Following God After Times Of Failure

Psalm 85 (NKJV) 1 Lord, You have been favorable to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob. 2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah 3 You have taken away all Your wrath; You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger. 4 Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your anger toward us to cease. 5 Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations? 6 Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You? 7 Show us Your mercy, Lord, And grant us Your salvation. 8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly. 9 Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land. 10 Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed. 11 Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven. 12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good; And our land will yield its increase. 13 Righteousness will go before Him, And shall make His footsteps our pathway.

• Note the emphasis on the land (vv. 1, 9, 12)

Jewish people returned to their land following their seventy years of captivity in Babylon

• The emphasis on God’s anger against His people (vv. 3-5).

Read Ezra 6 and the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, you learn that life was very difficult for them in the land.

They did not always obey the Lord or show kindness to each other, but they did make a new start.

The Scottish preacher George H. Morrison said, “The victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings,” and he is right.

It is a sin to disobey God and fall, but it is also a sin to stay fallen.

We must always make a new beginning, and this psalm gives us some instructions that we can follow after times of failure and chastening.

I. GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD (vv. 1-3).

It should have been no surprise to the people of Judah that the Babylonians would invade their land, destroy their city and temple, and take them captive.

2 Chronicles 36:15-16 (NKJV) And the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by His messengers, rising up early and sending them, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. 16 But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people, till there was no remedy.

He forgave their sins and gave them a new beginning, and for this they thanked the Lord (Isa. 40:1-2).

Zechariah 1: 17(NKJV) “Again proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “My cities shall again spread out through prosperity; The Lord will again comfort Zion, And will again choose Jerusalem.”’”

The Hebrew word shuv basically means “to turn or return,”

Verse 1 “You have brought back (shuv) the captivity of Jacob”

Verse 3 “You have turned (shuv) from the fierceness of Your anger”

Verse 4 “Restore (shuv) us, O God of our salvation”

Verse 6 “Will You not revive us again (shuv)”

Verse 8 “But let them not turn (shuv) back to folly”

When we turn back to God, repent, and confess our sins, He turns back to us and restores us.

II. ASK HIM FOR RENEWED LIFE (vv. 4-7).

It is one thing for the nation collectively to have a new birth of freedom, but there must also be changes in individuals.

A lot of prisoners get out of prison only to return again.

It has well been said that a change in geography will never overcome a flaw in character.

The return of the people to the land was no guarantee that all of them had returned to the Lord.

Zechariah 1:2-3 (NKJV) 2 “The Lord has been very angry with your fathers. 3 Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.

The word revive simply means “to live again, to be renewed in life.”

(We must not confuse this with the modern meaning– “special meetings for winning the lost.”)

Establishing the nation, rebuilding the temple, and restoring the Priesthood would not guarantee God’s blessing on His people.

Zechariah 4:6 (NKJV) So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.

They desperately needed His life at work within them.