SERMON OUTLINE

• I. A reflection on past mercies
• II. A prayer for revival
• III. A hopeful trust in God’s promises

TRANSCRIPT

Have you ever been discouraged because the life you are living right now does not seem to be as joyful as your life was when you first became a Christian? Have you ever felt that week after week, you are going through the motions of worship services and fellowship activities, and that somehow they are becoming more of a routine than a spiritual exercise? Perhaps there was a time when you were diligent in studying the Bible. You were eager to share the gospel. You were zealous to serve the Lord. But now, all the excitement seems to have disappeared. You know in your heart that something is wrong. You are a true believer of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you cannot simply continue in this spiritual lethargy. What can you do? Well, you can pray to the only One who can help you - the Almighty God.

"Will Thou not revive us again?" This is the title of our message for this morning. Indeed, we need a revival in our lives, in our families, in our church, and this is what we want to learn from Psalm 85.

I. A reflection on past mercies

The first thing we want to learn from this Psalm is a reflection on past mercies. Psalm 85 seems to have been written after the return of the Jews from the 70 years of captivity in Babylon. In our DHW studies, we have learned that the Assyrians came and captured the Northern kingdom in 722 BC. Later on, the Babylonians came in 586 BC and captured the Southern kingdom. By God's providence, after 70 years of captivity in Babylon, the Jews were allowed to return to their land.

When they first arrived in Jerusalem, they started to build the temple. The foundations were laid, and subsequently, the temple was completed. Somewhere along the way, they tried to rebuild the city's wall. The work was difficult and it was abandoned. Their enemies destroyed whatever they had done and even burned the city's gates. You can imagine the people must have felt so grateful when they first returned to their homeland. They must have felt great joy giving thanks to the Almighty God when they returned. And then all of a sudden, they were plunged into great discouragement and despair.

In such devastating times, what can God's people do? Dear friends, when the present situation surrounding your life is so dreadful; when you turn to the left, you see sickness in the family. When you turn to the right, you see financial struggles. When you look forward, the future seems so bleak and doubtful. What can you do when the present situation is so discouraging, when the future is so uncertain? What can we do? Sometimes, it will do us good to look backwards. Not to reflect on our past accomplishments, but to reflect on God's past mercies.

Therefore, the Psalmist says from verse 1 to 3, "LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.” - Selah is a musical pause - "Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.” Notice the number of times the phrase "Thou hast" was used. The best part of history is not to remember what you and I have accomplished but to remember the great things God has done in our lives. History will not be history if we do not see His story, as in the story of Christ. The God whom we believe in is the God of the Bible. He is the God of history. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."

Whenever we reflect on the past events in our lives, we must learn to see the hand of God working in our midst. The events in our lives, the events surrounding our families, our church, did not happen by chance or coincidence, but by the mighty hand of God. Each time we remember, we are comforted that we are not alone. Each time we remember, we are encouraged that God has been gracious and merciful. He has empowered us so we may rise up with greater zeal and passion, with greater strength, to serve Him, to live for His glory.

It was God who showed favour to the land of Israel. It was God who brought the Jews back to the land. It was God who forgave their sins. It was God who turned His anger away from them. Have they forgotten His mercies? Dear friends, have we forgotten God's mercies? Perhaps today, we are enjoying good health and strength. We have a happy and supportive family. We have good jobs with understanding bosses and friends. We think everything is well and good. We are not lacking in anything and then we start to think that it is our hands that have brought in all these blessings. That is when we forget God.

The reason why we forget God is because we are proud. Do you remember Lucifer, how he had fallen? It was all because of pride. In Isaiah 14:13, the Bible says, "For thou” - Lucifer - “hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” Again, notice the number of times he used I, I, I. When Lucifer became proud, instead of glorifying God, he exalted himself. He said, 'I will ascend, I will exalt, I will sit, and I will be like the Most High.' In other words, 'I will be like God.' The moment we think we are the ones responsible for our successes, our accomplishments, our victories, our achievements, that is when we are in deep, deep trouble.

We must never rob God of His glory, whether it be our studies, our church ministries, our fellowship groups, our marriages, our individual lives. It is all because of God, so we must always give all glory due to His name. It is God who has saved us, transported us out of darkness into His marvellous light. This morning, we are able to render our voices to sing those beautiful hymns because of Him. It is God who has provided for all our needs. It is God who has strengthened our hands to do the work set before us. It is God who has given us this breath of life to wake up this morning, to drive our cars, and come to church. It is the Almighty God. It is God who has enabled us to establish this church, sustain this church through years. There may be joys, there may be sorrows, there may be trials, there may be victories. God is the one who has sustained us. When we forget that, we are in deep, deep trouble.

When we reflect on God's past mercies, how can we not love Him with all our hearts and all our souls? We want to love Him more, we want to serve and glorify Him. But then we realise that all this while, we have not been doing that. Our families seem to have forgotten, our children seem to have forgotten, we ourselves seem to have forgotten. How can we allow ourselves to fall into such a pathetic situation? So, like the Psalmist, we cried out, 'Oh Lord, will Thou not revive us again, that Thy people may rejoice?' Not rejoice in ourselves but rejoice in Thee. Once we forget God, once we take our eyes away from Him, there will be no rejoicing. So we want God to revive us again, so we will rejoice in Him.

II. A prayer for revival

This brings us to our second point: ‘A prayer for revival’. When we remember the past mercies of God, it will move us to pray. When we realise that we have lost the joy of salvation, we want to restore that joy, we want to get back that joy. Then we can only turn to the One who can restore that joy. When we realise that we have lost our effectiveness, our passions, our zeal, we want to be restored with the same effectiveness, passion, and zeal. We can only look to the One who can restore those things to us. Our God is a great restorer.

That is why the Psalmist says in verses 4 to 7, “Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation.” If we are true believers, we will not lose our salvation, but we can lose the joy of our salvation. When we lose that joy, when we lose that spiritual passion, when we lose our enthusiasm for spiritual things, when we are drifting further and further away from God, it seems as if God has turned His eyes away from us; it seems as if God is angry with us. Isn't it true? That is why the Psalmist cried out, “Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? …Wilt thou not revive us again.”

To revive means to quicken, to resurrect, to make alive. It implies that the person was once alive, and now it seems as if he is dead, spiritually speaking, and he needs to be spiritually reawakened again. That is what the church always needs. Often times when people think of a revival, they think of a movement of God in the world; that the unbelievers will be revived. But revivals do not start in the world because the world was never alive in the first place. Revivals only start in the church, because the church which was once alive, now may seem to be dead, so she needs to be made alive again.

When you study the revivals in church history, it always brings into our minds faithful men like Martin Luther, John Wesley, George Whitfield, Jonathan Edwards, who preached powerfully in those churches at that time. There were members of those churches who thought they were Christians, and all was well with their souls. They thought they were spiritual, but actually they were spiritually dead. All of a sudden, they woke up to this horrendous realisation that they were spiritually dead. The unconverted wept and repented of their sins. Nominal Christians who had been attending church for years, warming their pews, all of a sudden rose up and gave their lives to serve the Lord. And began to live for Jesus Christ so boldly, so openly, that the world outside began to take notice. And then the world pressed inside the church to see what was happening. Empty pews in the church started to be filled up. All of a sudden, the church was made alive. That was why the American revival during Jonathan Edwards time was called the Great Awakening. All of a sudden, the church was awakened. Yes, we have had revivals in the past, in history, which we can read in books, but we have not had one for many years. Do we need a revival in our church, in our families, in our lives? Most certainly. But firstly we must understand, what can a revival do to us?

A revival would restore our hunger for God's Word. Today, there are thousands and thousands who profess to be believers, but never pick up a Bible and read it. Think about this statement: thousands and thousands profess to believe God but never pick up a Bible and read it. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 2 says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” One interesting thing about a baby is that you do not have to work very hard to get the baby to feed. When the baby is hungry, the baby cries. When the baby wants to be fed, he wants to be fed. When he wants milk, he wants milk, and he will not stop crying until he gets fed. “Sincere” means pure, unadulterated, like the pure milk coming straight from the mother to the baby. Peter used this analogy to teach us that if we are true believers, we would hunger for the Word of God, like a baby who desires the sincere milk. If that is true, then Bible study will not be a struggle. Then reading the Bible will not be a legalistic thing. Listening to a sermon will not be a tedious obligation. It will be a natural thing that flows out from this hunger within our hearts.

Take a moment and consider your life since the last Lord's Day worship service. Have you picked up the Bible and read it throughout the week? Have you seen your sons and daughters read the Bible in their own quiet time? Why is there no hunger for the Word of God? Something is wrong, isn't it true? Only one kind of baby will not desire milk, and that is a stillborn baby. Isn't that a frightening thought? Only someone who makes false empty professions does not really believe. That person certainly would not have this love for God's Word. We pray that we are true believers indeed, and as true believers we ought to have this hunger for God's Word. Do we need a revival? Yes, so we pray, ‘Will Thou not revive us again in our love for Thy Word, in our hunger for Thy truth?"

A revival will cause us to repent from our sins. A genuine revival will also lead to a genuine repentance from sin. You see, revival is a supernatural work; it is not a human work. It is the wonder-working of the Spirit of God in the lives and hearts of the people. A person who is revived will be very conscious of the presence of God, and when he is conscious of God's presence, he would never play the fool with sin. If you and I are very conscious of God's presence, then will we wilfully walk into sin? Will we continue to dwell in sin? Will we visit those sinful websites? Will we lie and cheat without blinking an eye? Will we harbor those wicked thoughts — jealousy, bitterness, anger, and other hidden agendas? Like one pastor said, Will you walk into adultery with your wife standing beside you? Most certainly not. We need a revival so that we will be conscious of the presence of God. Will Thou not revive us so that we will repent from our sins?

A revival will also restore our service for the Lord. The psalmist says in Psalm 100, verse 2, "Serve the Lord with gladness; come before his presence with singing." Have we been serving the Lord with gladness in our hearts? Consider the way you work in your secular job. As a daily routine, you wake up early in the morning, you go to work, sit at your desk, and there will be a pile of assignments set before you. You attempt to finish those assignments, and at the end of the day, you are tired - one day is gone. When we get into such a situation, it is very difficult to find satisfaction, much less gladness. It is something unheard of. There's always this danger of going through this rut, going through this motion, doing our duties and responsibilities with no joy, no gladness at all.Now, the greater danger is when this attitude creeps into our services for God. God forbids! May the Lord forgive us. We need a revival to restore our services to God so that you and I will be able to serve Him with much gladness, with much joy. So we must pray, "Will You not revive us again in our services for You?" A revival would also restore our efforts in evangelism. Perhaps when we were first saved, we used to have gospel tracks in our pockets, in our cars, which we would give out to people whom we would meet in the streets. We might not be able to articulate the gospel clearly at that time, but we were very zealous to give out that gospel tract, and we would say to those people we met, "Please take it; it is important for you to read it and make sure you read it. But now we have lost that Evangelistic passion.

Now the greater danger is when this attitude creeps into our services for God. That is the reason why people would serve with much murmurings and complaints because there's no gladness, no joy in serving the Lord. Serving God is the highest privilege, dear friends. It is the highest aspiration a person can ever aspire to be, and to serve the almighty God without gladness, without joy, and with much murmurings and complaints - God forbids. May the Lord forgive us. We need a revival to restore our services to God so that you and I will be able to serve Him with much gladness, with much joy. So we must pray, ‘Will thou not revive us again in our services for Thee?’

A revival would also restore our efforts in evangelism. Perhaps when we were first saved, we used to have gospel tracts in our pockets, in our cars, which we would give out to people whom we would meet in the streets. We might not be able to articulate the gospel clearly at that time, but we were very zealous to give out that gospel tract. And we would say to those people we met, ‘Please take it, it is important for you. Read it and make sure you read it.’ But now, we have lost that evangelistic passion.

Two days ago, my father had a stroke and was admitted to the hospital in Singapore. The first thing when I heard he was admitted, I tried to make arrangements to go back. Then I realised that my passport had expired. I was desperate, and the reason why I wanted to go back was so that I can be with him by his bedside - to remind him that only Jesus saves, to share with him about my Lord and Saviour. I have evangelised to him in the past, but I want to assure him, I want to remind him, I want to share with him the full gospel again. Evangelism is very important to me, but it has never been more important to me, more urgent to me than now.

Do we need a drastic situation to cause us to be revived in our evangelistic efforts? Dear friends, our parents who are unbelievers, our unbelieving grandparents and children, they will not be with us for long. We ought to be revived in our efforts for evangelism. We ought to be passionate, urgent - evangelism ought to be urgent. So we must pray, ‘Lord, will thou not revive us again in our evangelism efforts?’ Cause us to understand that once a man draws his last breath, if he is lost, he's lost forever. And if that man is our dad, our mum, our grandparent, how sad we will be, our friends. We ought to be revived in our evangelistic efforts.

A revival would also restore our prayer life. When we first got saved, we loved to pray. We would attend church. We would attend prayer meetings. We were excited. But now, we have lost the passion for prayers. We will not step foot into the church on Friday prayer meetings. We only pray when we eat, and we hate long prayers because it causes us to yawn, and we feel very sleepy. Something is wrong with us. Do we need a revival in our prayer life? Surely so. We must pray, ‘Lord, will thou not revive us again in our prayer life?’

A revival would also restore our worship of God. When we first got saved, we loved to come to church, worship God, and fellowship with the believers. Now we are coming to church because it is just the thing to do. Come Sunday morning, it is just the thing to do. Others will come to church because of certain obligations, maybe their parents want them to come or to meet their friends or for other reasons. Does the worship of God mean anything to you? Does the Holy Communion, which you partake, mean anything to you?

Verse 2 says, "Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin.” How did God forgive their iniquities? How did God forgive and cover their sins? It is by the precious blood of the Lamb. And each time they slaughtered that unblemished lamb, it would be a most terrifying sight - there would be death, there would be blood. And it was a reminder of the atonement that God would wrought on the cross of Calvary. Have you ever wondered why our Lord Jesus would command us to take the bread, eat of it, drink the cup, in remembrance of me? Because we always forget. We forget the atonement. We are saved. Our iniquities are forgiven. Our sins are covered by the death and blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. So it is a most horrendous thing when believers forget the significance of the Holy Communion. When they come to church and partake of the bread and drink the cup - it is just the thing to do - or they will not even remember to come to partake of the Lord's Supper.

Do we need a revival? Yes. Will thou not revive us again in our worship of Thee? Will Thou not revive us again that we will understand and remember the significance of the Holy Communion? Now, the list can go on and on and on. So as we reflect on the past mercies of God, we'll be moved to pray for revival. And when we pray for revival, will Thou not again revive us? Surely, He will.

III. A hopeful trust in God’s promises

So that brings us to our final point: ‘A hopeful trust in God's promises.’ The Psalmist says in verse 8, "I will hear what God the LORD will speak.” When God's people are willing to listen and to do what the Lord says through His word, God will speak. And God says, “he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly.” There's always this danger of God's people returning to their sins, forgetting, and then going back. That is why they need to be constantly reminded. Today, God has provided pastors, preachers to remind His people not to return to their follies. If you are willing to listen, then God will speak, and He will remind you.

In the Old Testament, when the Israelites listened and obeyed God's Word through the prophets - when they were fearful of sinning and going astray from God - God was always faithful to deliver them from their troubles. And God would always make them experience His presence; the presence of His glory in their land.

That is why the Psalmist says in verse 9, "Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.” When God's people experience His presence in their lives, they would also experience His spiritual blessings. And what are His spiritual blessings? Look at verse 10: "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." So just like the plants that spring from the earth, and the rain that pours down from heaven, verse 11 says, "Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.” Now all these spiritual blessings we all want — mercy, truth, righteousness, and peace. No man, no matter how spiritual or how powerful he is, can command and say, ‘I want mercy’ or ‘I want the church to stand on the side of truth’ or ‘I want righteousness’ or ‘I want peace’ or ‘I want blessing.’ No man can ever command and say, ‘I want these spiritual blessings.’ Only God, the Giver, is able to provide these spiritual blessings.

Whenever there's a revival, the people would experience His presence in their lives, and then they will also receive all these spiritual blessings. There will be mercy, truth, righteousness, peace, and so forth, because God says in verse 12, "Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase." God will not withhold that which is good. When the people repent, turn to Him, when there's a revival, God will give us all these good things.

And when that happens, verse 13 says, "Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.” Whose righteousness is this, and whose footsteps are we to follow? The only absolute and perfect righteousness the world has ever seen, is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. As believers, we are commanded to imitate our Saviour; we are to follow Him, and we are to walk in the path of righteousness. When God revives us, then we will be following our Lord Jesus Christ. We will be walking in the path of righteousness. How wonderful that will be when the church, the leaders, the Sunday School teachers, the parents, the children, the congregation members - all of us - are walking in the path of righteousness. That will only happen when there is a revival; when the church is revived, the families, individual lives are revived.

So my friends, as we reflect on the past mercies of God, we are reminded of how we have lost the joy of salvation. We realise how far we have drifted away. Whether it be in our prayer life, in our services for God, in our worship, in our evangelism - in all these aspects - we need to be revived. And God promises when we turn to Him, when we repent of our sinful ways, He will revive us. The only way the church, the family, and the individual life can be revived is when you and I humble ourselves and cry out to the only One who can revive us. As 2 Chronicles 7, verse 14 says, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank thee for enabling us to consider this portion of scriptures. Oh Lord, indeed revive us. We do not want to go through this motion, this routine, whereby we forget the significance of all the things we do. It is the spiritual significance that is most important, and we have lost it. We pray that whether it be in our worship, in our hunger for Thy word, in our prayer life, in our evangelism efforts, in our worship of Thee, revive us, O Lord, revive us. We want to receive Thy mercy, truth, righteousness, and peace. We want Thy presence to be always felt in our lives, to be conscious of Thee. We pray that Thou will renew our spiritual passions for Thee and help us once again not to be just a physical church existing in this world, but truly a spiritual church that is always conscious of Thy presence, that Thy people will all walk in the path of righteousness through the glory of Thy precious name. We pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.

THE BOOK OF PSALMS

Wonderful Words of Life

Wonderful Words of Life

Psalm 1:1-3

Having Confidence In Times Of Trouble

Having Confidence In Times Of Trouble

Psalm 3

Pray with Your Eyes Open

Pray with Your Eyes Open

Psalm 5:1-12

Message 3: The Test of Trust

Message 3: The Test of Trust

Psalm 11:1-7

Morning Devotion 2: Psalm 13

Morning Devotion 2: Psalm 13

Psalm 13

Message 4: The Life of Trust

Message 4: The Life of Trust

Psalm 20:1-9

Learn To Deal With Depression

Learn To Deal With Depression

Psalm 42

Dealing with Depression

Dealing with Depression

Psalm 42

God Is Our Refuge

God Is Our Refuge

Psalm 46

Morning Devotion 3: Psalm 46

Morning Devotion 3: Psalm 46

Psalm 46

True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 1]

True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 1]

Psalm 51:1-9

Morning Devotion 1: The Joy of Thy Forgiveness

Morning Devotion 1: The Joy of Thy Forgiveness

Psalm 51:1-9

True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 2]

True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 2]

Psalm 51:10-12

The Joy of Salvation

The Joy of Salvation

Psalm 51:10-12

Morning Devotion 4: The Joy of Thy Salvation

Morning Devotion 4: The Joy of Thy Salvation

Psalm 51:10-19

True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 3]

True Confession, Repentance and Restoration [Part 3]

Psalm 51:13-19

O Come, Let Us Worship the Lord

O Come, Let Us Worship the Lord

Psalm 59:1-11

Hear My Cry, O God!

Hear My Cry, O God!

Psalm 61:1-8

The Man that is Blessed of the Lord

The Man that is Blessed of the Lord

Psalm 65:4

Wilt Thou Not Revive Us Again?

Wilt Thou Not Revive Us Again?

Psalm 85:1-13

Teach Us to Number Our Days

Teach Us to Number Our Days

Psalm 90:10-12

Morning Devotion 1: Psalm 90:10-12

Morning Devotion 1: Psalm 90:10-12

Psalm 90:10-12

The Lord Is King

The Lord Is King

Psalm 93

Christian Parenting

Christian Parenting

Psalm 127:3-5; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:32; Psalm 113:9; Psalm 128:3

Morning Devotion 2: Obedience to God’s Word

Morning Devotion 2: Obedience to God’s Word

Psalm 119:1-8

Morning Devotion 3: The Cleansing Power of God’s Word

Morning Devotion 3: The Cleansing Power of God’s Word

Psalm 119:9-16

I Was Glad

I Was Glad

Psalm 122:1

Christian Parenting

Christian Parenting

Psalm 127:3-5; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:32; Psalm 113:9; Psalm 128:3

Message 7: What are children for? Heritage of godly seed for Christ!

Message 7: What are children for? Heritage of godly seed for Christ!

Psalm 127:3, Malachi 2:15, Ephesians 6:4

Christian Parenting

Christian Parenting

Psalm 127:3-5; Matthew 10:37; Matthew 6:32; Psalm 113:9; Psalm 128:3

A Prayer in the Cave

A Prayer in the Cave

Psalm 142