Pray. Lord, we ask that you would.
Take this song. And make it the prayer. Of each
one of us. Turn us again. Oh Lord God of
hosts. And cause thy face. to shine, quicken us and we will call upon
thy name. Oh Lord, for Christ's sake, make
that happen even this day. In Christ's name we pray, amen. I've made this statement numerous
times before and it's just as true now as the first time I
made it. The gospel, if true, is of infinite
importance. If false, it's of no importance. The one thing it cannot be is
moderately important. Amen. Now, this psalm before
us is a prayer for restored fellowship. Look in verse three. Turn us again, O God. You've turned us before, turn
us again. Cause thy face to shine and we
shall be saved. He repeats that three times.
Look in verse seven. Turn us again. O God of hosts,
cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Look in verse
14. Return, we beseech thee, O God
of hosts. Look down from heaven, and behold,
and visit this thigh. Don't you want that to happen
to you? Visit this thigh. Verse 19. Turn us again, O Lord
God of hosts, Cause thy face to shine and we shall be saved. Now this is the desire of every
believer. Turn me. Turn me. The believer can lose his sense
of the joy of the Lord. You remember when David said
in Psalm 51, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. There can be seasons of coldness,
of dryness. There can be a losing of your
first love. There can be a time of lukewarmness. And everybody here knows what
that means. And this is the psalmist's cry
that the Lord would turn me again, turn us again. Cause thy face
to shine. That's the priestly benediction
in Numbers chapter six. The Lord make his face to shine
upon thee. I want the Lord's face to shine
in favor toward me, toward you, Turn us again, cause thy face
to shine, and we shall be saved. Turn with me for a moment to
the Song of Solomon, chapter five. Now, when we get in a barren
state, you know whose fault it is? It's our fault, isn't it? It's all our fault when this
takes place. Look in Song of Solomon, chapter
five. I am coming to my garden, my
sister, my spouse, I've gathered my myrrh with my spice. I've
eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I've drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, oh friends, drink, yea,
drink abundantly, oh beloved. This is the Lord speaking to
his church. Now here's the church speaking.
I sleep, but my heart waketh. It is that time when you're not
quite asleep and you're not quite awake. That's what is being spoken
of. It's the voice of my beloved
that knocketh saying open to me, my sister, my love, my dove,
my undefiled. For my head is filled with dew
and my locks with the drops of the night. Now, here is the church's
reply to him saying open to me. I put off my coat. How shall
I put it on? I've washed my feet. How shall
I defile them? I'm already in bed. I'm cleaned
up. I can't get up again. My beloved put his hand by the
hole of the door and my bowels were moved for him. I rose up
to open to my beloved and my hands dropped with my fingers
with sweet smelling myrrh upon the handles of the lock where
he had touched it. I opened to my beloved. But my beloved had
withdrawn himself and was gone. My soul failed when he spake. I sought him, but I could not
find him. I called him, but he gave me
no answer." Now, whose fault was it that the beloved left?
It was her fault. He calls, and she says, I'm already
in bed. I've got my nightclothes on. I've already washed my feet.
I don't want to get up and soil them. And so she ended up getting
up and the beloved was gone. Now, I'm sure all of us are keenly
aware of this taking place with us from time to time. A hardening,
a hardening of heart. And when you're like that, you
cannot stand it. being hard-hearted, being lukewarm,
whatever you want to call it, is miserable to a believer. And they want restored fellowship. And they know that they can't
just make it happen. And that's why we cry, turn me. Turn me, I can't turn myself.
Turn me, turn us again. Three times in this psalm. Turn
us again, O Lord God of hosts, cause thy face to shine and we'll
be saved. Look in Psalm 85 for just a moment.
Verse 6, the psalmist says, Will thou not revive us again? that
thy people may rejoice in thee." Now, we've heard in the papers
a lot about revival the last couple of weeks. I know you've
heard it about whatever's supposed to be going on at Asbury. As
a matter of fact, there's supposed to be a revival in Rupp Arena
today. It's going to last between 2 and 11, and you can bring something
like that down. The gospel's never involved in
that. It's just some kind of, I don't believe there's any reality
to any, I know there's not, but there is such a thing as a believer
saying, revive me, revive me. Will thou not revive us again
that thy people may rejoice in thee? Turn to Jeremiah chapter
31. Jeremiah chapter 31. Beginning in verse 18. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself thus. Thou hast chastised me and I
was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. You've brought trial
in my life. It hadn't done me any good. It
hadn't changed me. I'm just as bad as I ever was.
That's what he's saying. And now look what he says. Turn
now me and I shall be turned for thou art the Lord my God. I hope every one of us are praying
that right now. Turn me and I will be turned. Surely after that
I was turned, I repented. Not before then. After he turned
me, I repented. And after that I was instructed,
I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea, even confounded
because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Turn me. That's
what the psalmist is asking. Turn me, and I shall be turned. Now let's go back to Psalm 80. Give ear, O shepherd of Israel. I want to say that right now,
don't you? Give ear, O shepherd of Israel, the Lord is my shepherd. Thou that leadest Joseph like
a flock, thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth. Now,
I love the fact that he dwells between the cherubims. That's
the mercy seat, the lid of propitiation. I'm so thankful that the Lord
has propitiated himself through the blood of his son to make
a way for him to show me his favor. He's the one who dwells
between the cherubims. Shine forth, verse two, before
Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh. Stir up thy strength and come
and save us. Now, this is a prayer that I pray
Pretty much every day. Save me. Save me from yourself. I've sinned against him. I need
to be saved from him. Save me from my sins. Save me
from my circumstances. How many times have you done
something that, Oh, I wish I hadn't said something. I wish I hadn't
said that. And you think of the, the consequences
that may come from it. And you say, Lord, save me from
that. Don't let it happen. Save me, stir up your strength
and come and save me. And then he says for the first
time, turn us again. Oh God, and cause thy face to
shine and we shall be saved. Now I won't be saved without
turning. You won't be saved without turning. There's no salvation
apart from turning. You know what? I know that I
won't turn unless he turns me. And I'm not apathetic about it.
I'm not indifferent about it. I don't say, well, can't turn
unless he turns me, so go on, laissez faire. No, turn me. Turn me. Oh, Lord God of hosts, cause
thy face to shine in favor. And I shall be saved. Verse four. Oh, Lord, God of
hosts, how long without be angry against the prayer of that people?
Now, what he's saying when he makes that statement is this
is all my fault that I've been I'm like this. And I can see
why my prayer wouldn't get any further than the ceiling. And
that's how he felt, really. He felt at this time, I'm not
having communion with God. My prayers aren't being heard.
That's the way he felt. And he says, how long will you
be angry against the prayers of your people? Now, here's what
is glorious. Through the intercession of Christ,
my prayers are always heard and accepted, whether I feel it or
not. But as far as the way I feel,
this is the way the psalmist felt. My prayer is not getting
past the ceiling. How long will you be angry with
the prayers of your people? Now, what he's saying by this
is this, this need of being turned. I've got myself into this mess.
It's all my fault. My sin is all my fault. And here's how I feel. Verse
five, thou feedest them with the bread of tears and give us
them tears to drink in great measure. Now, when when we feel
like this, we're not apathetic about it. We're not indifferent
about it. Tears in great measure. If they don't come out of the
eyes, they're coming from the heart. Tears in great measure. We don't want to have anything
but his face shining upon us. Verse six, thou makest us strife
unto our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. I think
that is interesting how he acknowledges the hand of God in all things.
Thou makest us to strife because of our sin, because of our wherever
we're at. Thou makest us to strife unto
our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. So these
are the people of God. So he repeats his prayer in verse
seven, turn us again. Oh, God of hosts, cause thy face
to shine and we shall be saved. No, we might be saved. We shall
be saved if he turns me. And like the, um, Jeremiah said,
turn me and I'll be turned. If he turns me and causes his
face to shine, I'll be safe. Lord, turn me again. How many times does the Lord
have to turn you? Well, every time you're turned, it's because
he turned you. And this is what you want, to be turned toward
him. Turn us again, oh Lord, God of
hosts, cause thy face to shine. God who commanded the light to
shine out of the darkness has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Turn us again, O Lord God of
hosts, cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Now he
talks about Israel's history, which is his history. Thou has
brought a vine out of Egypt. Thou hast cast out the heathen
and planted it. I mean, talking about discriminating
mercy and grace, he cast out the heathen out of the land of
Canaan to place his own people there. You can't get away from
sovereign, distinguishing, discriminating grace in the gospel. It's there. He cast out the heathen and planted
them. Verse nine, thou preparest Room
is in italics. Everything he does is grace beforehand,
prepared grace, his preparation. I go and prepare a place for
you. He's always out in front. Thou preparest room before it
and didst cause it. Aren't you thankful for causing
grace? Thou didst cause it to take deep root Every plant that
my heavenly father has not planted should be cast off, but you caused
it to take deep root. Once again, salvation is of the
Lord. His causing grace that causes this deep root. And it filled the land, the hills
were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof
were like the goodly cedars, the strength. She sent out her
boughs into the sea and her branches into the river. This is talking
about the growth in grace, the blessing of God upon the church. And then the psalmist asked this
question, Why has thou then broken down her hedges, her walls of
protection, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck
her? Now, this is an interesting verse. If my walls are broken down,
it's my fault. And the psalmist says, why have
you broken them down? Both of those things are true, aren't
they? If my walls are broken down, it's my fault. But yet
the psalmist always acknowledges the Lord as the first cause in
all things. And one of the things that we
pray when we, we are taught to pray, lead us not into temptation. That should be with us every
single day. What we're saying is build a
hedge about us. build a wall about us, cause
us to be surrounded. We don't even want to face temptation.
We don't want to be tempted. Put a wall around us because
if we don't have the wall of your grace, we know what's going
to happen. And now he says that wall has been broken down. Why has thou been broken down
her hedges so that all they which do pass by the way do pluck her? Here's how bad things have become. The boar out of the wood doth
waste it, and the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
We're helpless prey before our enemies, before our temptations
and sins. Oh, return. Verse 14, here it
is again. Return, we beseech thee, O God
of hosts. Look down from heaven, and behold,
and visit this vine. Lord, look down from heaven and
behold me. I need a divine visitation. That is the cry of every believer. I need you to look down from
heaven upon me. I need you to come and visit
me. Verse 15. Come and visit this vine in the
vineyard, which thy right hand hath planted and the branch that
thou hast made strong for thyself. This is an acknowledgement of
his grace. You're the one that planted me. You're the one that
has done everything for me, but here's where I'm at. Verse 16,
this vine it's burned with fire. It's cut down. What a revelation of himself. I'm burned
with fire. I'm cut down. They perish at the rebuke of
thy countenance. Now, I love this. When the psalmist is brought
to this view of himself, He's cut down, he's burned with fire. He perishes at the rebuke of
thy countenance. What does he pray? Let thy hand
be upon the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man whom
thou made as strong for thyself. Now, who's the man of his right
hand? You know the answer to that.
When he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down at the
right hand of the majesty on high. There isn't anything else
to, Lord, look to Christ. Let your hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, the man you made strong for yourself. You
see, He gave Christ, he made him strong for himself, that
he could be just and justify me and you. That is his salvation. And all the psalmist has to plead
is Christ. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me be found in him. Let me be seen in him. That's
all I desire, is that I might be found in the Lord Jesus Christ. If I'm found outside of him,
the man of thy right hand, there's no hope for me. I need to be
found in him. Now, when there is a reviving
going on, this becomes uppermost in our hearts and minds. I want
to be found in Christ. That's so important to us. It's
everything. I need to be found in Christ
in the man of thy right hand. Don't look at me, look at the
one whom you made strong for yourself. the one that you can
accept me through him and for his sake. Let thy hand be upon
the man of thy right hand, upon the son of man. What is the title
the Lord gave to himself more than any other title? The son
of man, by far, by far, the son of man. You know, the Lord loves
men. He became man and he identifies with men. And this is our only
hope. Let thy hand be upon the son
of man whom thou made a strong for thyself. So will not we go
back from thee. Here's how we will not go back
from thee. When you put your hand upon the man in thy right
hand and view us in him. We're not gonna go back. You're
not gonna let us. Quicken us. Give us life and we'll call upon
thy name." Now, what is the evidence that the Lord has quickened me?
I call upon his name. There's the evidence. Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." And that's
what's going on in this psalm when he's saying, turn us again,
O Lord, cause thy face to be shined. That's the same thing
as calling on the name of the Lord. I'm calling on the name
of the Lord to save me. I'm saying, Lord, save me as
an act of your sovereign will. Save me by your glorious justice
in a way that honors your justice. Save me by your wisdom when you've
been so infinitely wise to make a way to be just and justify
the ungodly. You're calling on all of his
attributes. Save me by your holiness. Save me by your grace. Save me
by your mercy. Save me by your love. This is
what happens when the Lord quickens me. I call on his name. That's
the evidence. Somebody says, well, the evidence
is having more joy in your life. Well, we ought to have more joy
in our life, but if that's what you're looking for, you're not
going to have it. You call on his name, you'll have joy. You
try to have joy and not try to have peace and try to, the opposite
will take place. You call upon his name. That
is his quickening. And then he repeats for the third
time, turn us. again. Oh, Lord, God of hosts. Now, the first time in verse
three, he said, turn us again. Oh, God. And the second time
he said in verse seven, turn us again. Oh, Lord, God of hosts. Or I mean, oh, God of hosts. And the last time he says, turn
us again. Oh, Lord, Jehovah, God of hosts. First God, then
the God of hosts. This is a plea of the resurrection,
really. Remember how Psalm 24, the resurrection
psalm, who is this king that comes in to the gates? The Lord
of hosts has something to do with the resurrection. Jehovah,
his name is Savior. Turn us again, oh Jehovah, God
of hosts, and we shall be saved. If the Lord turns me, you know
what? I shall be saved. And so I do
not say, well, if the Lord turns me, I can't turn unless he turns
me. No, I say turn me. Turn me. Turn us again, oh Lord
God of hosts, and we shall be saved. May that be the prayer
of every one of us.