Revive Us Again! (5)

Opening Prayer: Psalm 85.11, 12
Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Yes, the LORD will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.

Sing Psalm 85.10-13
(Lyons: O Worship the King)
In Jesus God’s grace and truth are combined;
both goodness and peace in Him do we find.
Truth springs from the earth as He walks in our midst,
and righteousness flows from the heav’ns as a gift.

The Lord by His grace will give what is good;
our land will produce abundance of food.
And righteousness will go before the Lord’s face,
and make of His footsteps a way in this place.

Read Psalm 85.11, 12

Preparation
1. To what are the psalmists looking forward?

2. What appear to be the main “ingredients” for this to happen?

Meditation
These two verses continue the look-up-look-ahead vantage point of this psalm. Salvation and goodness will come to the world when truth and righteousness fuse in revival, renewal, and awakening (v. 11). Truth springs up from the earth as He Who is the truth (Jn. 14.6) enlarges His Presence and power within His people (Acts 1.8). The people of truth meet the gaze of righteousness from the Righteous One at the Father’s right hand, and they drink in that gaze with revival and rejoicing (v. 6).

But again, all this is the work of God’s grace. He must “give what is good” or no good will come (v. 12). Our duty is to wait on the Lord in prayer, believing that He will cause His goodness to be made known in the land of the living (Ps. 27.13, 14).

That word “increase” in verse 12 derives from the Hebrew word from which comes “Jubilee.” The year of Jubilee in ancient Israel was part of the every-seven-year Sabbath, a time of goodness, rest, bounty, provision, peace, and rejoicing in the Lord (Lev. 25.8-16). Israel never kept those required years of celebration. For 490 years they ignored that aspect of the Law of God, with the result that God sent them into captivity in Babylon for 70 years – one year for each of the neglected Sabbath years, including the years of Jubilee..

But the sons of Korah longed for that day to come. And it has come in our Lord Jesus Christ (Lk. 4.16-21). The Jubilee is upon us! Are we living as jubilant people, eagerly seeking and anticipating the goodness, truth, mercy, righteousness, and grace of God to abound throughout the earth?

Treasure Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“Truth shall spring out of the earth…” (Ps. 85.11)

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Ps. 19.1).
“Let the heavens declare His righteousness…” (Ps. 50.6).

Truth should also spring out from His people:
“We give thanks to You, O God, we give thanks! For Your wondrous works declare that Your name is near” (Ps. 75.1).
“Praise the LORD! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!” (Ps. 150.1, 6)
“Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name” (Heb. 13.15).
“Then a voice came from the throne, saying, ‘Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!’” (Rev. 19.5)

Luke 19.37-40 records truth springing forth out of His people, and if necessary, out of the earth: “Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, saying:
‘ “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!”
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’
And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd,
‘Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.’
But He answered and said to them,
‘I tell you that if these should keep silent,
the stones would immediately cry out.’”

Let the truth of Jesus spring from your life!
“Oh, bless our God, you peoples!
And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
Who keeps our soul among the living, and
does not allow our feet to be moved” (Ps. 66.8, 9).

Reflection
1. What is the Gospel? How would you explain the Gospel to an unbelieving friend?

2. What are some things that keep believers from being a source of truth in the world? How can we overcome these obstacles?

3. How can believers encourage one another to let truth spring from them throughout their Personal Mission Fields?

The union of God’s mercy and truth and His righteousness and peace describes the way things ought to be, or the state of peace spoken of in v. 8. The blending of the ideals of truth and righteousness in v. 11 suggests a vision of the kingdom of God (see Is. 11). Earl Radmacher (1931-2014), NKJV Study Bible Note on Psalm 85.10, 11

Closing Prayer: Psalm 85.4-9
Pray for revival. Pray for the goodness of the Lord to come in the land of the living. Pray that God will use you to show and declare the mercy, truth, righteousness, peace, and grace of Jesus today.

Sing Psalm 85.4-9
(Lyons: O Worship the King)
Restore us, O God, renew us in peace,
and cause all Your wrath against us to cease.
Will You evermore all Your wrath to us show?
Revive us that we may Your joy again know.

Lord, show us Your love; restore us, we pray!
And help us to hear the words that You say.
Speak peace to Your people; in truth let us stand.
We fear You; let glory and grace fill our land.

T. M. and Susie Moore

You can listen to our summary of last week’s study by clicking here.

Psalm 85 is an exercise in living from the Christian vantage point on life. For more about that vantage point, and how to live it, order a free copy of our book, Vantage Point (click here).

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.