Psalm 80

Let Your Face Shine Upon Us, That We May Be Saved

A Prayer for Revival Among God’s People

¹      Hear us, Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock.
²    You who sit enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth  before Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.  Awaken your might—come and save us.

³   Restore us, O God, make your face shine on us,  that we may be saved.

⁴     How long, Lord God Almighty, will your anger smolder against the prayers of your people?
⁵     You have fed them with the bread of tears—You have made them drink tears by the bowlful.
⁶     You have made us an object of derision to our neighbors, and our enemies mock us.

⁷    Restore us, God Almighty.  Make your face shine on us,  that we may be saved.

⁸     You transplanted a vine from Egypt—You drove out the nations and planted it.
⁹     You cleared the ground for it, and it took root and filled the land.
¹⁰   The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches.
¹¹    Its branches reached as far as the Sea, its shoots as far as the River.

¹²   Why have you broken down its walls so that all who pass by pick its grapes?
¹³    Boars from the forest ravage it, and insects from the fields feed on it.
¹⁴    Return to us, God Almighty! Look down from heaven and see! Watch over this vine,
¹⁵   The root your right hand has planted, the Son You have raised up for yourself.

¹⁶    Your vine is cut down, it is burned with fire; at your rebuke your people perish.
¹⁷    Let your hand rest on the man at your right hand, the Son of man you have raised up for yourself.
¹⁸   Then we will not turn away from you; revive us, and we will call on Your name.

¹⁹   Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.

Revivals begin with preaching of God’s Word, the leading of the Holy Spirit and conviction of His people of their spiritual apathy and continued sin.  God’s Spirit will open the eyes and ears of those willing to see and hear—to receive a glimpse of His holiness.  It begins with a single individual.  As we come under conviction, we realize our sin has separated them from God.  

Our problems may be on a personal or on a national level, but we must begin to see our own desperate condition. We begin to understand we are helpless to do anything about it—because we see the consequences of how our faithless, disobedient lives have dishonored God's Holy name. And so we repent and ask God to forgive, and allow Him to be glorified through us. Revivals are a sovereign work of God. 

WE NEED REVIVAL BECAUSE OF POWERFUL ENEMIES SEEKING TO DESTROY US.  In the case of Israel, their need for restoration and salvation were both physical and spiritual. They needed physical safety from enemy nations that threatened to annihilate them. They also needed to turn from idolatry and false religious worship—and turn back to the worship of the one true God.

                                                                            

WE NEED REVIVAL BECAUSE OF THE SINS THAT ENTANGLE US AS INDIVIDUALS.  The psalmist mentions in verse four that God was angry with the prayers of His people.  The one reason that God would be angry with His people’s prayers, was because they were tolerating sin in their own lives while at the same time asking God to deliver them from their enemies. Instead, God promised them that "if they humbled themselves, turned from their wicked ways and then prayed, He would heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14).   One mark of genuine revival is that God’s people awaken to a new and deeper sense of their sinfulness before Him. The Holy Spirit convicts of sins that we have brushed off as no big deal, or, we assume because “We’re under grace!” we are safe.

WE WILL PRAY FOR REVIVAL WHEN WE REALIZE ONLY GOD CAN PRODUCE GENUINE REVIVAL.  Human efforts at revival are not lasting.  It’s not realistic that individuals will make a genuine decision Christ through techniques: such as emotional music, stories that touch their feelings and powerful closing messages linked with counselors waiting for people to come forward.  Only by the direction of the Holy Spirit first touching the heart of the individual, can these techniques have any real effect.  Only God can change a heart.   

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY …

GOD IS GLORIFIED IN REVIVAL WHEN HIS PEOPLE OBEY HIM.  God is called the Shepherd of Israel (80:1). Shepherds lead their sheep and the sheep follow, trusting the shepherd to lead them into a place of safety and abundance. Stray sheep get eaten by predators.

Jesus said in John 10:27-28, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.” God is glorified when the sheep belonging to Jesus follow Him.