A Prayer for Revival

A Prayer for Revival

(No. 2426)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S DAY, AUGUST 18, 1895.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
AUGUST 14, 1887.

"Will You not revive us again that Your people may rejoice in You"
Psalm 85:6.

BRETHREN, if you will pray this prayer, it will be better than my
preaching from it! And my only motive in preaching from it is that you
may pray it. Oh, that at once, before I have uttered more than a few
sentences, we might begin to pray by crying, yes, groaning deep down in
our souls," Will You not revive us again that Your people may rejoice
in You?"

Notice the style of the praying here–it is in the form of a question
and in the shape of a plea. There are very few words and none that can
be spared. Godly men, when they prayed of old, meant it! They did not
pray for form's sake, neither were they very particular about uttering
goodly words and fine-sounding sentences–they came to close grips with
God. They questioned Him, they pleaded with Him. They drove home the
nail and tried to clinch it. I see that in the very shape of the
prayer, "Will You not–will You not–will You not revive us again that
Your people may rejoice in You?" Oh, that we knew how to pray! I fear
that we do not. We are missing the sacred art, we are losing the
heavenly mystery–we are but apprentice hands in prayer. Compared with
such a man as John Knox, whose prayers were worth more than an army of
ten thousand men, or compared with the prayers of Luther, how few of us
can pray!

Luther was a man of whom they said, as they pointed at him in the
street, "There goes a man who can have anything he likes to ask of
God." He was the man who, by his prayer, dragged Melancthon back from
the very gates of death and, what was more, the man who could shake
upon her seven hills the harlot of Rome as she never had been shaken
before, because he was mighty with God in prayer! Oh, that I could but
stir up my Brothers and Sisters to be instant in season and out of
season, if there is such a thing as out of season with God in prayer!
Let us get away to our closets! Let us cry mightily to Him! Let us come
to close quarters with Him and say, "Will You not revive us again that
Your people may rejoice in You?

I. To come at once to the text, let us ask, WHAT IS THE TIME FOR SUCH A
PRAYER AS THIS?

We shall have to look at the Psalm, itself, to help us in the answer.
What is the time for offering such a prayer as this? It is, dear
Friends, when we can remember some gracious acts of God in the past.
Read–"Lord, You have been favorable unto Your land. You have brought
back the captivity of Jacob…Will You not revive us again that Your
people may rejoice in You?" Ah, now, some of you can remember grand
times, when you were younger than you now are, when the Lord was
present with His people in a very glorious fashion–when He laid bare
His arm and the people were made to feel His Divine Presence in the
preaching of the Word. Do you remember it? The 44th Psalm begins, "We
have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us what work You
did in their days, in the times of old." None of us can remember the
early Methodist days–they were over before we were born–but they were
very wonderful times when the preaching of the Word of God was like
fire in the midst of the people!

[Our friends need not be troubled by the flying of a dove. It will soon
go out of the window, no doubt. Let us believe that it has come as a
messenger of good. Oh, that the blessed Dove would, Himself, come from
Heaven and bring salvation in His wings!]

Well, I was saying that those first Methodist times were brave days, so
our fathers have told us, though we cannot remember them. But some of
you can remember when you were members of a happy congregation, all
united, all earnest, all pleading with God and there were grand
Sabbaths, then! You can never forget those days of the Son of Man upon
the earth, when conversions were numerous and all the people of God
rejoiced and were ready to shout for joy. If you have any recollection
of such days as those, pray this prayer, "Lord, what You have done, You
can do! Will You not revive us again? You can outdo all we have yet
seen of Your work. Come, now, we beseech You, and repeat Your mercies
in the eyes of Your people."

After some mercy drops, then, it becomes us to cry for showers of
blessing. Pray again the petition that we sang just now–

"Revive Your work, OLord, And give refreshing showers, The glory shall
be all Your own, The blessing, Lord, be ours."

Another time for such a prayer is after tokens of Divine displeasure,
when we are somewhat under a cloud. Thus the Psalmist says, "Will You
be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all
generations? Will You not revive us again that Your people may rejoice
in You?" I feel that the Church of God is generally, at this time, in a
very sad state and though I am told that I am a croaker, and too
nervous, and so on, yet I know what I know, and I speak not without
clear information nor without a heart that is heavy at knowing so much
of the evil of the times! And, because the times are dark and God's
Gospel is at a discount, and prayerfulness of spirit and holiness of
life are things not so common among us as they should be, therefore I
think that it is time to cry to the Lord, "Will You not revive us
again?" I entreat God's people to pray, now, if they have ever prayed
in their lives! This is a dark hour of the night–now cry mightily unto
the Lord, the God of our salvation–that He will turn our captivity and
send the daystar which shall herald that day that shall never know a
night! It is good to pray when you have seen good days and it is
equally right to pray when you think that the days are not what they
should be.

Another time for praying like this is when saints feel lethargic. Do
you always feel active? Do you always feel energetic? I think not! If
you were to look at one of the statues, say, in Westminster Abbey, you
would find that it never complains of rheumatism and is not affected
either by heat or cold, because it is not alive. But living men and
living women have their changes because they have life. The most
flourishing tree that grows sheds its leaves when the time comes. All
plants are not always in flower–they have their springs, their
summers, their autumns and their winters–and it is just so with God's
people. Whenever you, therefore, feel dull and lethargic, here is a
prayer for you–"Will You not revive us again? Lord, come and wake us
up again! Pour fresh strength into Your weak children! Put the living
fire into Your lukewarm children! Raise Your sleepy children,
Lord–make us all to live at the highest point of life if, for a while,
we have seemed ready to die." Perhaps someone will say, "Then it is the
prayer for me, for I feel dull and weak." If so, be sure that you use
it. Do not acknowledge the suitability of it and then put it up on the
shelf, but pray to the Lord at once, "Will you not revive us again?"

Another time when this prayer is very suitable is when efforts seem to
be useless–when, for instance, I have preached the Gospel and have had
no conversions. When you have been in your Sunday school class and no
child has cried to God for mercy. When you have been up and down your
tract district and not one person has said a cheering word as to taking
interest in the sermon that you have left. When, indeed, you have come
to close quarters with some hearts and have really laid yourselves out
for the conversion of such and such persons–and you appear to have
failed. Well now, if that has been your experience, do not go home
miserable, but go to God with this prayer, "Lord, will You not revive
us again?" How quickly the Lord can revive us! Here, by the space of 33
years or so, I have been favored by the Grace of God to preach to an
attentive congregation, but there have been times when I have felt that
there was–

"No stir in the air, no stir in the sea," when I have preached, but it
seemed to be like talking to a dead wall! And yet, before I have been
aware of it, God's Spirit has come down upon the people and the same
blessed Gospel–for we have not two gospels–has been blessed to many
and, one after another, they have cried out, "What must we do to be
saved?" Workers for Christ, never think of giving up your work, but
stick to it and pray this prayer vehemently, and intensely, "Will You
not revive us again? Lord, send us once again times of increased
spiritual life, times of greater success in the winning of souls!"

And, once more, I think that this prayer may well be prayed when we
have among us a number of persons who are backsliding. In a large
Church there are always some who are spiritually sick–going back and
declining–and some of us know the heartbreak of mourning over those
that once ran well, of whom we have sorrowfully to ask, "What hindered
them?" There are some who used to be bold in the service of God who now
forsakes His House of Prayer, His way and even deny His holy name!
Well, what then?–

"When any turn from Zion's way, Alas, what numbers do!"

Then let this prayer be in our heart and on our tongue, "Will You not
revive us again? Great Shepherd, come and bring back the stray sheep.
Holy Spirit, come, we beseech You, with Your quickening breath, and
bring back to life and spiritual health those that are fainting and
ready to die."

Thus I think I have shown you that there are many occasions upon which
this prayer would be a very fit one. Let us now silently, all of us who
know how to pray, breathe this petition into God's ear, "Will You not
revive us again that Your people may rejoice in You?"

II. Secondly, though it will be the same thought presented a little
differently, let us consider THE NEED OF SUCH A PRAYER–"Will You not
revive us again?" Who needs such a prayer?

Who needs it? Well, first of all, the minister needs it. Brothers and
Sisters, you make a mistake about some of us ministers–you have a
notion that we are always full of Grace, that when we come into the
pulpit we are always able to command earnestness and zeal. Do not
believe it! We are but poor creatures without our God. Apart from
Divine Grace, we are just as hard-hearted towards sinners as any of our
people are, and we have to cry mightily to God to keep our spiritual
nature alive, even as you do. I entreat you, pray more for us! Pray
that God would revive us again! If the preachers grow dull and sleepy,
there is no wonder that the people do! Therefore give us a special
place in your supplications that we may be kept right for your sakes,
for Christ's sake and the Gospel's sake. Oh, pray for ministers! I am
not going to find fault with any of them any more than I find fault
with myself, but there is grievous need to pray for many occupants of
pulpits, that the Lord would revive them again!

There is a very common habit of criticizing us and I am sure I do not
mind if you criticize me as much as you like, but it is very difficult
for me to find anybody to take this pulpit because anybody that some of
you like, others do not like. I have given up any idea of pleasing you
all–but I just try to do my best, that is all I can do. But the habit
of criticizing ministers is a bad one. Give it up and begin to pray for
them. Pray more and more for all preachers of the Word, "Lord, revive
them. Lord, revive them." I have heard of a minister who preached once
about our being epistles, written not with ink, but with the Holy
Spirit. One of his divisions was that sometimes ministers were pens and
they could not write upon men's hearts because they were not dipped in
the ink. I think that there is a great deal in that thought. If a
minister comes forward with a good dip of ink in his pen, then he can
write upon men's hearts. When the Spirit of God fills us and we are
revived, then some good writing will be done–but not else.

But, dear Friends, all the leaders of our Church need receiving. Of our
Church, I mean. If there are any people who need praying for, it is
deacons, and I put the elders with them. Never forget to pray for them.
I have no fault to find with them any more than I have to find with the
ministers, but they are no better than they should be, and they will
not be as good as they should be unless the Grace of God shall come
upon them and bless them! Oh, to have around us a loving band of Church
officers! It is our great joy and delight to have such men around us,
but may the Lord make better men of them, equip them all for their
spiritual work to the very highest degree and fill them all with Divine
Life!

I was preaching, once, in a place which happened to be full when I
preached there, but the congregation was very small at other times. And
when I went into the vestry, I noticed two gentlemen leaning against
the mantelpiece in a very comfortable manner, and I asked them if they
were the deacons of the Church. They said that they were, and I then
told them that I had looked, for some time, to find out the reason why
that Church did not prosper, and I had found it out! They were anxious
to know what it was, but I did not further inform them. I have no doubt
that, often, dead deacons and dead elders prevent a Church
prospering–therefore, let us pray earnestly for the leaders of God's
Israel, "Lord, revive them again. Put more spiritual life into them."

The same is true of all the members of the Church without exception.
How much they need reviving! And all the workers, too. You who have a
large class to look after. You who are conducting a Mission. Why, if
you who lead the way in Christ's work go to sleep, what is to become of
the work? So, let us carry upon our hearts in prayer all our fellow
members, the workers and the sufferers, and cry to God, "Lord, revive
them. Keep them in a good state. Keep them in proper trim that they may
do that work in noble fashion, and bring glory to Your holy name. Will
You not revive us again?"

Brothers, Sisters, let me breathe this prayer in the name of you all,
"Lord, we want to serve You at our very best. Revive us again, we
beseech You."

But, further, we must pray thus, for there is great need on the part of
the hesitators. Some of you who are here, tonight, seemed about to be
converted years ago! I know a man whom, to this day, you cannot get
into a place of worship. He says he will never go any more. He declares
that he was within an inch of being converted when he went last time
and he is afraid to go again! But there are some of you who always come
and you have almost learned to sit contentedly upon the brink of
decision. Oh, pray for them, dear Friends! Pray for the hesitators,
pray for the procrastinators, pray for those who are trifling away
their conscience, gradually getting rid of everything like spiritual
fear and distress–and who will shut their eyes and sleep themselves
into Hell unless God, in great mercy, prevents it! O Lord, will You not
revive us again–that these sleepers may wake up and become decided for
You?

Besides, we have need to pray this prayer when we think of the careless
ones among us. What strange people come into such a congregation as
this! A man came here this morning for no earthly purpose but to pick
pockets–and I dare say he is here again tonight! Look sharp after him!
I wish I knew how to pick my way into his heart and to run away with
him as a captive for my Lord! Oh, that even he might be transformed by
Divine Grace! The most curious motives bring people under the sound of
the Gospel–some of them positively wicked, others of them quite
ridiculous.

Then look at the outside public, the myriads who never go to hear the
Gospel at all. How are they to be reached by a cold, dead Church? So,
for their sakes, for the sake of this great London, for the sake of
this great nation, for the sake of the world, let us pray, "O God, be
pleased to revive us again!"

I pause here and beseech you not to let me pass the next milestone
until each one of you have prayed this prayer, "Will You not revive us
again?"

III. Now, thirdly, and very briefly, THE ESSENCE OF SUCH A
PRAYER–"Will You not revive us again?" What is this prayer if it is
analyzed and we get to the very soul of it?

Well, it means, first, dependence upon God. If you are praying this
prayer aright, you feel, "Lord, nobody can revive us but Yourself."
People often talk about "getting up a revival." Is not that a wicked
thing? "Will You not revive us, O Lord?" The machinery for getting up a
revival may often be the greatest hindrance to true godliness! A Church
cannot be revived unless God revives it! Not a soul is saved, not a
saint is quickened and made to grow except by the work of God. That is
what this prayer means, "Lord, put Your hand to the work. Put Your
right hand to it, we beseech You. We depend alone upon You. Will You
not revive us again?"

The essence of this prayer is, next, confidence in God. "Lord, You can
revive us again. We are not so deep in the mire but that You can lift
us out. We are not so dead but that You can make us alive. Will You not
revive us again? It is impossible to us, but it is possible to You.
Lord, one touch of Your hand, a breath from Your blessed lips, and it
is done. Will You not revive us again?" Brothers, Sisters, we believe
in God, do we not? And if we do, we believe that whatever state a
Church is in, God can bring it out of it! Do not run away from it and
say, "God can never bless it." He can bless it! Pray it up into a
blessing and make this the essence of your prayer, "Lord, You can
revive us. We believe it, and we look for it."

The essence of this prayer is, next, importunity with God. "Will You
not revive us again?" It is earnest pleading, it is pushing the point
home, it is urging it with God. Do this, I pray you, dear Brothers and
Sisters, with regard to the state of the Church at the present time. If
half a dozen of you would, tonight, or as soon as possible, shut
yourselves up a while and begin to cry to God for a revival of
religion–and if you continued to cry more and more until it
came–there would be grand hopes for the end of this century. If we
could get a band of men and women who would give God no rest until He
made His Jerusalem a praise in the earth, we should see, between now
and the 20th century, something that would make our very eyes sparkle,
and our hearts dance for joy! It needs but that we wrestle with the
Angel of the Covenant and we may have what we will. We may be in a bad
case, but we are not worse off than the churches were a hundred years
ago, yet God heard the prayers of mourners in Zion who in secret places
cried to Him–and He will hear our prayers, too! Therefore, let us make
a solemn league and covenant together, and let us in union and concert
of prayer wait upon the Lord and hear what He shall speak, for He will
yet speak peace unto His people if we do but know how to ask for it. I
leave with you who are the King's remembrancers this sweet prayer to be
prayed night and day–"Will You not revive us again that Your people
may rejoice in You?"

IV. Now I finish with this last head–THE NET RESULT IF THIS PRAYER IS
ANSWERED. "Will You not revive us again that Your people may rejoice in
You?"

It seems rather singular–does it not–that the Psalmist should put as
the reason for a revival that God's people should rejoice in Him? You
and I do not always estimate things aright. Preaching is only the
stalk–conversion, prayer, praise–these are the full corn in the
golden ear! In the garden the leaves may represent the work that is
done, but the flowers are the praise that is rendered. In a revival,
part of the result is the conversion of men, but the result is the
praise of God–and that revival brings forth most fruit that gives to
God the most Glory! God is most glorified when His people rejoice in
Him and, therefore, the ripest fruit, the innermost core and center of
that which comes of all holy service, is the joy in God which is as
worship to Him. I reckon that we have served God when we have fed the
poor, when we have taught the ignorant, when we have reclaimed the
wanderer, but I am equally sure that we have rendered acceptable
sacrifice when we have prayed to God, when we have delighted ourselves
in Him, when the joy of our heart has, in silence, exhaled towards Him!

So, therefore, if God will be pleased to send a revival, His people
will rejoice in Him because they are revived. They will be thankful
that their spirits are plucked away from their languor and lethargy and
then they will begin to rejoice with the joy of gratitude because God
has done such great things for them! And then sinners will be converted
and straightway saints will rejoice over sinners saved. They will say–

"Ring the bells of Heaven! There is joy today, For a soul returning
from the wild" and they will give God the Glory of that soul's
salvation. So, in that way, His people will rejoice in Him.

But, best of all, to come back to where I started, when everything is
right in the Church and there is a happy and prosperous time, then
God's people will silently and inwardly render unto Him a revenue of
praise by rejoicing in Him. It must be a good thing–must it not–for
you in the midst of the turmoil of business, or for me in the midst of
controversy, just to forget it all, to shake it all off and say, "Oh,
what a God I have! Blessed be His name"? I often revel in God my
exceeding joy–I seem to just give myself up to the enjoyment of a holy
festival of delight in God, feasting my heart to the fullest. And what
are the dainties that are spread before us at such a feast?

Well, first, I rejoice that there is a God. What a horrible world this
would be to live in without God–the house all furnished and nobody at
home! But my Lord is always at home and God is better than His world,
beautiful as are the avenues of trees and yonder glistening river! God
is always at home–that is the joy of our life. I love to see my
Father's flag on the top of the castle and to feel that He is at home.
His Presence makes everything so bright.

And then what a joy it is to think that He is my God! Whatever I have,
or have not, it does not matter, I have a God, and all that there is in
God is mine! O my Soul, what a happy, happy being you are! Blessed be
God forever for making me, seeing that He has made Himself to be mine!
We praise Him, first, for our being, and then for our well-being–and
the essence of our well-being is that God, the greatest of all Beings,
is ours forever and ever! This God is our God forever and ever! He will
be our Guide even unto death and each one of us who is truly His can
sing–

"Yes, my own God is He."

As I think of God, I meditate on all His attributes. He is a powerful
God. Oh, how I love Him for that! I do not want to have a weak arm to
lean upon–let my Lord be the mighty God! Hallelujah to Him because He
can do all things and all that power will be used for righteousness and
truth! I love to think of Him as the God of Love, nothing, even in His
Justice, being contrary to love. Oh, what a blessed God I have–a God
of Love! Then I think of Him as a God of Justice, and I am equally
pleased with Him. I do not want an unjust God–a God who could pardon
sin without Atonement is no God for me! I delight to feel that His
justice is as much concerned and bound to save me as His mercy. Oh,
what a joy to be able to rejoice in His Justice! And then to rejoice in
His Truth–His faithfulness, that He cannot lie–His immutability, that
He cannot change–His eternal existence, that He cannot faint or
die–ah, my Brothers and Sisters, I shall not attempt to go over all
the qualities of the Infinite Jehovah but whatever they are, we delight
in them all, and yet we rejoice in Him most of all!

There are many causes for joy to a Christian, but the great wellhead is
God Himself. I can rejoice in His people, but then they have their
faults. I can rejoice in His Word, but then I sometimes tremble at that
Word. I can rejoice in God's works, but then there is a certain terror
even about them. But as for God, He Himself is perfect! And whether He
is dressed in robes of war, or comes to me with words of peace, now
that I am reconciled to Him by the death of His Son, He is altogether
delightful under any aspect and in any place!

It may seem a very little thing for us thus to delight in God, but it
is the greatest thing of all! It is the crown of a revival that God's
people should rejoice in Him.

Now, dear Hearts, as you come to the Communion Table, I want you to try
to rejoice in God. "But I am mourning about myself," says one. Well,
mourn about yourself if you like, but rejoice in God. "Oh, but I am
troubled in my circumstances!" Well, but a child of God should rise
above circumstances and rejoice in God. There is more in God to cheer
you than in your circumstances to depress you! Say to all these things,
"Good-bye! Good-bye! Go home, for tonight I am just going to rejoice in
God to the fullest!" God help you to do so and if you do, I shall know
that the revival has come, and we shall look to see other fruits of it,
seeing that this best and sweetest fruit of all is already reached!

Let us, before I dismiss those of you who will be going away, pray this
prayer together–

"Lord, revive us again. Lord, revive me. We would, each one of us, say,
'Amen' to that petition. Lord, revive the pastor. Lord, revive the
Church officers. Lord, revive the workers. Lord, revive the members of
the Church. Lord, revive the backsliders. Lord, revive those who seem
to live, but have grown careless. Lord, revive the Church at large
throughout the whole earth. Spirit of revival, come upon us, now, for
Jesus Christ's sake! Amen."

And may the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and
the fellowship of the Spirit, be with us evermore! Amen.

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: ISAIAH43:22-28; 44:1-8; PSALM85.

We will read two passages of Scripture this evening, both of which will
have a bearing upon the subject we are afterwards to consider from our
text. Let us first read a few verses from Isaiah's prophecy, beginning
at chapter 43:22. [The publishers chose to put the exposition after the
sermon, but Brother Spurgeon always did the exposition first.–eo]

Isaiah 43:22. But you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; but you have
been weary of Me, O Israel. This was a sad charge for God to bring
against His chosen people. They had grown weary of their God and yet,
truly, this charge may well be brought against some of us, for we have
grown weary of God, we have forgotten Him in our daily walk and
con-versation–and have grown cold in our love towards Him.

23. You have not brought Me the small cattle of your burnt offerings;
neither have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you
to serve with an offering, nor wearied you with incense. No, God's ways
are not ways of irksomeness, but ways of pleasantness! Our religion is
no tax upon us. We find Christ's yoke to be very easy and His burden to
be very light. All wisdom's ways are ways of pleasantness and all her
paths are peace. "I have not caused you to serve with an offering, nor
wearied you with incense."

24. You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, neither have you
filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices but you have made Me to serve
with your sins. You have wearied Me with your iniquities. "While your
services have been neglected, your sins have been pampered." What an
accusation! As God says by the Prophet Amos, "I am pressed under you,
as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves." God seems to be
oppressed with the sin of His people, but what comes next? Why, one of
the very sweetest verses in the whole of the Scriptures!

25. I, even I, am He that blots out your transgressions for My own
sake, and will not remember your sins. O glorious mercy! We are sunk in
the depth of sin and yet God pardons us on the spot! He at once puts
every sin away and bids us go in peace.

26-28. Put Me in remembrance: let us plead together, declare you, that
you may be justified. Your first father has sinned, and your teachers
have transgressed against Me. Therefore I have profaned the princes of
the sanctuary, and have given Jacob to the curse, and Israel to
reproaches.

Isaiah 44:1. Yet now hear, O Jacob My servant; and Israel, whom I have
chosen. After all these charges, you see, the love of God to His chosen
people is still the same! Well might Paul say, "I am persuaded that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Sin is an exceedingly evil and
bitter thing, but even that shall not divide us from the love of God,
for, "while we were yet sinners, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly." So herein Grace triumphs over sin and lays our follies
beneath its feet!

2-8. Thus says the LORD that made you, and formed you from the womb
which will help you; Fear not, O Jacob, My servant; and you, Jeshurun,
whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and
floods upon the dry ground: I will pour My spirit upon your seed, and
My blessing is on your offspring: and they shall spring up as among the
grass, as willows by the water courses. One shall say, I am the LORD'S;
and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall
subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name
of Israel. Thus says the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the
LORD of hosts, I am the First, and I am the Last; and beside Me there
is no God. And who, as I shall call, and shall declare it, and set it
in order for Me, since I appointed the ancient people? And the things
that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them. Fear you not,
neither be afraid: have not I told you from that time, and have
declared it? You are even My witnesses. Is there a God beside Me? Yes,
there is no God; I know not any.

Now turn to Psalm 85. This Psalm is dedicated to the chief musician. It
is a Psalm worthy of the ablest musician. It is to be sung with care.
They are well instructed who can understand it, and enter into the
experience it describes. It is called–

"A Psalm for the sons of Korah."

I have often reminded you, dear Friends, that when Korah, Dathan and
Abiram went down alive into the pit, the sons of Dathan and Abiram
perished with their fathers, but we read, "Notwithstanding, the
children of Korah died not." We cannot tell why. We must set it down to
the Sovereign Grace of God. And if it were so, then I can see why they
became singers in the sanctuary!

"A Psalm for the sons of Korah." You will sing best who wonder most at
your salvation! You who can see no reason for it, except the Sovereign
goodness of God, will have sweet voices tuned with gratitude wherewith
to praise God. The first verse of the Psalm contains a happy memory

Verses 1, 2. LORD, You have been favorable unto Your land: You have
brought back the captivity of Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity of
Your people, You have covered all their sin. Selah. Let us think of
what God has done for His people. He has been very favorable to us in
years past. He has lifted up the light of His Countenance upon His
chosen ones and made them glad. "You have brought back the captivity of
Jacob." We were once in captivity, exiles far off from God and home,
but He has led our captivity captive, and we are now in bondage no
longer, blessed be His name! Note again what the Psalmist says–"You
have forgiven the iniquity of Your people." What a joy that is!
Forgiven sin is enough to make us sing to all eternity. If sin is
pardoned, you have a mass of mercy in that fact too great for you to
estimate its value. "You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people."
See how the Inspired writer puts it again–"You have covered all their
sin–hidden it, put it out of sight with that Divine covering of the
Atonement which has hid forever, even from the eyes of God, the sin of
His people! There is a happy memory for us–to see what God has done
for us. Let us bless His name for it. Now comes another happy memory

3. You have taken away all Your wrath: You have turned Yourself from
the fierceness of Your anger. "You did stay Your bow even after it was
bent. Even when Your right arm was bared for war, You did make peace
for us. 'You have turned yourself from the fierceness of Your anger.'
When it burned like fire, yet did You stay it through the great
Atonement of Jesus, "Christ our Lord." Now comes in a prayer

4. Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause Your anger toward us to
cease. "You have done all this for Your people; now do this for us who
fear lest we are not Your people–comfort us! Turn us and then take
Your anger from our conscience, and let us be at peace with You." How I
wish that many in this Tabernacle would pray even now, "Turn us, O God
of our salvation, and cause Your anger toward us to cease!" It is the
prayer of a Church that is under a cloud. It is the prayer of a nation
that is suffering for its sin. It is the prayer of a sinner who sees
what God has done for His people and who entreats the Lord to do the
same for him.

5. Will You be angry with us forever? "Surely we have not got into
eternity yet. Lord, do not have eternal anger toward us. 'Will You be
angry with us forever?' Will You not hear our prayers? Will You not
have mercy upon us?"

5. Will You draw out Your anger to all generations? "Shall our children
also suffer? Will You not have pity upon them?"

6, 7. Will You not revive us again that Your people may rejoice in You?
Show us Your mercy, O LORD, and grant us Your salvation. "We are such
poor blind creatures that we cannot see! Yet, O Lord, show us Your
mercy, make us see it, reveal it to us and grant us Your salvation! It
must be a free grant, a grant of Grace, a grant of Love, therefore,
grant us Your salvation." Listen to this eighth verse

8. I will hear what God the LORD will speak. "I will be silent. I have
spoken to Him, now I will hear what His answer is. I will hold my ears
attentive to listen to His voice." O my dear Hearers, when you are
willing to hear God, there are good times coming for you!

8. For He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints. There is
peace, peace, nothing else but peace for them!

8. But let them not turn again to folly. For if they do, the Lord will
speak to them by rods and chastisements. They that get God's peace must
mind that they keep it. They must walk carefully, or else they will
break the peace and they may, themselves, get broken in pieces. "Let
them not turn again to folly."

9. Surely His salvation is near them that fear Him. When you honor Him,
reverence Him, worship Him–His salvation cannot be far away from you.

9. 10. That glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met
together. At the Cross is their meeting place! There, you shall see
God's mercy and God's truth embracing each other over the great
Sacrifice of Christ. Mercy and truth seem set at variance in the
sinner's case till they are reconciled by the blood of Jesus!

10. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other. It seemed
impossible that God should be righteous and yet be at peace with
sinners, but Christ has taken both parties by the hand and, at Calvary,
they kiss each other! God is as righteous as if He were not gracious,
and as gracious as if He were not just! Yes, His justice and His peace
are, each of them, all the brighter because of the other!

11. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look
down from Heaven. Carpeted with truth and canopied with
righteousness–what a wonderful scene is before us! Truth is coming out
of the ground as though it had been a dead thing which begins to live,
and leaves its tomb! And righteousness is throwing up the windows of
Heaven and leaning out to look down upon the sons of men! "Truth shall
spring out of the earth and righteousness shall look down from Heaven."
What a wonderful meeting this is of truth and righteousness–truth
lifting up her hands to Heaven and righteousness putting down its hands
to earth!

12. Yes, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall
yield her increase. It is all well when it is well with us in our
relation to God. When we are reconciled to Him, then all things are
reconciled by that fact.

3. Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall set us in the way of
His steps. Lord, hear the prayer of this Psalm and answer it to us, for
Jesus sake! Amen.