Revive Us Lord Series

Monday, April 2, 1739, marked a signal event in the history of Christianity because it was on that day that John Wesley abandoned his reserve to preach outside the church building and, at Kingswood Bristol, took to open-air evangelism. Wesley’s decision brought him face to face with the common people and ignited a revival the likes of which England had never seen. Regarding that great day, Wesley wrote in his diary: “At four in the afternoon I submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a ground adjoining to the city, to about three thousand people. The Scripture on which I spoke (from Luke 4) was this … “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted; to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” Wesley had chosen his text with brilliant premeditation because it was the same Scripture with which Jesus introduced his ministry to the people of Nazareth. Subsequent history records that John Wesley lived out that text, bringing the gospel to the disenfranchised and needy masses of England. The following years also reveal that Wesley likewise experienced something of the rejection and disgrace that descended upon our Lord when he first brought God’s message to his people. (Hughes, R. K. (1998). Luke: that you may know the truth (p. 139). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books.)

Psalm 85 is a prayer for restoration that is rooted deeply in trust in God. The setting for the psalm appears to be the restoration of the people of God following a great catastrophe—perhaps the Babylonian captivity (About 50 years after Jerusalem’s fall in 586 B.C.,). With this psalm, the people prayed for a revival of their spirits and a renewal in their land. The ultimate fulfillment of their prayer would be in the coming glorious kingdom of the Savior Jesus (Radmacher, E. D., Allen, R. B., & House, H. W. (1997). The Nelson Study Bible: New King James Version (Ps 85). Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers.).

Many of us live between memory and hope. We recall what God has done in the past with gratitude, and we hope that He will do it again. This makes present sorrow and discouragement bearable. Like losing a friend or loved one, we live with grief, sustained with a flood of memories from the past, which bring her joy. Although we must face living out the rest of our lives in this world, as believes we can know that the Lord will be there each step of the way and we can be sustained by hope of reunion beyond the grave. The day will come when depression will lift and the sun will break through the overcast again. But what can we do in the meantime? This is the issue before us in this psalm. (Williams, D., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1989). Vol. 14: The Preacher's Commentary Series, Volume 14 : Psalms 73-150. The Preacher's Commentary series (108–113). Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Inc.)

In a prayer to “Revive us Lord”, the Psalmist shows a 1) Remembrance of Past Revival (Psalm 85:1–3), 2) Request for Present Revival (Psalm 85:4–7), 3. Revelation for Future Revival (Psalm 85:8–13)

1) Remembrance of Past Revival (Psalm 85:1–3)

Psalm 85:1–3 1 LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. 2 You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Selah 3You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger. (ESV)

In this communal lament there is no precise indication of the occasion that prompted it. The absence of references to the king and temple suggest that it comes from the period of the return from exile (of 70 years of captivity in Babylon.) Here, the psalmist recalls God’s graciousness to his people and land in the past. (Harman, A. ‘The Setting and Interpretation of Psalm 126’, RTR 44, 3 (1985), pp. 74–80.)

Quote: Yet, as Oswald Chambers said: “It is no use to pray for the old days; stand square where you are and make the present better than any past has been. Base all on your relationship to God and go forward, and presently you will find that what is emerging is infinitely better than the past ever was.” (Oswald Chambers as cited in Wiersbe, W. W. (1991). With the Word Bible Commentary (Ps 85:1). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)

The attribution of Psalm 85 to “the sons of Korah” probably originated in a preliminary collection of postexilic times (cf. Psalms 42–49; 84; 87–88). The Korahites, with the Kohathites, were singers in the second temple, and some of them were also doorkeepers of the sanctuary (2 Chr 20:19; 26:1, 19; cf. 1 Chr 9:19; Ps 84:10).( Terrien, S. (2003). The Psalms: strophic structure and theological commentary (pp. 606–607). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)