Psalm 85:6 Will You not revive us again so that Your people may rejoice in You?
The heart cry of a child of God is always for more of God. You think of Paul's words to the Philippians under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in 3:7-8 when he wrote , But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. 8 More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ. Paul's burning, consuming passion was to know Jesus, was to have more of HIM. We see in 2 Cor 1:24 that Paul longed to bring others into the enjoyment of God..."Not that we lord it over your faith, but are workers with you for your joy; for in your faith you are standing firm." INTERESTING...he considered himself a worker for the joy of others. This was no ordinary joy...this was the joy of the LORD, standing firm in the faith!
For those that know HIM, for those with a little faith, our hearts cry is revive us again SO THAT YOUR people may rejoice, rejoice where? Rejoice in YOU LORD! The Psalmist says it beautifully in Psalm 85:6 Will You not revive us again so that Your people may rejoice in You?
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DESIRED RESULT IS REVIVAL IN HIM SO THAT WE MAY REJOICE IN HIM...THE INSTRUMENT TO ACCOMPLISH THAT REVIVAL IS HIS WORD! The INSTRUMENT OF REVIVAL IS GOD'S WORD!
Ps 119:25--My soul cleaves to the dust; Revive me according to Your word.
Ps 119:50--This is my comfort in my affliction, That Your word has revived me.
Ps 119:107--I am exceedingly afflicted; Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.
Ps 119:154--Plead my cause and redeem me; Revive me according to Your word.
Above you see four instances, the Psalmist says it many more times and in many other ways. When we read through Psalm 119 beginning on May 23 underline every time you see "Open my eyes" "do not hide" "teach me" "make me understand" "give me understanding" "revive me"...UNDERLINE EVERY TIME YOU SEE THESE PHRASES, OR PHRASES LIKE THEM CONNECTED TO THE WORD, STATUES, ORDINANCES, WAYS. YOU WILL SEE IT AGAIN AND AGIAN! The INSTRUMENT OF REVIVAL IS GOD'S WORD!
Ps 119:88--Revive me according to Your lovingkindness, So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth. WHAT IS THE TESTIMONY OF HIS MOUTH? HIS WORD!
Have I convinced you? The goal is revival, the goal is more and more of God...the purpose of that goal is SO THAT WE MAY REJOICE IN HIM. One pastor put it this way..."God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in HIM." What did the Psalmist say in Psalm 90:14? "O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, That we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Blaise Pascal nailed it when he said that, (June 19, 1623 – August 19, 1662 French mathematician, physicist, and religious philosopher.)"All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves."
Blaise Pascal
If you have been around people very long and if you have aspired to motivate and encourage people you come to the conclusion that people are going to do what they want to do! BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION MAY WORK FOR A SHORT TIME BUT EVENTUALLY THEY WILL RETURN TO THE NATURAL COURSE OF THEIR HEART. That is why we realize that we are absolutely dependent on God to TRANSFORM PEOPLES CORE AFFECTIONS. GOD MUST TRANSFORM THE HEART, REMOVE THE HEART OF STONE AND GIVE THEM A HEART OF FLESH...DO YOU REMEMBER WHY HE GIVES THEM A HEART OF FLESH?
Eze 36:26-27 “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. WHY DID HE DO IT? TO CAUSE US TO WALK OR KEEP HIS WORD! The INSTRUMENT OF REVIVAL IS GOD'S WORD!
Psalm 85:6 Will You not revive us again so that Your people may rejoice in You?
OK...the instrument of revival is God's Word our goal is revival so that we may rejoice in HIM...when we find our joy and satisfaction in HIM, HE is glorified and we are satisfied...in the midst of this God is changing and transforming our core affections toward HIM.
… and to Jonathan Edwards, who discovered and taught as powerfully as anyone that “the happiness of the creature consists in rejoicing in God, by which also God is magnified and exalted.” “The end of the creation is that the creation might glorify [God]. Now what is glorifying God, but a rejoicing at that glory he has displayed?”
… and to C. S. Lewis, who discovered “We are far too easily pleased.”
… and to a thousand missionaries, who have left everything for Christ and in the end have said, with David Livingstone, “I never made a sacrifice.”
Because joy is an act of obedience. We are commanded to rejoice in God. If obedience is doing what God commands, then joy is not merely the spin-off of obedience, it is obedience. The Bible tells us over and over to pursue joy: “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones; and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart” (Psalm 32:11). “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy” (Psalm 67:4). “Delight yourself in the Lord” (Psalm 37:4). “Rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven” (Luke 10:20). “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).
The Bible does not teach that we should treat delight as a mere by-product of duty. C. S. Lewis got it right when he wrote to a friend, “It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can.”12 Yes, that is risky and controversial. But it is strictly true. Maximum happiness, both qualitatively and quantitatively, is precisely what we are duty-bound to pursue.
Piper, J. (2001). The dangerous duty of delight. "Condensed version of Desiring God : meditations of a Christian Hedonist, from Multnomah Publishers, 1996"--P. 90. (13). Sisters, Or.: Multnomah Publishers.
Our reading in Luke identifies, if you are a scripture detective, a joy killer! What is it that will kill your joy in the Lord? Who is the sinister, evil enemy that lurks, waiting to pounce and destroy your precious joy? The bizarre thing is that it is you and it is me! In Luke 18 Jesus teaches us the parable of the Persistent Widow and the Pharisee and the Tax collector. What is it that moves us to be prayerless? What is it that move us to compare ourselves to others? PRIDE!
1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
These 3 will kill your joy in the LORD...in Luke 18 I see Jesus taking aim at the original, original sin...PRIDE!
OUR ONLY HOPE is to cry out in desperation asking God our Father to transform our hearts, to conform us to the image of HIS SON, JESUS. To cry out to HIM day and night, like the Widow and to say with the tax collector as we beat our chest...oh God, remove YOUR wrath from me--a sinner! Then to cry out with David..."restore unto me the JOY OF YOUR SALVATION!
BE KILLING SIN OR SIN WILL BE KILLING YOU!
love,
m