Daily Reading: Psalm 85
6 Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
Psalm 85 is a prayer for those moments when we take an honest look at the current state of our relationship with God and His work in our lives, and find ourselves wishing for more life and a greater measure of joy – longing for what we know is possible because we have either experienced it ourselves before or heard of it from others. In moments like these Psalm 85 is a model for three steps in prayer.
Firstly, look back on God’s past goodness and grace (v.1-3) in your life. Reflect on the ways you have seen God’s blessings, provision, restoration, kindness, forgiveness and mercy. Thank God for all that He has done in the past.
Then, ask God to “do it again” (v.4-7). Ask God, in His great mercy, love and goodness to restore and to revive you, your family, Church and community to greater depths of relationship with Him. Ask Him to forgive every sin, and to remove every barrier to spiritual abundance of life.
Next, look and listen for the Lord’s response (v.8-13). Expect that He may encourage you with a revelation of Himself and of the part you need to play in receiving this revival and restoration (v.8-13). As the Psalmist looked and listened, the Lord promised to pour out peace, to grant salvation and to reveal His glory. He promised to do so on the foundation of His unfailing love and His steadfast faithfulness. But He also pointed out the need for His people to ensure that they had repented of every sin and folly, and were fully surrendered to His ways of righteousness if they were to be open to receiving all that He had for them. It almost goes without saying that if the Lord reveals some action to be taken on our part – whether repentance of some sin or a return to some spiritual discipline – we will not be able to receive the joy and refreshing of the Lord without responding in appropriate obedience.
Today we pray:
Lord, in Your mercy and grace, revive us again,
that we Your people may rejoice in You. Amen!
Dave's Diary 