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Psalm 85:1-13

INTRODUCTION: It’s the first Sunday of the new year, and I thought it would be good to spend some time in this psalm today. This is a psalm that especially stood out to me during my Bible reading this past year, and I began to jot down notes on it right away.

It’s a psalm that has to do with revival, and the new year is a good time to think about such things. The new year is all about new beginnings and fresh starts, and so is revival.

Psalm 85 first gives us God’s formula for revival and then gives us a picture of what revival actually looks like. So, let’s start at the ending by reading this beautiful description of revival that God gives us at the end of the psalm. (Read Psalm 85:10-13 and pray)

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What if we found the cure for cancer, and no one bothered to use it? What if we discovered the fountain of youth and no one bothered to drink? What if God gave us the formula for revival, and we never followed the steps laid out for us?

Oh, wait a minute. That one’s actually real. God has given us the formula for revival, but how often do we follow the steps he has shown us in his word? How often do we long for the beautiful description of revival we just read at the end of this psalm?

Revival is what you need. Revival is what the church needs. Revival is what this world needs. God longs to give that which is good, but we must follow his blueprint. So, let’s look at the steps that God has laid out for us in this psalm.

I. Look to God’s mercies in the past (1-3)

First, the psalm encourages us to look to God’s mercies in the past. Look at verses 1-3 with me now:

You showed favor to your land, O LORD; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people and covered all their sins. [Selah] You set aside all your wrath and turned from your fierce anger. (Ps. 85:1-3)

These verses describe six actions by God—all of them completed actions in the past. God showed favor, restored fortunes, forgave iniquity, covered sins, set aside wrath and turned from anger. Revival begins by looking at what God has already done for us in the past.

Technically, you cannot revive something that has not already experienced life. Revival is not bringing something to life for the first time but rather bringing back to life something that has experienced decline.

And so, revival is something God does for believers in the church. Revival is something God does for us. Although revival often involves new people coming to Christ, that only happens because God revives his people first. And the first step towards revival is looking to God’s mercies in the past.

The psalm directs our attention to three examples of God’s mercies in the past. 1) God has shown favor. 2) God has forgiven sin. 3) God has set aside wrath.

   A. God has shown favor (1)

First, God has shown favor: “You showed favor to your land, O LORD; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.” In the context of this psalm, this is possibly a reference to God restoring his people to the land of Israel following the exile. Did Israel deserve to be restored to the land? Absolutely not. They deserved the exile! They had rebelled against God. They had broken his laws. They had worshiped other gods. God had only given them what they deserved.

We’re no different. We also rebelled against God in the past. We broke God’s laws. We worshiped gods of our own choosing. And yet God showed us favor. He sent his Son to die on the cross for our sins. He sent someone to share the gospel with us. He drew us to himself, and we believed in Christ.

Did we deserve any of these blessings? Absolutely not! We were sinners, and we only deserved condemnation for our sins. But the Bible says: “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). We didn’t deserve any of these blessings, but God showed us favor. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

   B. God has forgiven sin [pause and reflect!] (2)

Secondly, God has forgiven sin. This is such a big one that the writers of the psalm inserted a selah into the text. A selah is a musical pause or interlude directing you to stop and reflect on what has just been said. Forgiveness of sin is such an amazing mercy of God that it should stop you in your tracks. If you were playing this psalm on your music player, it should cause you to hit pause just to reflect on God’s goodness in forgiving you.

God forgave your iniquity. The word for iniquity in this verse is a word that speaks of our guilt before God. The word translated “forgave” is a word that means lifted away. You were guilty as sin, but God lifted your guilt and took it far away from you.

God covered all your sins. The word translated “covered” relates to the idea of atonement or covering over sins. As sinners, we all missed the mark and fell short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23), but God has covered over all our sins through the atoning sacrifice of his Son.

There is no greater mercy we can receive from God than the forgiveness of our sins. And so, the psalmist instructs us to pause and reflect on this great mercy.

   C. God has set aside wrath (3)

And then thirdly, God has set aside wrath. We didn’t deserve God’s grace and forgiveness. We deserved God’s just condemnation and wrath. But God set aside his wrath, and he turned from his fierce anger.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1). “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Christ’s sacrifice on the cross covered over all our sins and removed God’s wrath from us forever.

1) God has shown favor. 2) God has forgiven sin. 3) God has set aside wrath. All three of these actions are due to God’s mercy rather than our good works or merit. When seeking revival, the first step is to look to God’s mercies in the past. In seeking new mercies from God, we don’t base it on merit, and we don’t want to take any of God’s past mercies for granted.

II. Pray for revival in the present (4-7)

Secondly, the psalm encourages us to pray for revival in the present. Jonathan Edwards wrote: “When God has something very great for His church, it is His will that there should precede it the extraordinary prayers of His people.” Revival is always preceded by prayer. And not just prayer, but extraordinary, heartfelt, sustained prayer. There is no revival without prayer, and so after we look to God’s mercies in the past, we are to pray for revival in the present.

There is a spiritual irony here, because in many ways prayer for revival is a sign that revival has already begun. We wouldn’t be praying for revival if God had not already directed our attention to the importance of revival and put the desire for revival in our hearts. Prayer for revival is revival in seed form. It’s not full-blown revival yet, but nothing grows without a seed, and the seed is part and parcel of the living organism to come.

So, what do we pray for? The psalm gives us three prayers. We pray for restoration, revival and deliverance from sin. Look at verses 4-7:

Restore us again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation. (Ps. 85:4-7)

   A. Restore us – put away your displeasure (4-5)

First, we pray for restoration. “Restore us again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations?”

The word translated “restore” in this verse is the Hebrew word for “turn” (shuv). When you first come to Christ, you turn from your sins in repentance and turn to God through faith in Christ. Revival is similar in action. The reason you need revival is because you have taken your eyes off Christ and turned them back to the world. The reason the church needs revival is because the church has taken its eyes off Christ and turned them back to the world.

And so, this prayer of restoration is that God would turn us back to him once again. We begin our prayer for revival with an attitude of repentance. We acknowledge God’s displeasure for sin, and we turn once again from our sin as we fix our eyes on Jesus.

   B. Revive us – that we may rejoice in you (6)

Secondly, we pray for revival. The psalmist prays: “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” That phrase “revive us again” has that same Hebrew word for “turn” in it again. The phrase literally reads, “Will you not turn and revive us?” And so, when we pray for revival, we are not only praying that God would turn us back to him, but that God would also turn towards us and bring the revival we so desperately need.

This is now the fourth time the word “turn” has appeared in the psalm. It appears in verse one in the phrase, “You restored the fortunes of Jacob.” It appears in verse three in the phrase, “You turned from your fierce anger.” It appears in verse four in the phrase, “Restore us again.” And now it appears again in verse six in: “Revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you.”

Revival always leads to joy in the Lord, because revival brings a new focus on the Lord and a new delight in the Lord. The whole reason we need revival is because we have lost our focus on God. We have gotten wrapped up in the world all over again. In revival we come back to the Lord Jesus as our first love and dearest treasure.

   C. Show us your unfailing love – grant us your salvation (7)

So, we pray for restoration. We pray for revival. And then thirdly, we pray for deliverance from sin. The psalmist writes: “Show us your unfailing love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.” The word translated “unfailing love” is the Hebrew word hesed. Hesed is one of the most beautiful words in the Old Testament, right up there with shalom—or agape or koinonia in the New Testament. It is a word that speaks of God’s covenant faithfulness and love for his people.

And so, as we pray for God’s salvation, for God’s deliverance from sin and from the things of this world, we base our prayers not on our merit but on God’s unfailing love. Just as we looked back to God’s mercies in step one, so we also look to God’s mercies in step two. Mercy, not merit, is the heartbeat of prayer that God honors and rewards.

III. Make appropriate commitments to God for the future (8-9)

What is God’s formula for revival? 1) Look to God’s mercies in the past. 2) Pray for revival in the present. And then 3) Make appropriate commitments to God for the future. Anyone can pray, but how serious are you when you pray? Do you really want revival? Do you really want change? Do you really want to focus on the Lord rather than the things of this world?

It’s important that you don’t just pray for revival. You need to back up your prayers with appropriate commitments for the future, so when revival comes, you will be ready. You don’t want to be like the surfer who prays for a big wave and then runs the other way when he sees it coming!

So, what are some of these commitments? Look at verses 8-9 next:

I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints—but let them not return to folly. Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land. (Ps. 85:8-9)

We find three commitments in these verses that you should make when praying for revival.

   A. Commitment to listen to the Lord (8a)

First, you should make the commitment to listen to the Lord. Charles Spurgeon comments: “When we believe that God hears us, it is but natural that we should be eager to hear Him.”

Listening to God includes reading and heeding his word. Prayer and Bible reading go together. In prayer we talk to God; in the Bible God talks to us.

But listening involves more than just reading his word. We read with the intention to hear and obey. Think about the parent who keeps telling their child to clean their room. When the child fails to obey, the parent tells them: “You need to listen to me.” It’s not that the child didn’t hear what they said. They just didn’t follow through.

That’s the first commitment we make to the Lord when we pray for revival: “I will listen to what God will say.” We commit ourselves to listening to the Lord in his word and following through on what he says.

   B. Commitment not to return to folly (8b)

Secondly, you should make the commitment not to return to your folly. The psalmist says: “God promises peace to his people, his saints—but let them not return to folly.”

The word for “peace” in this verse is that wonderful Hebrew word shalom. It is a word that means wholeness, soundness, well-being. In revival God promises beautiful wholeness and peace, but we should be careful we do not return to the foolish ways that kept us from revival to begin with.

This is a commitment to move forward in your Christian commitment, rather than going back to the sinful patterns and habits that God has delivered you from. Why should God grant a fresh work of his Spirit when we are not committed to moving forward with him instead of backward?

Notice the word “turn” again. This is now the fifth time the Hebrew word for “turn” appears in our passage. There are lots of turns in this psalm! The three main ones are when God turns from his anger in verse three, when God turns our hearts back to him in verse five, and when we make the commitment not to turn back to our folly here in verse eight.

   C. Commitment to fear the Lord (9)

And then, thirdly, you should make the commitment to fear the Lord: to put God first in your life and to worship him with deep reverence and respect, to begin and end your days with prayer, and to follow Christ in all the hours between. The psalmist writes: “Surely his salvation is near those who fear him, that his glory may dwell in our land.”

How serious are you when you pray for revival? You can measure your sincerity by the commitments that you make. When praying for revival we should commit to listen to the Lord, not to return to our folly, and to fear and respect God in our daily lives.

IV. Heaven meets earth – what revival looks like (10-13)

Finally, the psalm shows us what true revival looks like. When you are planning a trip, you read up on your destination or you look at the travel brochure to get an idea of what your destination will be like. Learning about your destination in advance creates anticipation and expectation of all the great things that await you on the other end.

So, Psalm 85 closes out with a travel brochure for revival. What does it look like when God brings revival in answer to our prayers? Look at verses 10-13:

Love and faithfulness meet together; righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs forth from the earth, and righteousness looks down from heaven. The LORD will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest. Righteousness goes before him and prepares the way for his steps. (Ps. 85:10-13)

In these final verses God gives us four beautiful pictures of revival in order to whet our appetite, to increase our anticipation, and to motivate us to pray.

   A. God’s love meets our faithfulness (10)

In the first picture of revival, God’s love meets our faithfulness. What a beautiful picture of revival! God is always pouring out his love on this planet, but when his love meets our faithfulness, something new happens. Think of God’s love as the rain, and our faithfulness in praying for revival and making and keeping our commitments as seeds that we sow on the land.

There are several scenarios that can unfold here. When the rain falls on unplanted soil, nothing much happens. God pours out his love, but there are no seeds of prayer and commitment waiting. When the seeds are planted, but God withholds the rain, nothing much happens either. It’s a good reminder to us that we can’t work revival on our own. We need God to pour out his love and favor.

But when the seeds are planted and the rain falls down, new life springs from the soil and a beautiful harvest follows. That’s why we often picture revival as rain. We sing, “There will be showers of blessing!” When God’s love meets our faithfulness, there will be new life and growth everywhere. What a beautiful picture to motivate us to greater prayer and faithfulness.

   B. God’s righteousness promotes peace (11)

In the second picture of revival, God’s righteousness promotes peace. We all want peace—peace in our hearts and minds, peace in our families and relationships, peace at work and in society, peace between nations in the world. But it all begins with peace with God. Until we are at peace with God, we will not attain true peace in any of these other areas.

Apart from Christ, our unrighteousness blocks any peace between us and a righteous God. Our sins separate us from God. But when you put your faith in Christ, you receive a new righteousness from God, a righteousness that is by faith and not of yourself (Phil. 3:9). Being justified by faith, we are given this new righteousness in Christ, and we have new peace with God, which then promotes peace in all the other areas of our life too.

Do you want peace on earth? Do you want peace in your own life? Then pray for revival. This is another beautiful picture to motivate us to pray.

   C. The Lord gives what is good (12)

In the third picture of revival, the Lord gives us what is good. This was God’s desire all along! Like a good parent, God longs to give you what is good in your life, but as disobedient children, we often forfeit so much good that could be ours.

When we worry instead of trust, when we give in to fear instead of moving forward, when we covet the things of the world instead of being content with what God has given us, we miss out on the many blessings God has in store for us.

But when revival comes, we have quieted our souls and prepared our hearts, and the Lord gives us what is good. Now that’s a great picture to look forward to!

   D. Righteousness prepares the way for his coming (13)

And then, finally, in the fourth picture, righteousness prepares the way for his coming. The key word here is “righteousness,” which appears three times in these closing verses. We are made righteous by faith in Christ. We make righteous commitments to follow and fear the Lord. And then, God’s righteousness promotes peace when he comes.

I believe this fourth picture applies not only to God coming to us in revival but also to Christ coming again. Revival is a precursor to Christ’s second coming. When we pray for revival, we are really praying for Jesus to come again. We are praying for a pure and spotless bride, ready to welcome the bridegroom when he comes for her. We are praying for a purified and expectant church, watching and waiting for Christ’s coming. We are praying for the consummation of the ages, when Jesus will return and all evil will be destroyed, when heaven meets earth, and God’s great kingdom will come, a kingdom of love and light.

And if that’s not enough to motivate you to pray for revival, then you really need revival! Oh, to be here and alive on earth when Jesus returns, and all these things are fulfilled!

CONCLUSION: So that’s what revival looks like! That’s what revival is all about. Don’t you want to go there? Don’t you want to be a part of all that?

Then, you need to: 1) look to God’s mercies in the past, 2) pray for revival in the present, and 3) make appropriate commitments to God for the future. That’s God’s formula for revival. There will be showers of blessing. We just need to follow God’s way to get there.

Remember, revival starts in the church, not in the world. It is not God bringing life where there was no life before. Rather, it is God bringing back to life that which did have life before. Revival is not God doing the work of the church for us. It is God bringing the church back to focus and life to do the work we have already been called to do in this world.

In this new year, will you join with me in praying to God for revival? And as you pray, may you also make this request of the Lord: “And let it begin with me.”

© Ray Fowler

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