聖書

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 85:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm for the sons of Korah. LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Psalm 85:1-13 THE outstanding peculiarity of this psalm is its sudden transitions of feeling. Beginning with exuberant thanksgiving for restoration of the nation ( Psalm 85:1-3 ), it passes, without intermediate gradations, to complaints of God’s continued wrath and entreaties for restoration ( Psalm 85:4-7 ). and then as suddenly rises to joyous assurance of inward and outward blessings. The condition of the exiles returned from Babylon best corresponds to such conflicting emotions. The book of Nehemiah supplies precisely such a background as fits the psalm. A part of the nation had returned indeed, but to a ruined city, a fallen Temple, and a mourning land, where they were surrounded by jealous and powerful enemies. Discouragement had laid hold on the feeble company; enthusiasm had ebbed away; the harsh realities of their enterprise had stripped off its imaginative charm; and the mass of the returned settlers had lost heart as well as devout faith. The psalm accurately reflects such a state of circumstances and feelings, and may, with some certitude, be assigned, as it is by most commentators, to the period of return from exile. It falls into three parts, of increasing length, -the first, of three verses ( Psalm 85:1-3 ), recounts God’s acts of mercy already received; the second, of four verses ( Psalm 85:4-7 ), is a plaintive prayer in view of still remaining national afflictions; and the third, of six verses ( Psalm 85:8-13 ), a glad report by the psalmist of the Divine promises which his waiting ear had heard, and which might well quicken the most faint hearted into triumphant hope. In the first strophe one great fact is presented in a threefold aspect, and traced wholly to Jehovah. "Thou hast turned back the captivity of Jacob." That expression is sometimes used in a figurative sense for any restoration of prosperity, but is here to be taken literally. Now, as at first, the restored Israel, like their ancestors under Joshua, had not won the land by their own arm, but "because God had a favour unto them," and had given them favour in the eyes of those who carried them captive. The restoration of the Jews, seen from the conqueror’s point of view, was a piece of state policy, but from that of the devout Israelite was the result of God’s working upon the heart of the new ruler of Babylon. The fact is stated in Psalm 85:1 ; a yet more blessed fact, of which it is most blessed as being a token, is declared in Psalm 85:2 . The psalmist knows that captivity had been chastisement, the issue of national sin. Therefore he is sure that restoration is the sign of forgiveness. His thoughts are running in the same line as in Isaiah 40:2 where the proclamation, to Jerusalem that her iniquity is pardoned is connected with the assurance that her hard service is accomplished. He uses two significant words for pardon, both of which occur in Psalm 32:1-11 . In Psalm 85:2 a sin is regarded as a weight pressing down the nation, which God’s mercy lifts off and takes away; in Psalm 85:2 b it is conceived of as a hideous stain or foulness, which His mercy hides, so that it is no longer an offence to heaven. Psalm 85:3 ventures still deeper into the sacred recesses of the Divine nature, and traces the forgiveness, which in act had produced so happy a change in Israel’s position, to its source in a change in God’s disposition. "Thou hast drawn in all Thy wrath," as a man does his breath, or, if the comparison may be ventured, as some creature armed with a sting retracts it into its sheath. "Thou hast turned Thyself from the glow of Thine anger" gives the same idea under another metaphor. The word "turn" has a singular fascination for this psalmist. He uses it five times ( Psalm 85:1 , Psalm 85:3 , Psalm 85:4 , Psalm 85:6 -lit., wilt Thou not turn, quicken us?-and Psalm 85:8 ). God’s turning from His anger is the reason for Israel’s returning from captivity. The abruptness of the transition from joyous thanksgiving to the sad minor of lamentation and supplication is striking, but most natural, if the psalmist was one of the band of returning exiles, surrounded by the ruins of a happier past, and appalled by the magnitude of the work before them, the slenderness of their resources, and the fierce hostility of their neighbours. The prayer of Psalm 85:4 , "Turn us," is best taken as using the word in the same sense as in Psalm 85:1 , where God is said to have "turned" the captivity of Jacob. What was there regarded as accomplished is here conceived of as still to be done. That is, the restoration was incomplete, as we know that it was, both in regard to the bulk of the nation, who still remained in exile, and in regard to the depressed condition of the small part of it which had gone back to Palestine. In like manner the petitions of Psalm 85:5 look back to Psalm 85:3 , and pray that the anger which there had been spoken of as passed may indeed utterly cease. The partial restoration of the people implied, in the psalmist’s view, a diminution rather than a cessation of God’s punitive wrath, and he beseeches Him to complete that which He had begun. The relation of the first to the second strophe is not only that of contrast, but the prayers of the latter are founded upon the facts of the former, which constitute both grounds for the suppliant’s hope of answer and pleas with God. He cannot mean to deliver by halves. The mercies received are incomplete; and His work must be perfect. He cannot be partially reconciled, nor have meant to bring His people back to the land, and then leave them to misery. So the contrast between the bright dawning of the return and its clouded day is not wholly depressing; for the remembrance of what has been heartens for the assurance that what is shall not always be, but will be followed by a future more correspondent to God’s purpose as shown in that past. When we are tempted to gloomy thoughts by the palpable incongruities between God’s ideals and man’s realisation of them, we may take a hint from this psalmist, and, instead of concluding that the ideal was a phantasm, argue with ourselves that the incomplete actual will one day give way to the perfect embodiment. God leaves no work unfinished. He never leaves off till He has done. His beginnings guarantee congruous endings. He does not half withdraw His anger; and, if He seems to do so, it is only because men have but half turned from their sins. This psalm is rich in teaching as to the right way of regarding the incompleteness of great movements, which, in their incipient stages, were evidently of God. It instructs us to keep the Divine intervention which started them clearly in view; to make the shortcomings, which mar them, a subject of lowly prayer; and to be sure that all which He begins He will finish, and that the end will fully correspond to the promise of the beginning. A "day of the Lord" which rose in brightness may cloud over as its hours roll, but "at eventide it shall be light," and none of the morning promise will be unfulfilled. The third strophe ( Psalm 85:8-13 ) brings solid hopes, based upon Divine promises, to bear on present discouragements. In Psalm 85:8 the psalmist, like Habakkuk, { Habakkuk 2:1 } encourages himself to listen to what God will speak. The word "I will hear" expresses resolve or desire, and might be rendered Let me hear, or I would hear. Faithful prayer will always be followed by patient and faithful waiting for response from God. God will not be silent, when His servant appeals to Him with recognition of His past mercies, joined with longing that these may be perfected. No voice will break the silence of the heavens; but, in the depths of the waiting soul, there will spring a sweet assurance which comes from God, and is really His answer to prayer, telling the suppliant that "He will speak peace to His people," and warning them not to turn away from Him to other helps, which is folly. "His favoured ones" seems here to be meant as coextensive with "His people." Israel is regarded as having entered into covenant relations with God; and the designation is the pledge that what God speaks will be "peace." That word is to be taken in its widest sense, as meaning, first and chiefly, peace with Him, who has "turned Himself from His anger"; and then, generally, well-being of all kinds, outward and inward, as a consequence of that rectified relation with God. The warning of Psalm 85:8 c is thought by some to be out of place, and an emendation has been suggested, which requires little change in the Hebrew-namely, "to those who have turned their hearts towards Him." This reading is supported by the LXX; but the warning is perfectly appropriate, and carries a large truth-that the condition of God’s speaking of peace is our firm adherence to Him. Once more the psalmist uses his favourite word "turn." God had turned the captivity; He had turned Himself from His anger; the psalmist had prayed Him to turn or restore the people, and to turn and revive them, and now He warns against turning them again to folly. There is always danger of relapse in those who have experienced God’s delivering mercy. There is a blessed turning, when they are brought from the far-off land to dwell near God. But there is a possible fatal turning away from the Voice that speaks peace, and the Arm that brings salvation, to the old distance and bondage. Strange that any ears, which have heard the sweetness of His still small Voice whispering Peace should wish to stray where it cannot be heard! Strange that. the warning should ever be required, and tragic that it should so often be despised! After the introductory Psalm 85:8 , the substance of what Jehovah spoke to the psalmist is proclaimed in the singer’s own words. The first assurance which the psalmist drew from the Divine word was that God’s salvation, the whole fulness of His delivering grace both in regard to external and in inward evils, is ever near to them that fear Him. "Salvation" here is to be taken in its widest sense. It means, negatively, deliverance from all possible evils, outward and inward; and, positively, endowment with all possible good, both for body and spirit. With such fulness of complete blessings, they, and they only, who keep near to God, and refuse to turn aside to foolish confidences, shall be enriched. That is the inmost meaning of what God said to the psalmist; and it is said to all. And that salvation being thus possessed, it would be possible for "glory"- i.e. , the manifest presence of ‘God, as in the Shechinah -to tabernacle in the land. The condition of God’s dwelling with men is their acceptance of His salvation. That purifies hearts to be temples. The lovely personifications in Psalm 85:10-13 have passed into Christian poetry and art, but are not clearly apprehended when they are taken to describe the harmonious meeting and cooperation, in Christ’s great work, of apparently opposing attributes of the Divine nature. No such thoughts are in the psalmist’s mind. Lovingkindness and Faithfulness or Troth are constantly associated in Scripture as Divine attributes. Righteousness and Peace are as constantly united, as belonging to the perfection of human character. Psalm 85:10 seems to refer to the manifestation of God’s Lovingkindness and Faithfulness in its first clause, and to the exhibition of His people’s virtues and consequent happiness in its second. In all God’s dealings for His people, His Lovingkindness blends with Faithfulness. In all His people’s experience Righteousness and Peace are inseparable. The point of the assurance in Psalm 85:10 is that heaven and earth are blended in permanent amity, These four radiant angels "dwell in the land." Then, in Psalm 85:11 , there comes a beautiful inversion of the two pairs of personifications, of each of which one member only reappears. Troth or Faithfulness, which in Psalm 85:10 came into view principally as a Divine attribute, in Psalm 85:11 is conceived of as a human virtue. It "springs out of the earth"-that is produced among men. All human virtue is an echo of the Divine, and they who have received into their hearts the blessed results of God’s Faithfulness will bring forth in their lives fruits like it in kind. Similarly, Righteousness, which in Psalm 85:10 was mainly viewed as a human excellence, here appears as dwelling in and looking down from heaven, like a gracious angel smiling on the abundance of Faithfulness which springs from earth. Thus "the bridal of the earth and sky" is set forth in these verses. The same idea is further presented in Psalm 85:12 , in its most general, form. God gives that which is good, both outward and inward blessings, and, thus fructified by bestowments from above, earth yields her increase. His gifts precede men’s returns. Without sunshine and rain there are no harvests. More widely still, God gives first before He asks. He does not gather where He has not strawed, nor reap what He has not sown. Nor does He only sow, but He "blesses the springing thereof"; and to Him should the harvest be rendered. He gives before we can give. Isaiah 45:8 is closely parallel, representing in like manner the cooperation of heaven and earth, in the new world of Messianic times. In Psalm 85:13 the thought of the blending of heaven and earth, or of Divine attributes as being the foundation and parents of their human analogues, is still more vividly expressed. Righteousness, which in Psalm 85:10 was regarded as exercised by men, and in Psalm 85:11 as looking down from heaven, is now represented both as a herald preceding God’s royal progress, and as following in His footsteps. The last clause is rendered in different ways, which all have the same general sense. Probably the rendering above is best: "Righteousness shall make His footsteps a way"-that is, for men to "walk in. All God’s workings among men, which are poetically conceived as His way, have stamped on them Righteousness. That strong angel goes before Him to clear a path for Him, and trace the course which He shall take. That is the imaginative expression of the truth-that absolute. inflexible Righteousness guides all the Divine acts. But the same Righteousness, which precedes, also follows Him, and points His footsteps as the way for us. The incongruity of this double position of God’s herald makes the force of the thought greater. It is the poetical embodiment of the truth, that the perfection of man’s character and conduct lies in his being an "imitator of God," and that, however different in degree, our righteousness must be based on His. What a wonderful thought that is, that the union between heaven and earth is so close that God’s path is our way! How deep into the foundation of ethics the psalmist’s glowing vision pierces! How blessed the assurance that God’s Righteousness is revealed from heaven to make men righteous! Our psalm needs the completion, which tells of that gospel in which "the Righteousness of God from faith is revealed for faith." In Jesus the "glory" has tabernacled among men. He has brought heaven and earth together. In Him God’s Lovingkindness and Faithfulness have become denizens of earth, as never before. In Him heaven has emptied its choicest good on earth. Through Him our barrenness and weeds are changed into harvests of love, praise, and service. In Him the Righteousness of God is brought near; and, trusting in Him, each of us may tread in His footsteps, and have His Righteousness fulfilled in us "who walk, not after the flesh, but after the spirit." The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Lord, Thou hast been favourable unto Thy land. Psalm 85:1-13 A psalm of deliverance; songs and sighs A. Maclaren, D. D. A part of the nation had returned, but to a ruined city, a fallen temple, and a mourning land, where they were surrounded by jealous and powerful enemies. Discouragement had laid hold on the feeble company, enthusiasm had ebbed away, and heart as well as faith had been lost. This psalm accurately reflects such a state of things, and is reasonably taken as one of the earliest post-exilic psalms. 1. The first portion presents one great fact in three aspects, and traces it to Jehovah. The restored Israel had been sent back by the conqueror as a piece of policy, but it was God who had done it, all the same. The blessed fact is joyously announced in ver. 1, and the yet more blessed fact of forgiveness, of which it is a token, in ver. 2. The word rendered "forgiven" implies that sin is regarded as a weight, which God lifts off from the pressed-down sinner; while that for "covered" regards it as a hideous stain, which He hides. Our sins weigh us down, and "are rank, and smell to heaven." Ver. 8 ventures still deeper into the sacred recesses of the Divine nature, and traces the forgiveness to a change in God's disposition. His wrath has been drawn in, as, if we may say so, some creature armed with a sting retracts it into its sheath. 2. God turns from His anger, therefore Israel returns to the land. But the singer feels the incompleteness of the restoration, and the bitter consciousness suddenly changes joyous strains to a plaintive minor in the second part (vers. 4-7). "Turn us," in ver. 4, looks back to "brought back" in ver. 1, and is the same word in the Hebrew. The restoration is but partially accomplished. Similarly the petitions of ver. 5 look back to ver. 8, and pray that God's wrath may indeed pass utterly away. The prayers are grounded on what God has done. He does not deliver by halves. He is not partially reconciled. The remembrance of the bright beginning heartens the assurance of a completion. God never leaves off till He has done. If He seems to have but half withdrawn His anger, it is because we have but half forsaken our sins. 3. The third portion brings solid hopes, based on God's promises, to bear on present discouragements. In ver. 8 the psalmist, like Habakkuk ( Habakkuk 2:1 ), encourages himself to listen to what God will speak, "2 will hear," or, rather, "Let me hear." Faithful prayer will always be followed by faithful waiting for response. God will not be silent when His servant appeals to Him, but, though no voice breaks the silence, a sweet assurance, coming from Him, will rise in the depths of the soul, and tell the suppliant that He "will speak peace to His people," and warn them not to turn to other helps, which is "folly." The peace which He speaks means chiefly peace with Himself, and then well-being of all kinds, the sure results of a right relation with God. But that peace is shivered by any sin, like the reflection of the blue heaven in a still lake when a gust of wind ruffles its surface. Vers. 9-13 are the report, in the psalmist's own words, of what his listening ear had heard God say. First comes the assurance that God's salvation, the whole fulness of His delivering grace, both in regard to outward and inward evils, is "nigh them that fear Him." They, and only they, who keep far away from foolish confidence in impotent helps and helpers shall be enriched. That is the inmost meaning of God's word to the singer and to us all. The acceptance of God's salvation purifies our hearts to be temples, and is the condition of His dwelling with us. The lovely personification of vers. 10-13 have passed into Christian poetry and art, but are not rightly understood when taken, as they often are, to describe the harmonious meeting, in Christ's work, of apparently opposing attributes. Mercy and faithfulness blend together in all God's dealings with His people, and righteousness and peace are inseparable in His people's experience. These four radiant angels dwell for ever with those who are God's children. In ver. 11 we have a beautiful inversion of the two pairs of personifications, of each of which only one member appears. Truth, or faithfulness, came into view in verse 10 as a Divine attribute, but is now regarded as a human virtue, springing out of the earth; that is, produced among men. They who have received into their hearts the blessed assurance and results of God's faithfulness will imitate it in their own lives. Conversely, righteousness, which in ver 10 was a human excellence, here appears as looking from heaven like a gracious angel smiling on the faithfulness which springs from earth. Thus heaven and earth are united, and humanity becomes a reflection of the Divine. Ver. 12 presents the same idea in its most general form. God gives good of all sorts, and, thus fructified, earth "shall yield her increase." Without sunshine there are no harvests. God gives before He asks. We must receive from Him before we can tender the fruit of our lives to Him. In ver. 18 the idea of Divine attributes aa the parents of human virtues is again expressed by a different metaphor. Righteousness is represented doubly, as both a herald going before God's march in the world, and as following Him. It makes His footsteps "a way "for us to walk in. Man's perfection lies in his imitating God. Jesus has left us "an example" that we should "follow His steps." ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) Genuine piety Homilist. This psalm present to us genuine piety in three aspects. I. ACKNOWLEDGING THE MERCIES OF THE PAST. 1. Restoration to their country. "Thou hast brought back," etc. He brought them from Egypt and from Babylon. 2. Absolution of their sins. "Thou hast forgiven," etc. When sin is forgiven it is "covered"; it does not reappear any more in producing suffering and anguish. Its guilt and power (not its memory) are crushed. 3. The cessation of penal afflictions. "Thou hast turned thyself," etc. Genuine piety can recount such blessings in the past as these, and even of a higher order. "The presence of present afflictions should not drown the remembrance of former mercies." II. DEPLORING THE EVILS OF THE PRESENT. 1. The sense of estrangement from God. "Turn us, O God of our salvation." Departure from God is our ruin, return is our salvation. The separation between man and his Maker arises, not from His turning from man, but from the turning of man from Him. 2. The sense of the displeasure of their Maker. "Wilt Thou be angry with us for ever?" This really means, Wilt Thou afflict us for ever; shall we be ever in suffering? God's anger is not passion, but antagonism to wrong. 3. The sense of deadness. "Wilt Thou not revive us again?" etc. They had been politically dead ( Ezekiel 27 .), and they were religiously dead. Such are some of the evils they deprecate in this psalm; and for their removal they now implore their God. III. ANTICIPATING THE GOOD OF THE FUTURE. "I will hear what God the Lord will speak." Piety here fastens its eye on several blessings in the future. 1. Divine peace. "He will speak peace unto His people." He will one day speak "peace" — national, religious, spiritual, peace to all mankind. 2. Moral unity. "Mercy and truth are met together," etc. These moral forces, ever since the introduction of sin, have been working, not only separately, but antagonistically; and this has been one of the great sources of human misery; but in the future they will coalesce, unite. 3. Spiritual prosperity. "Truth shall spring out of the earth," etc. From the hearts of men truth shall spring as from its native soil, and it shall grow in stately beauty and affluent fruitage. And "righteousness shall look down from heaven," delighted with the scene. ( Homilist. ) The responsibility of favoured nations F. H. Darlow. It is true that the God of nations has His special calling and election for each of the races of mankind. To quote Bishop Westcott: "History on a large scale is the revelation of the will of God; and in the history of the greatest nations we may expect to find the will of God for them. They are themselves the record and the retribution of their past, and the prophecy of their future." We Englishmen must be blind and thankless, indeed, if we fail to recognize God's ordination in our own history, God's warnings and promises in our fortunes. Surely He has been favourable unto this land of ours, until every acre of it is holy ground. To us also God has granted prophets, and captains, and reformers in long succession to "bring back our captivity," until freedom means more in England to-day than it means anywhere else in the world. And upon us, too, God has laid the burden of a duty and destiny which we still only half discern. He has given us a charge which we can never fulfil abroad except as we become faithful to our vocation at home. To realize the very hand of the living God laid on our nation to-day humbles us into awe and seriousness and searchings of heart. The proud vision of Empire fades into a solemn sense of the Divine Imperator who ordains our inheritance for us; because the kingdom, and the power, and the glory are His own. ( F. H. Darlow. ) Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee? Psalm 85:6 A prayer for revival I. WHAT IS THE TIME FOR SUCH A PRAYER AS THIS? 1. When we can remember some gracious acts of God in the past. After some mercy drops, it becomes us to cry for showers of blessing. 2. After tokens of Divine displeasure. 3. When saints feel languid. 4. When efforts seem to be useless. 5. When we have among us a number of persons who are backsliding. II. THE NEED OF SUCH A PRAYER. Who needs it? 1. The minister. If the preachers grow dull and sleepy, there is no wonder that the people do so; therefore, give us a special place in your supplications that we may be kept right for your sakes, and for Christ's sake, and the Gospel's sake. 2. All the leaders of our Church. Often, dead deacons and dead elders prevent a church prospering; therefore, let us pray earnestly for the leaders of God's Israel, "Lord, revive them again. Put more spiritual life into them." 3. The same is true of all the members of the Church without exception. How much they need reviving! 4. And all the workers, too. 5. The hesitaters. 6. The careless ones. 7. The outside public, who never go to hear the Gospel at all. III. THE ESSENCE OF SUCH A PRAYER. It means — 1. Dependence upon God. 2. Confidence in God. 3. Importunity with God. IV. THE NET RESULT IF THIS PRAYER BE ANSWERED. It seems rather singular, does it not? — that the psalmist should put as the reason for a revival that God's people should rejoice in Him. You and I do not always estimate things aright. Preaching is only the stalk; conversion, prayer, praise, — these are the full corn in the golden ear. In the garden, the leaves may represent the work that is done; but the flowers are the praise that is rendered. In a revival, part of the result is the conversion of men, but the result is the praise of God; and that revival brings forth most fruit that gives to God the most glory. I reckon that we have served God when we have fed the poor, when we have taught the ignorant, when we have reclaimed the wanderer; but I am equally sure that we have rendered acceptable sacrifice when we have prayed to God, when we have delighted ourselves in Him, when the joy of our heart has in silence exhaled towards Him. So, therefore, if God will be pleased to send a revival, His people will rejoice in Him because they are revived. They will be thankful that their spirits are plucked away from their languor and lethargy; and then they will begin to rejoice with the joy of gratitude because God has done such great things for them; and then sinners will be converted, and straightway saints will rejoice over sinners saved. Now, as you come to the communion table, I want you to try to rejoice in God. "But I am mourning about myself," says one. Well, mourn about yourself, if you like; but do rejoice in God. "Oh, but I am troubled in my circumstances!" Well, but a child of God should rise above circumstances, and rejoice in God. There is more in God to cheer you than in your circumstances to depress you. ( C. H. Spurgeon . ) Revival experiences American Homiletic Monthly. I. THIS PRAYER WAS DICTATED BY PAST EXPERIENCES. "Wilt Thou not revive us 'again?'" II. IT IS THE PRAYER OF ONE ALIVE TO THE PRECIOUSNESS AND NEEDFULNESS OF SUCH SPECIAL EFFUSIONS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. "Wilt Thou not 'revive?'" III. IT IS THE PRAYER OF ONE FULLY CONSCIOUS THAT GOD ALONE IS THE SOURCE OF REVIVING POWER AND GRACE. "Wilt not 'Thou?'" etc. Never was revival more needed than now. Therefore let us make this prayer our own. IV. AT TIMES OF REVIVAL CHRISTIANS REJOICE IN GOD. ( American Homiletic Monthly. ) Religious declension and revival A. M. Brown, LL. D. I. THE CAUSES OF RELIGIOUS DECLENSION. 1. I have known trials in business the occasions of religious declensions — trials which ought to have led to God in prayer, who can by His mighty arm take us over them, but which have so absorbed the mind and so worried the spirit, that instead of their leading to God the man has sat down and sighed his soul away in sorrow. 2. I have known the very opposite of trials, namely, worldly prosperity, a cause of religious declension. The sea has been all calm, the tide has set in our favour, the breeze has filled our every sail, and with full sails our vessel has entered into the haven, and we have sought to make earth, not heaven, our home; our prosperity we have put down to our own ingenuity, and not to the goodness of God. II. THE EVIDENCES OF RELIGIOUS DECLENSION. 1. Remissness in secret prayer. 2. Neglect of family prayer. 3. Neglect of the public means of grace. III. THE REMEDY FOR RELIGIOUS DECLENSION. 1. There is a remedy ( 2 Samuel 14:14 ; Jeremiah 30:17 ; Malachi 3:7 ; 2 Chronicles 17:4 ). 2. The means to be used for revival. (1) We must become alarmed about our state, and apply for the remedy. (2) We must humble ourselves before God. (3) We must make a full surrender of ourselves. IV. THE BLESSEDNESS OF A REVIVED RELIGIOUS STATE. It is the blessedness of — 1. Restored spiritual health. 2. Rejoicing in the God who gave it. 3. Joy in common with others. ( A. M. Brown, LL. D. ) The causes and cure of religious declenesion W. Mudge. I. THE CAUSES. 1. Remissness in secret duty. 2. Inattention to God's word. 3. Neglect of self-examination. 4. Allowed indulgence of some favourite sin. 5. Indifference to public means. 6. Self-complacency. II. THE MEANS OF SPIRITUAL REVIVAL. 1. Recollect yourselves. 2. Humble yourselves. 3. Surrender yourselves anew to the Lord. 4. Give yourselves unto extraordinary prayer. 5. Attend with constancy the public means. 6. Apply to yourselves what you hear and read of God's Word. III. THE ADVANTAGE OF A REVIVED AND CHEERFUL STATE OF MIND. 1. To ourselves. A new impulse will be given to our religious feeling and affections. 2. Others will share the advantage of our revival. Seeing how lowly, how forbearing, how kind, how cheerful, the followers of Jesus can be; they will be constrained to think favourably of that gracious Lord who "taketh pleasure in the prosperity of His servants," and to allow the excellency of that religion which can make a fallen sinful creature so holy, so contented, so happy. Saints will be edified; timid professors encouraged; mockers silenced; and sinners convinced and won to the love and practice of piety. 3. The Lord Jesus Christ will be magnified by our liveliness and zeal in His service. ( W. Mudge. ) A Pentecostal prayer E. W. Wilson. I. A GENERAL REVIVAL OF TRUE RELIGION IS NEEDED. 1. The world needs it.(1) The world of Christendom needs it. From having so long lived in a Christian country, many are disposed to take it for granted that they are Christians. Others, from so often hearing and reading the truth, fail to feel its power.(2) The world of heathendom needs it. Much has been done to win the world to Christ, but much still remains to be done. 2. The Church at large and individual churches need it. 3. The individual members of our churches need it. II. THE GROUNDS FOR EXPECTING SUCH A REVIVAL. 1. The fact that God has promised to revive His people. 2. The fact that He has again and again revived them — on the day of Pentecost; at the Reformation; under the preaching of Wesley and Whitfield . III. THE MEANS NECESSARY FOR BRINGING ABOUT A REVIVAL. 1. Prayer for an abundant outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Such prayer must be characterized by humility, fervency, perseverance, faith. 2. As all our blessings come to us through Christ, we must pray in His name. 3. As the Word of God is "the sword of the Spirit" — i.e. its instrument — we must study it ourselves, and teach it to others. 4. As God always works by means, we must employ appropriate effort. (1) Put away all sin. (2) Seek to cultivate true, healthy piety, as opposed to austerity, narrow-mindedness, sentimentalism, or laxity. (3) Endeavour to progress in the Divine life ourselves. (4) Seek to arouse others. ( E. W. Wilson. ) The coming revival S. T. Bosworth, B. A. Each of the last four centuries, to go no farther back, has been distinguished by a great revival of religion. In the sixteenth century there came what we may call the Protestant revival, in the seventeenth century the Puritan revival, in the eighteenth century the Evangelical revival; and during the nineteenth century we have witnessed a revival which it is more difficult to characterize, but which has been as real and will probably prove as fruitful as any of the former. It has manifested itself in various ways, by high ritualism on the one hand and by much earnest evangelism on the other. Probably its most distinguishing characteristic is that it has inspired Christian people with a strong desire to reach the whole population of the land, to uplift socially and morally the most degraded, and so perhaps it might be called the Democratic revival. It is certain that neither this nor any other of the religious movements I have named has boon unmixed good or evil. Like all things on earth, they have bison imperfect in character and results. But in each case there has been a vast preponderance of good, and all of them have helped to hasten on the age of universal righteousness. And the history of these four centuries seems to render infinitely probable a great revival in the twentieth century Another fact which makes us confident that we shall shortly witness a great revival is the manifest need of it. The coldness and deadness of many of our churches, the utter indifference of the masses, the neglect of public worship, the practical infidelity which is so common in all ranks of society, the hopeless misery of the "submerged tenth," the comparative failure of the churches to rescue the very classes in which Jesus showed the greatest interest and amongst which He gained His chief success, all these things prove that a revival is necessary. Now, we find that when the need is greatest the help is nearest. It is the way of the Lord to display His grace and power in the day of His people's extremity. The coming revival will be an intellectual movement. It will very largely consist in the awakening of the mind. Of course, every revival is in some degree an intellectual movement. Conversion implies the opening of the eyes and the turning from darkness to light. But in former revivals the intellectual element has not been the most prominent. A century ago, and even later, religion was chiefly emotional. The majority of the people in this country were uneducated, many of them were grossly ignorant. They were incapable of understanding an argument or of appreciating a spiritual idea. And so the preachers of the evangelical movement appealed to the fears of men. In the coming revival men will be brought to God, not by craven terror, not by coercion of any kind, but by persuasion, by conviction, by recognition of the truth. The religious movement of the twentieth century will be the triumphal progress of reason. But the chief glory of the coming revival will be its ethical character. It will bring about a great moral reformation. The weak point in former revivals has been in the development of character. We find Martin Luther complaining that the Protestants were no better in moral character than the Catholics. produced many eminent saints, yet it also produced some notable hypocrites. The Puritan theology did not give to morality the high place to which it was entitled; and, indeed, in some respects it tended rather to depress the importance of moral character. In the coming revival high and pure morality will be accorded its sacred rights. It will be a revival of righteousness; it will fill men with an enthusiasm for goodness. It will be inspired by the practical theology of Jesus Christ; not by the theology of Luther, or Calvin, or Augustine, or even of Paul, so much as by that of the Great Master. And so it will produce in Christian men a character more true and manly, more Christlike, and more Divine. And on this account the coming revival will be more extensive and more permanent in its results than any that have preceded it. The great sign and evidence of the revival, when it comes, will be its manifesting power, its power of discrimination and discovery. Men are separated by great lines of moral demarcation, but generally these lines are visible only to Omniscience. When the revival comes they will show up clearly and with astonishing vividness. There are those who are saved and know they are saved: they will be the chief instruments of the revival. There are those who are not saved and know they are not; they will be the objects upon which the revival will exert its convincing and converting power. But there are also those who think they are saved and are not, good, easy people, self-complacent and censorious, to them the revival will bring a rude awakening. There is yet another class — those who are saved and do not know it — a much more numerous class than is generally supposed. With the great revival there will come to them a clearer vision. Receiving the Spirit of adoption, they will thenceforth serve the Lord with gladness. Doubt and weakness will give place to confidence and strength. ( S. T. Bosworth, B. A. ) Personal revival John Robson, D. D. I use the term "revival" as implying, not simply the quickening and strengthening of the Divine life in the soul where it already exists, but also the production of that life where it has not before been enjoyed, — in other words, as including in it the conversion of sinners, as well as the edification of saints. I. WE NEED A REVIVAL. Is there not amongst us much spiritual insensibility — much formality — much worldliness? Is there any one of us who does not feel, when he seriously and thoughtfully reflects on his opportunities and privileges, that he is not what he ought to be — not what he might have been? II. WE MAY OBTAIN A REVIVAL. 1. That this desirable result may be gained, let me remind you that spiritual revival is a personal thing. The revival of a Congregation or of the church at large can only be reached by the revival of the individuals of whom the congregation or church is composed. 2. Do you ask, how are we to get it for ourselves? I answer, — by the use of the right means in the right spirit.(1) If you are not yet converted, you must begin by receiving Christ as your personal Saviour. This is the commencement of Divine life in the soul.(2) Prayer — secret personal prayer. It is very well that you should seek the prayers of others; but if you do not pray for yourselves, you have no right to expect personal revival.(3) The devout study of the Word of God. In it God speaks to us, and speaks to us directly. If we do not listen, bow can we be His children — how can we know His will or do it?(4) The cultivation of a watchful and dependent spirit. By a watchful spirit, I mean a spirit ever on its guard against sin. By a dependent spirit, I mean a spirit conscious of its own guilt and depravity, of its own weakness and infirmity. ( John Robson, D. D. ) Spiritual revival A. H. Bradford, D. D. 1. What is the kind of spiritual awakening that is required in the days in which we are living? "A new realization of God." Now, understand what realization is. There may be belief and no realization. Devils believe and tremble. I may believe in God and be as foul as Satan. I realize God, and He will be the Power that dominates me in all my thought and in every department of my being. You go to Switzerland and one object is in your thought, Mont Blanc, which dominates the valleys. When we realize that God will dominate our thoughts and our actions, we shall realize that He besets us behind and before, and that if we take the wings of the morning and go to the uttermost parts of the sea He is there. I would realize God; I would try to help you to realize Him. Now, the great difficulty of this subject comes from the fact that with the progress of science, as science has brought us knowledge, and knowledge is reality, we are brought to an understanding of the fact that He is great, passing all our comprehension, and we begin to understand that no man by searching can by any possibility find Him out. I can only tell you some things which will be when we realize God, when He is near to us and we appreciate that He is near to us as we are to one another. When that is true all places will be holy. All times are sacred when God is realized. And in the next place, all duties are sacred. Why do we say that one man in a large place is doing a great work for God, while one in a small place is doing a work of insignificance? Because we do not appreciate that everything done for Him is great, and that those who are most faithful are those who are most worthy of praise. 2. And then, in the next place, when we realize God, all men are sacred. In the humblest, in the barefooted beggar boy, in the man who sweeps the streets, in the one who is outcast and forgotten, there is something of the Divine. We doff our hats when those who rule us ride by, but in the man who sweeps the walk for you there is something of the King of the Universe. Ah, do we think of these things? That is the kind of revival that is needed. How may this revival be promoted? Well, in the first place, those who bear the Christian name ought surely to be those who lead in it; and if they lead in it, certain things must be realized. They must learn to practise the presence of God; and, moreover, they must learn also to lay upon it every weight and every sin. We cannot prevent a thought knocking at the door of our mind and looking in, but we can prevent that thought coming in and staying there. And then, associate much with Jesus Christ; He is the One who brings God to us; He is the One who reveals Him in a way in which we can understand Him. Spend time with Him, think about Him, feed upon Him, live with Him. Next, this thought: What will result when we do realize God, when this revival has come to us? What will be the results? Will you pardon me if I return my question with a question, and ask you what kind of life do you think you would live if God was just as real to you as His sun in the heavens? If you were sure every day, every hour, every minute, that the holy eyes of the loving God were on you, what kind of life do you think you would lead? Now, once more, consider if there are any signs of the coming of such an awakening. 3. I find signs of it in the amazing earnestness which characterizes the young men and the young women in our institutions of learning, so far as I know, the world around. There were never so many who were pledging themselves to the missionary service in the whole history of the world as are pledging themselves to-day. I find signs of this spiritual awakening also in the spirit of expectancy. We all feel — sensitive spirits in the pews and in the pulpits everywhere feel — as if we were on the verge of some wondrous revelation of spiritual reality. ( A. H. Bradford, D. D. ) A revival sought W. W. Williams. I. A REVIVAL IS GREATLY NEEDED. Compare our lives with those of , Brainerd , Calvin , Jonathan Edwards , M'Cheyne , Baxter , Whitefield . Think of their love for souls, their zealous labours, their self-denials, their communion with God. Why, beside such men our piety is scarcely discoverable even by the aid of a microscope. II. IT CAN COME FROM GOD ONLY. The land in India is parched and dried up for want of rain; where are the reviving showers to come from? Can a council of her wise men by consulting each other obtain it? No; from above it must come. We too, are dry and parched, and all our talk and schemes and Church organization will do nothing, unless the showers fall upon us from above. In tills matter we are absolutely dependent upon God. I have heard of men and Churches trying to "get up" revivals. Got-up revivals end in spiritual dearth, or, worse still, spiritual death. They must be brought down to be of any service. III. CAN WE OBTAIN REVIVAL? IF SO, HOW? 1. I believe we can, because —(1) Of the promises God has made in this respect ( Malachi 3:10 ; Isaiah 44:3 ; Zechariah 12:10 ).(2) All who have ever earnestly and truly sought one have obtained it. Think of the times of Baxter , of Bunyan , of Burns, of Flavel , of Finney , of Wesley , of Whitefield , of M'Cheyne . In our isle, and lands beyond the seas, God has poured out His Spirit. Lord, Thou hast revived others; wilt Thou not revive us? Thou hast revived us in days past; wilt Thou not revive us again?(3) Revivals are a part of God's method of accomplishing His purposes, and without them the world can. not be converted. 2. How are we to obtain it?(1) There must be a determination on the part of each member of the Church to have a better state of things. A revival must be desired before God will give it.(2) There must be on the part of each one of us sorrow of heart for our coldness and backslidings, full confession of sin to God, the giving up of every known sin, and the earnest petition, "Cleanse thou me from secret faults."(3) There must be also on behalf of sinners soul travail ( Isaiah 66:8 ). In this there is deep philosophy: 'tis the mother who has felt the birth-pangs that loves and cares for the child as no other can. And 'tie those who have wrestled with God for the conversion of men, who know how to care for them when converted. IV. WHAT WILL BE THE RESULTS OF A REVIVAL WHEN OBTAINED? 1. It generally affects the minister, first and most. His lips are touched with the live coal from off the altar; he is clad with zeal as with a cloak. He has an unction from the Holy One resting upon him. 2. The deacons and all the members feel a kind of spell come over them. They don't neglect family prayer now. They don't forget to read their Bible now. All is changed, and things are as they should be. 3. Sinners who have listened for years, now, upon confession of their faith, wish to be baptized. 4. Then shall all the members of our Church be glad and rejoice in the Lord. ( W. W. Williams. ) Lent, the season of revival D. J. Vaughan, M. A. The advantage of such a season as Lent, — a season set apart for special prayer, and searching of heart, and amendment of life, — is that, where there is a feeling of slackness and failure, it meets it, and welcomes it, and sustains it, and guides it; and where there is no such wholesome feeling of inward concern and self-censure, it tends to awaken, and foster, and stimulate it. 1. Can we put a little more self-denial and effort into our religious exercises and devotions? 2. Can we see our way to embarking on a crusade, — a truly holy war, — against some besetting sin, or fault, or failing, of our own; with a determination to suppress it and stamp it out;-or to denying ourselves some little innocent indulgence, for the sake of self-discipline and the love of Christ; — or to applying the Cross practically to ourselves in any other special way whatever? 3. Can we cut out for ourselves, or anyhow aid in, any enterprise of Christian philanthropy, having for its object the bettering of the physical, social, intellectual, or religious condition of our fellow-men, around us or at a distance; some enterprise which we can help and forward by money, by prayers, or by personal labour and toil; and this, in the recollection, and under the inspiration of the Saviour's words: "inasmuch as ye have done it," etc. ( D. J. Vaughan, M. A. ) The test of a true revival -- joy and delight in God T. H. Darlow. Pardon and quickening are joined together i

85:1-7 The sense of present afflictions should not do away the remembrance of former mercies. The favour of God is the fountain of happiness to nations, as well as to particular persons. When God forgives sin, he covers it; and when he covers the sin of his people, he covers it all. See what the pardon of sin is. In compassion to us, when Christ our Intercessor has stood before thee, thou hast turned away thine anger. When we are reconciled to God, then, and not till then, we may expect the comfort of his being reconciled to us. He shows mercy to those to whom he grants salvation; for salvation is of mere mercy. The Lord's people may expect sharp and tedious afflictions when they commit sin; but when they return to him with humble prayer, he will make them again to rejoice in him. 85:8-13 Sooner or later, God will speak peace to his people. If he do not command outward peace, yet he will suggest inward peace; speaking to their hearts by his Spirit. Peace is spoken only to those who turn from sin. All sin is folly, especially backsliding; it is the greatest folly to return to sin. Surely God's salvation is nigh, whatever our difficulties and distresses are. Also, his honour is secured, that glory may dwell in our land. And the truth of the promises is shown by the Divine mercy in sending the Redeemer. The Divine justice is now satisfied by the great atonement. Christ, the way, truth, and life, sprang out of the earth when he took our nature upon him, and Divine justice looked upon him well pleased and satisfied. For his sake all good things, especially his Holy Spirit, are given to those who ask him. Through Christ, the pardoned sinner becomes fruitful in good works, and by looking to and trusting in the Saviour's righteousness, finds his feet set in the way of his steps. Righteousness is a sure guide, both in meeting God, and in following him