 | | Psalm 80:3 "Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved." From beginning to end, Psalm 80 is a prayer for revival. The psalmist asked God to "stir up thy strength, and come and save us" (verse 2) and to "look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine." (verse 14) God had not gone anywhere; He is still the same as He ever was. But sometimes in our lives, as in the lives of the people in Psalm 80, God is not manifesting Himself. In addition, God was not just indifferent to their praying--He was literally angry against their prayers (verse 4)! That is a frightening prospect from the General of heaven! You see both revival and backsliding in this psalm. Verse 18 says, "So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, and we will call upon thy name." If you are tracking in the wrong direction, it does not matter what sin you are or are not involved in--you still "went backward, and not forward." (Jeremiah 7:24b) The word quicken means "to make alive"--it is a revival word! What these folks needed was the ear of God (verse 1). That really is the goal of prayer--the ear of God. Without His ear, you are just wasting time. This morning, I can tell you that when we need what God's people needed in Psalm 80, we should do what they did! Well, that begs two questions. First, what did they need? Second, what did they do? Did they need a return to the glory of the nation? Did they need an upward swing in the economy? Did they need a stronger army and fewer enemies? Did they need more respect in the world? The truth is, they needed all these things (and I suspect we have heard about these things, too). But is that what they (or we) really need? Our greatest need today is not more respect around the globe or more money in our pockets. What we need is not something that God provides-we need God Himself! We are sheep, and sheep need a shepherd. While it is true that sheep need grass and water to live, what they truly need is a shepherd. So the psalmist asked the "Shepherd of Israel" to "turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine." Today, we need what they needed--we need God Himself!
So what should we do? Acknowledge God's ownership, ask for God's help, and then anticipate what God will do! (verses 1-3) Doesn't the fact that the psalmist asked God to "turn us again" indicate that God had worked and He could work again? The God of heaven has the resources and power to provide what you need today. Are you turned to God this morning? When you need what the people in Psalm 80 needed, remember to do what they did!
| | - Revival services tonight in Clermont, FL (Bill Rice III and team) | | | |
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