Wilt thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee?

LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 27 JUNE 2021

PSALM 85 verse 6 "Wilt thou not revive us again that thy people may rejoice in thee?"

This is a Psalm to the Chief Musician for the Sons of Korah.  The Sons of Korah stem from the priestly tribe of the Levites in the Old Testament.  They were responsible mainly for the music that was written and sung in the temple.  Notice the depth of the Psalmist's heart.

Notice the Psalmist is concerned about the spiritual condition.  This is a person who is taking stock, is stopped in his tracks.  He is looking around him.  He sees the spiritual condition the people are in.  He is considering the past through to the present day.  Verse 1 "Lord thou hast been favourable unto thy land."  Now he sees a land where the people have gone astray, are careless and cold.  They have allowed the enemy to come in.  "Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob, thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah"  That word "selah" signifies a pause in the song.  It is there to help people reflect, meditate, to take stock.  Surely that is a good thing.  The old enemy discourages us when nothing is happening, when nothing is seen to be done.  But it is a good thing to remind ourselves what God has done.  Don't we see the same in our land today?   Our land has been so favoured of God.  When we think of men like Whitfield and the Wesley's and Nicholson.  God has been favourable to this land when he sent men to preach the word and others to be prayer warriors.  That God would move in a mighty way.  Our prayer today should be "wilt thou not revive us again."  Before the revival in Ulster one preacher said "we were dead, we were cold, deplorable.  Even when we tried to set up prayer meetings in our church we were met with hostility."  Another said "I preached for 11 years and never saw one soul saved."  Another said "the spiritual state was hopeless."  When we think of the established churches today it is more a social club than a spiritual battleground.  The Psalmist has seen God's favour and blessing in past days.  As we think of the many who were used by God in past days it will not suffice in this day.  We have got to cry to God today.  The Psalmist is speaking of the time when Israel was in rebellion, when Cyrus was raised up by God to bring the people back to Jerusalem.  When Nehemiah inquired about the state of the people and the city of Jerusalem itself he was told the walls had broken down, the gates of the city were crushed and the people scattered.  Nehemiah as a result of hearing those words got before God and wept.  At one time when the people did return they started to build the temple but then all of a sudden the work stopped.  The people got careless and left off building the house of God to go and build their own houses.  They made excuses stating it was not the right time to build the Lord's house.  Maybe it is the same thing with ourselves.  Maybe we have got complacent of it all.  We can read all about Whitefield and Nicholson, quote them but we need to get into their shoes.  God has been good to us, given us blessing through the greatest preachers and prayer warriors but now the church is deserted, the Lord's day means nothing, the bible is not read any more - we need to be concerned about all of this!

The psalmist now considers what is needed.  He asks "wilt thou not revive us again".  What the nation needs rests with the Lord.  What the church of Jesus Christ needs rests with the Lord.  After the people returned to Jerusalem the foundations of the temple were laid.  It was a great day of rejoicing but then the coldness set in.  Other things began to take prominence.  The warning came - "consider thy ways."  We see that in our day.  We start off with great diligence then carelessness and coldness set in.  We lose respect for the word of God.  "I will stand upon my watch and set me upon the tower and will watch to see what he will say unto me and what I shall answer when I am reproved." (Habakkuk 2 verse 1)."  He begins to consider all and says "we need the Lord."  Duncan Campbell was booked to preach at the Bangor Convention.  The Chairman leading the meeting sat down beside him and Duncan told him he couldn't stay any longer.  The conviction came on him in the pulpit that he must go to the Hebrides.  He walked away from the Convention and landed in the Hebrides.  One man had been praying, felt God telling him that revival would come.  He went ahead and booked a meeting for Duncan to speak at.  When Duncan arrived he told him that revival didn't come from him but from the Lord.  That is what we need - what great advice for us today.  Some times we think the answer is a gospel mission with a big named evangelist but that is not revival.  that is a man made attraction.  Remember when the disciples were in the boat as they sailed across the lake.  A storm arose and they went searching for Jesus.  He was sound asleep.  He asked them "where is your faith?"  He criticised the disciples but there is another aspect to the disciples - they looked to the Lord when they were in a crisis.  They realised they could do nothing in themselves.  They sought the Lord to help them.  We have no solutions or answers in ourselves.  The answer is with God.  Not more campaigns or reading books on revival but it is of God.

The cry that is made.  This man was concerned about the spiritual conditions of his people.  He came to one conclusion and he cried "wilt thou not revive us again."  This was not lip service but heartfelt.  A burden to cry unto the Lord.  If we only got to that same point again our prayer meeting rooms would be full to overflowing.  This man realised that he needed revival for himself as much as the people around him.  When Nehemiah thought of the state of Jerusalem, how the walls were broken and the gates burned with the people scattered careless and cold he wept certain days.  Such was the burden in his heart.  When Duncan Campbell went to the Hebrides he met the Smith sisters, one was 86 and the other 84 years of age.  They were riddled with arthritis and one was blind but they prayed day and night for revival.  When Duncan Campbell met in an old barn with the people of that area one man read from Psalm 24 "who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity nor sworn deceitfully." The man went on to say "I know, I believe it is humbug for us to pray like this, to wait before God like this if we are not right before God ourselves.  Have I turned my heart to God?  Are my hands clean?  Is my heart pure?"  The people recorded that God came in mighty power that evening.  Nehemiah did not just pray for the wrongs of others.  He didn't say it was everyone else's problem.  He sat down and confessed the sin of the nation.  He included himself.  Revival begins in each of our hearts, not just looking at someone else not living up to what they should be.  Revival begins with me.  "For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty and floods upon the dry ground.  I will pour my spirit upon thy seed and my blessing upon thine offspring."  (Isaiah 44 verse 3)

The crown that he looked for - "that thy people may rejoice in thee."  In Acts 13 verse 51 we read "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost".  In Nehemiah's day they said "the joy of the Lord is your strength." (Nehemiah 8 verse 10)