May God be pleased to bless us
together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let us turn to the
book of Psalms and Psalm 80 and we'll read the last verse, verse
19. The book of Psalms, Psalm 80
and the last verse, verse 19. Turn us again. Oh Lord of hosts,
cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Well, I wonder if I was to ask
you young people this morning in this psalm we read, Psalm
80, how many times this statement occurred in that psalm. We just read it in the 19th verse.
I wonder if you know how many other times it occurred. Not
exactly the same, but very similar. Well, I'll tell you, it occurred
three times in total. And the third verse tells us,
turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall
be saved. And then verse seven, turn us
again, and it expands it a little, O God of hosts, and cause thy
face to shine, and we shall be saved. And in this 19th verse,
it says, turn us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face
to shine and we shall be saved. So very clearly, it is a prayer. And it's a good prayer. And it's
a prayer that all of us should think about in our lives, whether
we need God to turn us again. And you may ask, what does that
really mean? Well, surely it means that we
want to be turned in a right way. We want to be turned away
from a wrong way. Because the Psalmist Asaph is
here saying he wanted God to cause his face to shine. That means that he needed to
see and observe God looking upon him, because he knew that if
God looked upon him, he would be amongst those who would be
saved. And of course, that is the great
question for all of us here, to know that we are saved, we're
saved from ourself, and we're saved from falling into hell. What a blessing it is if the
Holy Spirit comes and gives us that concern. Now this chapter,
or this psalm rather, commences with these words. Give ear, O
shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph like a flock,
thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. So the psalmist wanted God who
here is spoken of as the shepherd to hear his prayer and you may
think well that's pretty obvious well it's very easy to fall into
a pattern of just familiar phrases when we pray it's a very dangerous
situation to come into but it's good if we were to commence our
prayers with a statement like this that we want God to truly
hear our prayers and this picture we have here is of course directed
to the Old Testament position where the Lord came down and
dwelt between the cherubims and you may remember the cherubims
was one either side over the Ark of the Covenant and there
that was in the holy of holies in the tabernacle and later on
of course in the temple and so here the psalmist Asaph is directing
his prayer very clearly to God it wasn't just praying to someone
who was unknown like the Athenians as Paul said he saw that which
was directed to the unknown God Well, many people today pray
to the unknown God. I wonder today whether you and
I can acknowledge that we do pray to the God that we know. Again, it's not just a statement
of no significance. We do need to pray to a God that
we know. A God that we believe hears and
answers prayer. Well, I hope you all prayed this
morning, every one of you, children, young people and adults. I hope you all prayed this morning
that the Lord Jesus Christ, that heavenly shepherd, would indeed
shine into your heart, shine into my heart. We don't want
to just go through a mere token of worship. Again, those who
have been brought up to go to chapel, it becomes very traditional. And it can be just a real matter
of formality. And the tragedy is, there's no
reality. It doesn't really mean anything. again perhaps many many times
you've gone to chapel and you've got the end of the day and if
anybody asked you questions you wouldn't have been able to have
told anything that had been said not a thing you may have perhaps
remembered something but if you were asked well what effect did
it have on you did it touch your heart did it speak to your soul
you would have been silent you wouldn't have known You wouldn't
have been able to have spoken anything about it. It's a very
sad, very sad situation that, isn't it? To realise that the
effect has been really that you've wasted your time. And God has
given us the privilege of coming together to worship. Let us realise
it is a privilege. Never think it's a boring occasion,
a boring exercise. because it's relative to the
eternal state of our souls and it should never therefore be
considered as something irrelevant you should really think of it
as the most important time in the week as you go to school
or you go to hear lectures they may be important but you know
the services on the Lord's Day are more important than those
And they're more important because they direct us to the condition
of our souls, which never die, never fade away. They are eternal. And so this morning, we're here
before God. That's a great issue, isn't it?
We're here before God, the almighty God, the ruler of the universe,
the one who is so great and so powerful. He can immediately
take our life, can stop your breathing. And then where will
we be? Well, it's good if we come this
morning with such a desire as this, that the Lord would hear
us. Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel. Listen, Lord, to my prayer. I earnestly desire that my prayer
may be heard today and that I may have something to be thankful
for. I may be. I may have the evidence
that the Lord is looking upon me. He's caused his face to shine
upon me. That means he's looked upon me
and to realize, therefore, that because of this, my soul is saved. My soul is safe throughout eternity. And by the grace of God, I shall
spend eternity with the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well then,
there we have an introduction to this statement here. And the
word is this, turn us again. It would appear, therefore, that
Asaph had prayed this before. He needed to be turned again. And what did he really need?
Well, he needed to be turned away from following a wrong direction
he needed to be turned away from following just the poor things
of time and concentrating on the poor things of time he wanted
to be turned again now when something is turned it normally means it's
turned in an opposite direction and therefore he wanted to be
turned to this gracious and wonderful direction. He wanted to be turned
so that the Lord God of hosts would cause his face to shine
upon him and give him the evidence to know that he was saved. His soul was saved. Well, Asaph
here, he repeats this three times. Must have been important, mustn't
it? Must have been important. I wonder perhaps if you and I
pray whether we might have to sometimes repeat things three
times. Well Asaph did. He repeated it
three times. Turn us again. That means that
he wasn't satisfied in the direction that he was walking. He realised
it was going in a wrong direction. And it's very easy for us to
go in a wrong direction. The devil wants us to go in a
wrong direction. And that means an opposite way
from going in the things of God towards the things of God and
to be found going in an opposite way going in opposite direction what a mercy it is if we have
the evidence of the work of God the work of the Holy Spirit upon
us directing us then with this prayer to God that he would turn
us again Oh God of hosts he wasn't praying to anyone other than
the true God and we know that if we pray to God in faith and
that's a blessing if God gives us faith we know that we pray
in faith God will hear and will answer our prayers well we may
not be very concerned and I don't know you know you're all here
this morning and you're looking all right but God looks at the
heart he looks at the heart and he knows whether you're going,
you're walking, you're thinking wrong things whether you're going
in a wrong direction and it may be you're going in the broad
way it may be you're going in a sinful way it may be you're
going in a way pleasing to the flesh well here the Word of God
is clear. Asaph desired the Lord God to
shine upon him, the face of God to look toward him, the Lord
God to direct him away from that which was wrong and to direct
him in that which was good and that which would be a benefit
for his eternal soul. Well, The 14th verse in this
chapter says, Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts, look down
from heaven and behold and visit this vine. You see, in one sense, we're
all every true child of God is part of the vine, part of that
vine, which God, of course, is the true vine. and the true child
of God desires that God would come and visit our souls and
he uses this terminology return we beseech thee O God of hosts
that means it wasn't just a casual prayer that means he was really
concerned that God would look upon him that God would have
mercy upon him he may have felt, he may have been like we sang
in that hymn we just sung it's a very descriptive last verse
and it's a I wonder whether you and I can concur or agree with
it and this is what it said I hate my sins I loathe myself O Lord the sinner
cries O quell my lust nor let me fall, he prays with lifted
eyes. Well, that's a good prayer, isn't
it? And I believe the true Church of God understand what this man
John Hupton wrote, no doubt many, many years ago. But it's good,
you see, if the Holy Spirit causes us to pray that the Lord would
turn us again from evil ways, from sinful ways, from those
things that cause us to loathe ourself, loathe our thoughts,
loathe our words, loathe perhaps our action. And the hymn writer
says, the sinner cries. It's good, isn't it, when God
has caused us to cry, caused us to pray to God about such
a situation which the Holy Spirit has revealed to us that we're
not a very wonderful person, that we're not a perfect person. In actual fact, we're a very
great sinner. And we will need then the Lord
to come and to turn us again. And where will that be to? I'll
tell you where it will be to. To turn us to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He says, turn us again. We have
to pray that often, don't we? The Lord will turn us to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Because if the Lord does, then
you see the effect will be that the Lord's face will be toward
us. We will realise he's looking upon us. He's looking upon us
for good and not for evil. Turn us again, O Lord, God of
hosts. Cause thy face to shine. O Lord, hear my cry. Give ear, O shepherd of Israel,
thou that leadest Joseph. You know, the Lord led Joseph
and we're told in the book of Deuteronomy how the Lord led
him in the 32nd chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. We read
these words in the 10th verse. Well, perhaps we ought to read
the 9th verse. For the Lord's portion is his
people. That's very wonderful, isn't
it? The Lord's portion is his people. To think that you and
me, as sinners, vile sinners, the Lord looks upon if we are
his children. And we are his portion. And therefore
he'll cause us to earnestly pray that we might be turned to him. He goes on. Jacob is the lot
of his inheritance. He found him. As he found you
this morning. As God found you. As he called you. As he spoken to
you. A sinner indeed. He found Jacob. He found him. Where did he find him? in a desert
land and in the waste howling wilderness. He didn't find him
in a very wonderful place, did he? But the Lord knows where
we are. And you may be perhaps in a desert
place. You may be in a waste howling
wilderness. You may say, well, I don't quite
understand that. I'm living in a pleasant country. I'm living in a nice town and
I've got a nice home. Well, the Lord here is directing
us to a spiritual condition which is when the Lord touches our
hearts we find that the things of time are a desert land and
a waste howling wilderness. Yes, everything seems to be dry
spiritually. Everything seems to be parched.
Everything seems to lack any moisture. And we need the Lord
to come and to shine upon us where the Lord found Jacob in
this place. But he didn't leave him there. It's a good thing if God doesn't
leave us there. And this is what we read. He led him about. He instructed
him and he kept him. the apple of his eye and we can
read on as an eagle stir it up a nest you see the an eagle stirs
up the nest and an eagle's nest is usually made of thorns and
prickles and when it's time for the eaglet to get out then the
the eagle stirs it up so it's no longer comfortable and that's
just like God does to us in the world we find that
what we were enjoying as a comfortable existence the Lord stirs it up
and it's not comfortable at all it's something that we don't
want to stay in you see that's an encouragement for the young
eagle to get out and to fly but again we read these words here
that then the eagle spreads her wings to carry the eagle initially. It doesn't have to fly off by
itself. Isn't that a mercy that God looks
upon us? If He turns us round to look
to Him, He doesn't cast us out into no man's land. He looks
after us. He taketh him, beareth him on
her wings, so the Lord alone Remember this, so the Lord alone,
that's the illustration, but so the Lord alone did lead him.
And there was no strange God with him. Yes, God was with him. He made him ride on the high
places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the
fields. And he made him to suck honey out of the rock and oil
out of the flinty rock, places which would seem naturally to
be impossible to receive anything. You see, God is a great God and
God can bless us in situations, in places that we might think
was very dry and very barren and very hard. No, God is gracious
and God is in every place. And so here we have this statement
here that the Lord gave Asaph the prayer to cry to God, give
ear, O Shepherd of Israel, thou that leadest Joseph. Well, he
did. And he leads his people today.
And what a blessing it is to realise that the Lord leads us
today. And so may it be, as we think
of these words, turn us again. It's like this, the Lord will
perhaps return. I don't know. Perhaps we've been
in a good place and now we've wandered away and we're in a
bad place. We need God to come. We need
God to turn us again. See, naturally speaking, we're
pretty weak. And we're very easily kept in
a wrong way. And we need God to come and to
turn us again. Turn us to look to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Because with Him is forgiveness. With Him is mercy. With Him is
grace. There's everything that you and
I can need. And especially when the blessed spirit leads us to
the cross. The cross of Jesus, when he turns
us around and there we see the Lord looking upon us as it were
in faith from the cross. He looks upon us. He's heard
our cry. He's turned us around. And what's
the benefit? Well, when we look to the Lord
Jesus Christ, when all our hope is in what he's done, then we
have the evidence that our souls are safe. Then we have the evidence
that we are saved and we're saved with a great and glorious salvation. Oh, it's a new scene. It's a
wonderful scene. It's a blessed scene. In an earlier verse, in this
80th Psalm, Asaph says, O Lord God of hosts, the fourth verse,
how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? Just think of that for a moment.
How long will thou be angry against the prayer of thy people? that surely means that we've
been praying in a wrong way we've been praying perhaps for things
that do not profit you may have been praying for something in
your life and it may not be for your good it may not be for your
eternal good you might think it would be but it may not be
and Perhaps the Lord is angry against such a prayer. It's a
very solemn statement, isn't it, really? Sometimes we seem
to be very alien from God, walking in an opposite way. We don't
seem to be seeking earnestly that the will of the Lord might
be done in our life and that we might be always directed to
look to the Saviour and to be blessed with these spiritual
blessings which will be for our eternal good. It is far more
important for us to be concerned about spiritual blessings and
spiritual blessings must centre upon a crucified Christ. My friends, have you ever stood
at the cross of Christ? Have you ever viewed the Lord
Jesus Christ suffering on your behalf? If you haven't and you'd
be honest about it, you need God to hear this prayer. Oh, Lord, turn me again. Turn
me to the cross of Christ. Turn me. And you see, here was
this word spoken, not to man. Man can't do anything. This was
spoken to the great God, the Lord God of hosts. The Lord God
who hears and answers prayer. The Lord God who doesn't turn
away his face. Turn us again. Turn us again. Oh Lord God of hosts, cause thy
face to shine and we shall be saved. Now as I've already said,
it's worth repeating, Obviously, the psalmist was very concerned
about it because it's repeated three times. What a mercy it is, therefore,
when you and I are very concerned about it. The 85th psalm, which
we read, it's a very wonderful psalm. All those psalms are beautiful. This tells us here, it starts
off, Lord, that has been favourable unto thy land has brought back
the captivity of Jacob. You see, it's really moving on.
And it's a good thing if this happens in your life and my life,
when as we pray to God and he's heard our prayer and now we can
come and say, yes, by the grace of God, the Lord has been favourable
to me. The Lord has brought back my
captivity. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity
of thy people. See, that's the great concern,
isn't it? To look to the Saviour and to recognise His great and
glorious work is a finished work. And that finished work is to
redeem our souls. That finished work is to free
us from the condemnation of the law which says the soul that
sinneth, it shall die. and to give us that good hope
that we are saved eternally saved thou has forgiven the iniquity
of thy people thou has covered all their sins when he comes
on he says in the fourth verse again turn us O God of our salvation
again he was concerned again to be brought to this time of
turning we're not told who it is this psalm written by I think
it's David doesn't actually say Turn us again, O God of our salvation.
But I'm sure such a prayer won't be isolated to just one or two
people. It'll be an experience that is
not unfamiliar to the true believer, who realizes it's so easy to
turn around and go the wrong way, and to need to be corrected
and brought back to face the right way. Turn us. Turn us again, O God of our salvation. and cause thine anger toward
us to cease. It's a very solemn thing, isn't
it? To have God angry with us. To have the great God angry with
us because we are walking contrary to Him. Walking in an opposite
way. The Bible tells us if we walk
contrary to Him, He will walk contrary to us. you may not always
realise it you may not always appreciate it you may find that
one of the significant aspects of this is that your heart becomes
hard rebellious not soft not willing to be found serving the
Lord not willing to do His will but pleasing yourself well it
comes on And then he says this, Wilt not thou revive us again,
that thy people may rejoice in thee? When the Lord does come,
the Lord does turn us, when he does revive us, what's the effect? We rejoice in the goodness of
God. We rejoice in the mercy of God. We praise our God for his favour
toward us. And we realise how undeserving
we are because of our sinful condition. And we stand amazed
of His grace, of His favour. We stand amazed that He should
ever have loved us, such an unworthy sinner. But true it is. Wilt not Thou revive us again,
that Thy people may rejoice in Thee? And then He prays, Show
us Thy mercy, O Lord, and grant us thy salvation. Well, salvation is good news.
Is it good news to your soul? Is it what you need to be reminded
of? The Church of God needs continually
to be blessed with a recollection of God's goodness and God's mercy
toward them. and especially with regard to
the condition of their never-dying soul. And we shall be saved. People sometimes shy away from
having a humble confidence that they are saved. You know, to
do so really, if God has saved us, is to deny what God has done. We don't want to deny that, do
we? We want to acknowledge His great goodness toward us, and
we shall be saved. And if He has saved us, to acknowledge
the wonder of it. He saved a wretch like me, as
John Newton says. Well, we will be in our own sight
wretches, but you see, we will be saved, saved with a great
salvation, and we shall desire to praise and bless our God. Well this morning then is our
concern. The psalmy starts. Give ear,
O shepherd of Israel. Lord, do hear my prayer. Is that what it's been this morning?
Did you wake up with such a desire? Lord, do hear my prayer. I need my prayer to be heard. I need thee, Lord, to turn me
once again to thyself, once again direct me to the Lord Jesus Christ. Once again, Lord, turn me to
observe thy wonderful love, to consider thy great grace, and
to rejoice in the mercy which I have received. Turn me. Turn me. Well, it's a good thing,
isn't it? He says here, turn us. It's written in the plural. Of course, it refers to the whole
Church of God, but it will come down to this in our individual
position. Oh, Lord, turn me. Oh, God of
hosts. We realize we can only come to
Almighty God, but we can come to that God who does hear, that
God who knows all about us. He knows our sinful condition.
He knows there is that way of salvation. Well, bless God today. If God has given you and given
me a prayer from our very heart that the Lord would bless us
indeed. The 17th verse in this chapter
says, Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the
Son of Man, whom thou madest strong for thyself. So will not
we go back from thee? Quicken us, that means make us
alive, and we will call upon thy name. So we come to this
verse then. Turn us again, O Lord God of
hosts, cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. You see,
if the Lord does turn us, if the Lord does shine upon us,
if he does reveal his face to us, then we shall be saved, delivered
from all our sins, and we shall then be safe in the arms of Jesus. Oh, blessed be God. Amen.