're asking for you to do it all over the earth. Fill the earth with your glory by satisfying the nations with yourself, including us. And we pray this in Jesus' name.