Will You Not Revive Us Again So That

5. Psalms: Crying Out for Rescue
(Psalms 69, xl, 80)

by Dr. Ralph F. Wilson
Audio (42:16)

The archetype symbol of rescue in Christian fine art is the Skilful Shepherd rescuing a sheep, very common in the catacombs. "Statue of the Practiced Shepherd" (tertiary century), 39" high, marble, from the Catacomb of Domitilla, now in Museo Pio Cristino, Vatican.

Many of the psalms are laments that come out of times of great distress and trouble. They are unashamed cries for help, for salvation, for rescue.

These desperate laments may be great Hebrew poesy, but they are not pretty. They speak of times that you and I accept faced when all seems lost except for God's intervention. So at our extremity, we reach out to God and plead for rescue. They have a way of touching the man spirit, of helping u.s.a. to pray when nosotros are most beyond praying.

Only most of the laments in our Psalter are non pure laments. Most end on an upswing of hope and praise. Some contain a combination of psalm types, mixing and matching various genre to fit what the poet singer needed to say under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Remember, as y'all brainstorm to study each of these three psalms of rescue, first read information technology out loud. Listen to the words, bask them, let them speak to you. After you take done this, then begin to read them carefully to discern specifically what is beingness said.

Psalm 69 -- Deep Waters and Miry Depths

The commencement psalm we'll examine is attributed to David, a long one, meant to exist sung. Even the tune is given, unfortunately now long lost to us:

"For the managing director of music. To the tune of 'Lilies.' Of David."

David may be referring to trouble and struggle acquired past his affair with Bathsheba which ended in her pregnancy and the murder of her husband Uriah as office of the cover-upwardly (2 Samuel xi-12). Some commentators have seen similarities with Jeremiah'southward prophecy and speculate that Jeremiah was the author of this psalm.^one In that location are also some indications that the psalmist may be ill (69:21, 27, 29). We simply tin can't be sure about the details of the psalmist's personal situation.

Going Downward for the Third Time (69:i-four)

Whatsoever the situation, the psalmist is in deep problem and in that it is easy for us to identify with him. In the first iv verses the psalmist describes how he is feeling using the virtually graphic images:

"ⁱSave me, O God,
for the waters take come up upward to my neck.
ⁱⁱI sink in the miry depths,
where there is no foothold.
I have come into the deep waters;
the floods engulf me.
³I am worn out calling for help;
my throat is parched.
My eyes neglect,
looking for my God.
⁴Those who detest me without reason
outnumber the hairs of my caput;
many are my enemies without crusade,
those who seek to destroy me.
I am forced to restore
what I did not steal." (69:1-4)

David'due south images are vivid. Water which is over his head, overwhelming him. He describes the mire ( ṭîṭ) which settles in the lesser of a cistern or possibly the sinking, grasping mud of a swamp that seems to have no bottom.ⁱⁱ

One of the refreshing things I meet in the Psalms is the writers' ability to just pour out their hearts to God, with all the raw emotions, anger, fear that seem to bubble to the surface. They don't attempt to "compose themselves" before speaking to God. They tell it like it is, as y'all might unload on a adept friend whom you trust implicitly and who you lot don't feel will judge you negatively. The Psalms are meant to be an exemplar for u.s., a guide to prayer. What they teach is that we should be real and honest in our prayers.

Y'all Know My Own Guilt (69:5-12)

"You lot know my folly, O God;
my guilt is not subconscious from you." (69:5)

David doesn't pretend hither that he is without sin. In fact, his sin and stupidity may have well have contributed to the problems he is facing and enflamed his enemies. If he is referring to the incident with Bathsheba and Uriah in this case, his admission of guilt is quite advisable.

He realizes also that his sins have brought shame upon other believers, upon God himself, and upon the nation he ruled. When people of religion in prominent places sin publicly, they bring disgrace upon God. When Christians in families sin, they disgrace God before their children and spouse.

"⁶May those who hope in you
not exist disgraced because of me,
O Lord, the LORD Almighty;
may those who seek you
not be put to shame because of me,
O God of Israel.
⁷For I suffer scorn for your sake,
and shame covers my face." (69:6-7)

When we sin, our sin affects others. Equally John Donne put it, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a role of the chief."³

David isn't merely bearing the merely consequences for his sins. God'due south enemies are having a field twenty-four hours with David'southward infidelity and take amplified his sin even further. David is now isolated, devastated, the laughing stock of his people:

"⁸I am a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my ain female parent'south sons;
⁹for zeal for your house consumes me,
and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.
^xWhen I weep and fast,
I must endure contemptuousness;
¹¹when I put on sackcloth,
people make sport of me.
¹²Those who sit at the gate mock me,
and I am the vocal of the drunkards." (69:viii-12)

David'due south Appeal to God's Mercy (69:thirteen-eighteen)

David cannot entreatment to his own righteousness in this example.^four Rather he appeals to God's love and mercy as he pleads for deliverance:

"¹³But I pray to you, O LORD,
in the time of your favor;
in your great dear, O God,
answer me with your sure salvation.
^xiv Rescue me from the mire,
do not allow me sink;
deliver me from those who detest me,
from the deep waters.
¹⁵Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
or the depths swallow me up
or the pit close its mouth over me.
¹⁶Reply me, O 50ORD, out of the goodness of your love;
in your great mercy turn to me.
¹⁷Exercise not hide your confront from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in trouble.
¹⁸Come near and rescue me;
redeem me considering of my foes." (69:13-18)

I look at David'south prayer for deliverance. He appeals to God not on the basis of his own worthiness, but on the basis of God's grace. Let's consider some of the words:

• "Time of your favor" (NIV), "in an adequate time" (NRSV, KJV) is the word rāṣōn, "pleasure, delight, favor." Here the shade of meaning seems to be "the 'favor' or 'good will' of God."⁵ David prays based on God'south good will. The New Testament often refers to God's favor equally grace.
• "Beloved" (NIV), "steadfast love" (NRSV), " mercy/lovingkindness" (KJV) in verses 13c and 16a is the give-and-take ḥesed that we studied in chapter 2. It carries the ideas of dearest, including mercy, perchance "lovingkindness," spells out the meaning more fully.⁶
• "Great mercy" (NIV), "abundant mercy" (NRSV), "tender mercies" (KJV) is raḥămîm, from a root that refers to deep dear, rooted in some natural bond, in this case of united states of america being God'south children. Because we are his children, even errant children, his attitude towards us is pity and deep beloved. A related substantive is reḥem, "womb," which suggests the depth of this great mercy.^seven

Our pleas to God are ever based on his graciousness and never on our own merit. This is one of the bones lessons of faith. And since we tin residuum on the unchanging character of God's dear we are secure in that dearest.

Calls for Salvation and Rescue

David'due south call to God is for salvation, rescue, and redemption. Nosotros've met these words before, but it won't hurt to examine them once more, since they are basic to our understanding of salvation:

• "Conservancy" (NIV, KJV) or "true-blue help" (NRSV) in verse 13d is yēsha`, "salvation, deliverance." The root in a related Arabic word means "to make wide, brand sufficient." Information technology carries the thought of moving from distress to safe, that is, rescue.⁸ Y'all probably recall that this give-and-take is at the root of both the names "Joshua" and "Jesus."
• "Rescue" (NIV, NRSV), "deliver" (KJV) in verse 14a is nāṣal, "deliver, rescue, save," with the basic physical sense of drawing out or pulling out.⁹
• "Rescue" (NIV, NRSV), "redeem" (KJV) in verse 18a is gā´al, "practice the function of a kinsman," in ransoming, buying back, delivering, rescuing one's relative when he is in chains or danger.^ten
• "Redeem" (NIV, NRSV), "deliver" (KJV) in verse 18b is pādā, "bribe, rescue, deliver," with the basic meaning of achieving transfer of ownership from 1 to another through payment of a price or an equivalent substitute.^xi

Each of these themes is carried over in the New Testament to our conservancy from sin through Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, whose death on the cross paid our ransom (Mark 10:45).

Back to David'due south Enemies (69:19-28)

At present David'south listen turns back to the hurting that his enemies are heaping upon him:

"^xixYou know how I am scorned, disgraced and shamed;
all my enemies are before you.
²⁰Scorn has cleaved my center
and has left me helpless;
I looked for sympathy, only in that location was none,
for comforters, but I constitute none.
²¹They put gall in my food
and gave me vinegar for my thirst." (69:19-21)

What David meant figuratively in poetry 21, was fulfilled literally in Jesus Christ, when his crucifiers offered him wine-vinegar mixed with gall (Matthew 27:34, 48). Unlike Jesus, however, who prayed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34), David prays for justice, for vindication, for retribution upon his enemies, non for mercy:

"²²May the table ready before them become a snare;
may information technology become retribution and a trap.
²³May their eyes exist darkened so they cannot see,
and their backs be bent forever.
²⁴Pour out your wrath on them;
let your fierce anger overtake them.
²⁵May their place be deserted;
let in that location exist no one to dwell in their tents.
²⁶For they persecute those you wound
and talk about the hurting of those you hurt.
²⁷Charge them with offense upon criminal offense;
do not let them share in your conservancy.
²⁸May they exist blotted out of the volume of life
and not be listed with the righteous." (69:22-28)

Sometimes in our hurting we lash out in anger and hatred. It is "natural." The progressive revelation of the Bible leads u.s.a. beyond this typical human instinct to something higher -- the love of God that transcends our humanness and lifts us to something divine. That is revealed in good time through Jesus Christ our Lord. "We love because he commencement loved us" (1 John 4:xix). For more on the psalmists cursing their enemies, come across my essay "The Imprecatory Psalms" (www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-imprecatory.htm).

A Concluding Plea (69:29)

Once again David calls out for help:

"I am in pain and distress;
may your salvation, O God, protect me." (69:29)

An Outpouring of Praise (69:30-33)

Like near laments in the Psalms, this psalm turns from complaint and misery to faith with an upswing at the cease. David does non stay in his pit of misery. At present he climbs out through praise, the language of faith.

"^thirtyI will praise God's name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving.
³¹This will delight the LORD more than an ox,
more than a balderdash with its horns and hoofs.
³²The poor will encounter and be glad --
you who seek God, may your hearts live!" (69:30-32)

David understands that religion -- expressed by praise and thanksgiving -- is more pleasing to God than going through the outward rituals of atonement and cleansing (as well Psalm 51:16; 40:6; 50:8; Hosea 6:6). Ultimately, restoration of a person'southward relationship with God is not an outward practice, but an in assurance by the Holy Spirit. It is the respond to David's prayer in Psalm 51:12 to renew a right spirit within him.

A Prophecy for the Restoration of State of israel'south Homeland (69:33-36)

This psalm ends with what seems to be a prophetic word for the people of Israel during or at the end of their Exile in Babylon. In 587 BC the Babylonian armies had destroyed Jerusalem and their dear temple, as well every bit all the fortified cities in Judah. At present God speaks to them words of promise through this psalm:

"³³The LORD hears the needy
and does non despise his captive people.
³⁴Permit heaven and globe praise him,
the seas and all that motility in them,
³⁵for God will save Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah.
So people volition settle there and possess it;
³⁶the children of his servants will inherit it,
and those who love his name volition dwell in that location." (69:33-36)

While it is possible that David penned these verses -- he was a prophet, yous know -- I think information technology is more likely that David's psalm which was existence used in the synagogues of Babylon was appended with these by an unknown prophet of the fourth dimension.

A Psalm for the Brokenhearted

Psalm 69 is a telephone call from the depths of a broken spirit to God. If you've ever been utterly overwhelmed by your circumstances, this psalm can be your prayer to God -- and a model prayer for you in hereafter times of struggle. Pour out your soul to Him. Tell him what you are feeling. And then praise him and give him thanks and yous'll find that your spirit will begin to elevator, your hope will ascend, your faith will come out of hiding. No, this is not a psalm that looks to rituals for healing, but the God who heals the hearts of his people. I hear the psalmist'south words band in my own ears:

"The poor will meet and be glad --
you who seek God, may your hearts alive!" (69:32)

Grant information technology, Lord Jesus!

Q2. (Psalm 69:30-32) Why does this lament (and nearly all laments in the Psalms) end with an upswing of hope and praise? What does this teach us about our own laments and prayers? Why is praise, the language of faith, so important in our prayers, especially prayers of desperate pleas for help?
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Psalm 40 -- O My God, Do Not Filibuster

Our second psalm of rescue seems to exist, "Out of the frying pan, into the fire." At the beginning of the psalm, David is recounting his long waiting for the Lord to assistance him and and then his spectacular deliverance. He is pumped upwardly by this and shares his testimony "in the great associates" so that every one knows how cracking God is. But at the end of the psalm his sins have overtaken him once more, "troubles without number surround me" (forty:12a) and he calls out for help and deliverance again. With hope, with expectation, but likewise with an urgency that concludes, "O my God, do not delay" (40:17d).

If you lot've read David's life in 1 and 2 Samuel, you'll recall his numerous troubles. At i menses of his life he is pursued over again and once more by his jealous begetter-in-constabulary Saul, intent on taking his life. Victory at one turn is followed by trouble at the adjacent. At a subsequently tragic period his ain son Absalom chases him from Jerusalem into exile, from which he returns in the ache of a male parent whose traitorous but beloved son lies dead.

If you lot're a person who has seen ups and downs, times of nifty deliverance followed quickly by dandy extremity, so this is a psalm for yous.

He Put a New Song in My Mouth (40:1-iii)

The title tells us: "For the director of music. Of David. A psalm." This psalm, penned by David, "the sweet psalmist of Israel" (2 Samuel 23:1), was meant to exist sung. It begins with a recollection of praise after a long menstruum of waiting for deliverance.

"¹I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
²He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a stone
and gave me a firm identify to stand.
³He put a new vocal in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will run into and fear
and put their trust in the LORD." (40:one-three)

"I waited patiently for the LORD," describes many of our circumstances. In the Hebrew text the verbs are doubled for emphasis (the infinitive absolute), "Expecting, I expected," indicating non and so much patience perhaps, than a prolonged flow of waiting. The NASB renders information technology, "I waited attentively for the FiftyORD." You've been there, haven't you?

David describes his time of trouble as a "horrible pit" (KJV), "the slimy pit" (NIV), "the desolate pit" (NRSV), literally the "pit of tumult" (NRSV margin). In contrast to mud and mire where he could find no bottom on which to stand, God gear up his anxiety on the stability of a stone, "a firm place to stand up."

Now he is full of praise and vocal. David sees his experience equally a public testimony of God'southward powerful power to deliver that will cause many to "put their trust in the LORD." In poesy 10 he mentions speaking openly "in the nifty congregation" of this deliverance. When God delivers yous, practise you offer praise and share your testimony openly of how God has helped you, or do you keep it to yourself?

Blessed Is the Person Who Trusts in This Caring God (xl:iv-5)

At present David offers a couple of verses of praise towards the God of infinite care, blessing, and deliverance.

"⁴Blessed is the man
who makes the LORD his trust,
who does not look to the proud,
to those who turn bated to false gods.
⁵Many, O LORD my God,
are the wonders yous have done.
The things you lot planned for u.s.
no i tin can recount to you;
were I to speak and tell of them,
they would be also many to declare." (40:4-five)

I am struck past verse 5b: "The things y'all planned for us no ane can recount to you" because of their great number. "Your thoughts toward u.s.a." (NRSV). When I meditate on this phrase I am filled with tranquility joy, almost tears. I am and then insignificant, yet mighty Yahweh thinks virtually me and my path, nearly you and your path. We would drown in a bounding main of data about billions of living humans, only God is not overwhelmed. His love, his caring, is personal, individual, unhurried.

I in one case asked a neighbour who lived down the street if I could pray for his struggling bicycle business. "No," he said. "I wouldn't want to carp God about something as niggling as my business." How tragic to plough away a God who truly cares for you, whose thoughts are toward usa and our needs. Not even a sparrow is forgotten by God, much less y'all! (Luke 12:6-seven).

In the Curl of the Book It Is Written of Me (xl:six-8)

The next verses are remarkable -- and prophetic:

"⁶Sacrifice and offering you did non desire,
but my ears you have pierced
burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did non require.
⁷Then I said, 'Here I am, I take come --
it is written well-nigh me in the whorl.
^viiiI desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.'" (forty:6-viii)

First, David affirms what other Old Attestation prophets have seen: God isn't excited by a heaping upwardly of animal sacrifices. What he wants instead is "an open ear" (6b, NJB, NRSV, "my ears you have pierced," NIV), a willing, obedient spirit, "I desire to practice your will" (8a). We run across a similar idea in David's great penitential psalm:

"Yous do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do non take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a cleaved spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, y'all volition non despise." (Psalm 51:16-17)

So often we are content to atone our guilt through some kind of external ritual that God has provided for our assurance. But nosotros must go beyond the external to the in, to the heart that is willing, to the heart that is now grieved for its folly, to the heart that is broken of its pride and is contrite in its intent.

But David's words in Psalm 40 speak of someone across himself, Jesus, most whom the scriptures speak in many places. These verses are quoted in Hebrews, following the early Septuagint translation at cardinal points, pointing to Christ's ain coming:

"Cede and offering you did non desire,
but a torso you prepared for me;
with burnt offerings and sin offerings
y'all were not pleased.
Then I said, 'Here I am -- it is written about me in the scroll --
I take come to do your volition, O God.'" (Hebrews 10:5-7)

David'due south Public Testimony (40:ix-x)

"⁹I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips,
every bit you lot know, O 50ORD.
¹⁰I do non hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not muffle your beloved and your truth
from the great assembly." (40:nine-10)

Function of our thankfulness and praise is to permit others know what God has washed for us. We're sometimes afraid of what others might think or that we might not exist able to measure up in the future to our loftier calling, and then nosotros are silent. But we are chosen to give testimony, both in church building and to our friends and neighbors with whom nosotros live. How exercise we know that a simple and humble word of how Jesus has helped u.s.a. won't be the very affair that God will use to turn a neighbor'south heart towards himself?

Troubles without Number Environs Me (twoscore:eleven-12)

But David's respite from trouble doesn't seem to last long -- and neither does ours:

"¹¹Do not withhold your mercy from me, O 50ORD;
may your love and your truth always protect me.
¹²For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot encounter.
They are more than than the hairs of my head,
and my centre fails inside me."

David's phrase, "My sins have overtaken me" (nāśag, "overtake, take hold of up with"¹²), suggests a human being pursued past enemies and problems, some of which are of his own making. Sound familiar? David finds it overwhelming: "I cannot encounter!" His problems seem innumerable to him and he is all of a sudden afraid: "My middle fails within me." Y'all've been there, surely!

A Returning Confidence that Expects God'southward Conservancy (40:13-16)

Simply David recovers quickly from his panic and calls out to the Lord with a confidence borne of experience in trouble and seeing God's deliverance:

"¹³Be pleased, O LORD, to save me;
O FiftyORD, come quickly to help me.
¹⁴May all who seek to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned dorsum in disgrace.
^fifteenMay those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!"
be appalled at their own shame.
¹⁶But may all who seek yous
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation e'er say,
'The 50ORD be exalted!'" (40:13-sixteen)

In that location are always those who will meet our trouble and say "Aha! I told you lot and so! I knew this would happen!" David contrasts the shame that he prays for his enemies with the approval that he calls down upon the believers, "those who love your salvation." Instead of cringing in fear and uncertainty when trouble comes, they call out confidently "The LORD be exalted!" -- or, the way it sometimes comes out of my mouth, "Praise the Lord anyway!"

O My God, Do Not Delay (40:17)

This psalm concludes with faith coupled with humility.

"All the same I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my assist and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay." (40:17)

Sometimes we become bold in ourselves. David is careful to remember his true state, "poor and needy," while at the same time calling with confidence on God in His true state -- "My Help and my Deliverer!" David concludes with a petition that many of u.s.a. have felt. Yeah, we have waited patiently -- waited and waited (poetry 1), but our desire is to get this over with at present! "O my God, do non delay!" (verse 17d).

Psalm 40 is a wonderfully human being psalm, the desperate cry of one who is in deep problem. Merely what inspires us is not its humanness, just its faith and its hope in the midst of this problem and the psalmist'southward sincere surrender to the God whose thoughts are focused on him, the God who holds the plan for his life. And so he responds:

"Here I am, I have come....
I want to do your will, O my God." (twoscore:seven-eight)

Psalm fourscore -- Restore U.s., O God

Our third psalm of rescue is a psalm that seems to come from the flow of the exile, when the cities of Israel had been destroyed. It was a traumatic time for the people of God, severely chastened for their sin and idolatry, dragged off to a foreign country. They looked with nostalgia upon their days in their homeland and called out to God for restoration. The title reads:

"For the managing director of music. To the tune of 'The Lilies of the Covenant.' Of Asaph. A psalm."

This psalm came from the musical family of the descendents of Asaph, a temple vocalist. Even the tune of this song is specified, though no 1 knows information technology today.

Rather than studying information technology verse by verse, read it equally it must accept been read with its iii refrains. Note the powerful images:

• A shepherd with his flock (80:1a)
• The presence of God enthroned upon the ark in all his celebrity in the temple (fourscore:1b)
• The bread of tears (lxxx:five)
• The vineyard, once fruitful, now destroyed, whose protective walls or hedges are now broken downward (eighty:8-16)

Information technology is a sorrowful psalm. Instead of being a personal lament similar Psalms 69 and 40 which we considered above, this is a national complaining, a prayer for national deliverance. Once the nation was young, brought out of slavery in Egypt during the Exodus and planted like a tender vine in the vineyard of Canaan land. But now its hope and hope are but a memory. The nation has sinned and God has punished their persistent idolatry and rebellion with foreign armies that take destroyed its cities and carried its people into exile.

Revive Us Once more (80:18-19)

The central petition of this psalm is for rebirth, revival, for restoration of the nation. Look at the concluding verses:

"Revive us, and we will phone call on your proper name.
Restore us, O LORD God Almighty...." (eighty:18b-19a)

"Revive us" (NIV, NASB), "quicken the states" (KJV), "give united states of america life" (NRSV, NJB) is the verb ḥāyā, "live, accept life, remain alive, sustain life, revive from sickness."^thirteen

"Restore us" (NIV, NRSV, NASB), "bring u.s. back" (NJB), "turn us again" (KJV) is the common verb shûb, "turn, render." It is the word used often for "repent." But here it is a plea for God to turn and return his people from their fallen state in exile to a rebirth of the nation in their homeland. We see a similar sentiment in the exile-era psalm from the Sons of Korah and its plaintive prayer in Psalm 85:

"Restore (shûb) united states of america once again, O God our Savior,
and put away your displeasure toward the states.
Volition you be angry with united states of america forever?
Will y'all prolong your anger through all generations?
Will you non revive (ḥāyā) us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?" (Psalm 85:4-6)

When I read these words I think of the final verse of a nifty hymn of a bygone era:

"Revive us once more;
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With burn down from to a higher place.

Hallelujah! Thine the celebrity.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the celebrity.
Revive us again."¹⁴

And I think of churches -- private congregations as well as whole denominations and movements -- that need revival in the worst possible way. Unless God quickens us, gives us life again, we are but a shell of the onetime glory that God shone in our midst. We desperately demand revival. We come across some younger Christian movements that are vibrant and growing, but too many others that are in decline, that are going through the motions but the "the celebrity is departed" (1 Samuel 4:21).

God grant revival in our churches. Non that we might pride ourselves as nosotros did in the by, but that you might be seen in our midst as you once were! Revive the Baptists! Revive the Presbyterians! Revive the Congregationalists and Nazarenes and Holiness! Revive the Pentecostals! Revive the Catholics! Revive the Orthodox! We need your revival, your life, your ability, your glory. Forgive us for our sins and bickering. Nosotros repent of our gradual migrate away from your purpose for us. Focus our optics and desire again on our Start Love. And revive your life in us, nosotros pray!

Q5. (Psalm fourscore) If yous were to formulate a personal prayer for revival for your own life or for your congregation, how would y'all word it? What elements should exist present in a prayer for personal or congregational revival? What would this prayer accept in common with two Chronicles 7:14? How does this kind of prayer pave the way for revival and restoration to have place?
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Make Your Face up Smooth upon Us (80:3, 17, 19)

The refrain of Psalm 80 refocuses the participants in this corporate vocal and prayer onto God himself:

"Restore u.s., O FiftyORD God Almighty;
make your face polish upon usa,
that we may be saved." (80:3, 17, 19)

It is a three-fold prayer to Yahweh, the God Almighty, the only ane who is powerful enough to plough around the decay of the past into the fresh life that we long for.

1. Restore us
2. Make your face shine upon us
3. Salvage us

What does information technology mean to ask God to "make your face shine upon us"? We are familiar with the words from the Aaronic benediction that is repeated in many congregations:

"The LORD bless you lot, and keep y'all.
The LORD brand his face up shine upon you,
and be gracious unto you.
The LORD elevator upwardly his countenance upon you,
and give you peace." (Numbers 6:25-26)

Now all the lessons are available together in e-volume and paperback formats.

In Nearly Eastern idea, a person's face referred to his presence earlier you lot. We looked at this concept in conjunction with Psalm 27 about seeking the face of the Lord. For Yahweh to "make his face shine upon y'all" and the parallel "lift up his countenance upon y'all," means to grinning when he is with us, to testify favor to us considering he is pleased with the states, "to be gracious toward." To "lift upwardly his countenance upon y'all" meant to look straight at his people, to requite them his full attention resulting in peace. ¹⁵

The psalms of complaining have taught usa much about prayer with praise, almost grace and mercy, virtually our need for revival and renewal. May the prayers of your servants the psalmists be answered in our own lives! Grant it, Lord God.

Exercise. For one of the psalms in this lesson -- or another psalm with a like theme -- do one of the suggested exercises to assist you experience the Psalms (www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-exercises.htm). These include such things as praying a psalm, meditating, reading to a close-in, paraphrasing, writing your own psalm, singing, preparing a liturgy, and memorizing. Then report to the forum what the exercise meant to you personally or share what you've written with others.
http://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=672

Prayer

Lord, y'all know us. Yous know our sorrows and our personal laments. Teach us -- teach me -- to plough my laments into a prayer of religion that yous can answer. Heal the broken elements of my life that I might exist whole. Bring me and my congregation the grace of a God-sent restoration and revival. Restore us again, O God our Savior, to our first love -- Jesus. In His name, we pray. Amen.

Songs

• "Eternal Begetter, Potent to Save" (Navy Hymn), words past William Whiting (1860), music by John B. Dykes (1861).
• "He Brought Me Out of the Miry Clay," words Henry J. Zelley (1898), refrain and music by Henry 50. Gilmour
• "He Took My Feet from the Miry Clay," traditional African American spiritual.
• "I Waited for the Lord" (Psalm 40:one-6), words and music by Bill Bastone (© 1982 Maranatha! Music)
• "Psalm 5" (Give ear to my words, O Lord), words and music past Pecker Sprouse, Jr. (© 1975,Marnatha! Music). Psalm v.
• "Revive U.s. Again," words by William P. Mackay (1863), music by John J. Husband (1815)
• "Save Me, O God, the Swelling Floods," words: Isaac Watts (1719), Music: Cheshire (1579)
• "Await on the Lord," words and music past Bob Choose (© 1978, Maranatha! Music)
• "Unto Thee, O Lord," words and music by Charles Monroe (© 1971, 1973, Maranatha! Music)

References

1. Kirkpatrick, Psalms, p. 397; White, Psalms, p. 106.
2. Ralph H. Alexander, ṭyṭ, TWOT #796a. See also Psalm 40:ii; Jeremiah 38:6.
3. John Donne, Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions (1624), Meditation 17.
4. In some cases, David does entreatment to God based on his own righteousness or the rightness of his cause: Psalms vii:three; 18:20, 24; 26:1-12.
5. William White, rāṣā, TWOT #2207a.
6. R. Laird Harris, ḥsd, TWOT #698a.
7. Leonard J. Coppes, rāḥam, TWOT #2146b.
8. John E. Hartley, yāsha`, TWOT #929a.
9. Milton C. Fisher, nāṣal, TWOT #1404.
10. Milton C. Fisher, gā´al, TWOT #1404.
11. William B. Coker, pādā, TWOT #1734.
12. Nāśag, Holladay 247. This verb often occurs every bit a complement to rādap "pursue" (Milton C. Fisher, nāśag, TWOT #1422.
13. Elmer B. Smick, ḥāyā, TWOT #644.
14. "Revive Us Again," words by William P. Mackay (1863), music past John J. Husband (1815).
15. R.Chiliad. Harrison, Numbers: An Exegetical Commentary (Bakery Book House, 1992), p. 133.

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Source: http://www.jesuswalk.com/psalms/psalms-5-rescue.htm

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