518_Revive us again that we may rejoice in you

Psalm 85 Lord, you were favorable to your land;
you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you covered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your hot anger.

4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord,
and grant us your salvation.

8 Let me hear what God the Lord will speak,
for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints;
but let them not turn back to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,
that glory may dwell in our land.

10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
12 Yes, the Lord will give what is good,
and our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before him
and make his footsteps a way.

A pastor once told the story of a small church in the countryside that had grown cold over the years. Worship had become a formality, prayer meetings were empty, and people seemed more interested in discussing crops and weather than God’s Word. One day, during a particularly lifeless service, an elderly farmer stood up and prayed aloud: “Lord, the barn needs cleaning, the fields need plowing, but more than all of that, our hearts need reviving. Revive us again, Lord, that we may rejoice in You.” His words struck the congregation like lightning. For weeks afterward, people gathered to pray, tears flowed, old grudges were forgiven, and joy returned to that small church. The farmer had put into words the cry of Psalm 85: “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”

Psalm 85 is the prayer of a people who know what it is like to walk away from God, to experience His discipline, but also to taste His mercy and forgiveness. It is both a looking back to God’s past mercies, a prayer for rescue in present troubles, and a picture of what happens when his people walk with him.

The psalm opens with remembrance. “Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.” Israel’s history was marked by wandering, rebellion, and repeated failure. They underwent repeated discipline, being overcome by their enemies.

Yet they were not forsaken. God restored them when they repented and cried out to him. He forgave their sins. He turned His anger away. Verse 2 reminds us that God forgave their iniquity and “covered” their sins. Importantly, the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. These sacrifices only foreshadowed the final and only perfect atonement made by Christ our Lord on the cross. For Christ’s sake, God continued to be merciful to Israel even before that event took place in history.

With this remembrance of God’s faithfulness, the psalmist pleads in verses 4–7: “Restore us again, O God of our salvation… Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” The cry is that we may be restored to being the people who delight God’s heart by our loyalty to him, and who bring glory to him by our enjoyment of his rich provision. We long, not for more personal comfort, for more blessings to make life on this earth more convenient, but that our misery and downtrodden condition may not bring disrepute to the name of our Lord.

The psalmist appeals to God’s covenant love — a love not earned by works but given freely. Psalm 103 echoes this: “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities… As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” This is our only hope: to throw ourselves in humble repentance, on the mercy of God revealed through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Verse 8 reveals the heart of the psalm: “Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly.” Revival is not a cycle of sin, repentance, and sin again. It is a call to lasting change, to turning away from folly, to taking God seriously. Israel’s history was filled with tragic examples of presumption — thinking they could sin and simply rely on God’s mercy afterward. In the wilderness, they hardened their hearts and could not enter God’s rest. In the promised land, they practiced abundant idolatry and injustice, leading to exile. God forgave them time and again, but they suffered heavy consequences first. The psalmist’s prayer is sincere: restore us. But equally sincere is his call to the people: Let them not return to their folly like a dog to his vomit. True revival is about holiness as much as joy.

“Vs. 10 Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other.

11 Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.” God’s mercy and his truth characterize all his dealings with men. This is covenant love, faithful love, no mere feeling or arbitrary emotion. And thus, in Jesus Christ the Son of God, we see one who is full of grace and truth, as he reveals God to man.

And only God’s mercy, accepted in humility and thankfulness, moves his people to righteousness. Such righteousness is the only ground of durable peace. An unrighteous people can never enjoy peace. “The wicked is like a troubled sea that cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt; there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.”

And therefore man becomes faithful to God. His truth begins to grow in response to God’s abundant faithfulness and mercy. And this loyalty becomes like the loyalty of the God who inspired it, anchored without vacillation on his truthfulness.

The psalm closes with a blessing: “Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way.” Such is the inevitable result of submitting to the rule of God. The prophets echoed this hope. Hosea spoke of God betrothing His people forever in righteousness, justice, steadfast love, and mercy. Isaiah cried out, “Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit.” These promises find their “yes” in Jesus Christ, and they point us forward to the day when He will return to establish His kingdom fully.

As we read this psalm, let us remember God’s faithfulness in the past. Just as Israel remembers God’s restoring merciful hand, we look back to the Cross where our sins were atoned for. Our sins are forgiven for the sake of Jesus’s name.

Secondly, we look at our pitiable condition in the present and turn back in repentance and renewed commitment to God, praying for a true revival. Our prayer is for God to accept our confession, our abandonment of our sins, as we trust in Christ and hope in God’s mercy.

Third, we look forward in hope. Wherever Christ rules, righteousness answers to his faithfulness and mercy. Peace follows the steps of the righteous. One day, righteousness will cover the earth, and the Lord will reign. Until then, we live in the reality of that kingdom now, seeking righteousness, loving mercy, and walking humbly with our God.

Revival is not something we manufacture. It happens when his people humble themselves to seek his will and his ways alone, forsaking their own self-driven ways and their self-righteousness and self-sufficiency. This is the fruit of heartfelt trust in the unchanging covenant love of God, the God who acts in mercy and faithfulness, the God who gave his Son for our sake. He is the God who restores our souls as we walk with him in faithful love.

Let us then pray with the penitent: Lord, restore us again. Revive us again. We will not turn back to folly. Cause us to rejoice in You. And as we live each day, let us walk in the light of Your steadfast love, remembering the cross, longing for Your kingdom, and living as people revived by Your Spirit.