“LORD, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. (2)Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah. (3)Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger. (4)Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. (5)Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations? (6)Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? (7)Shew us thy mercy, O LORD, and grant us thy salvation. (8)I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for he will speak peace unto his people, and to his saints: but let them not turn again to folly. (9)Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land. (10)Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other . (11)Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. (12)Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. (13)Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.” (Psalm 85)
Requirements for revival
Vs. 1-3
1. Saved,
2. forgiven of sins,
3. brought out of captivity from the world,
4. no longer under the wrath of God.
If we back-slide into sin again after salvation:
1. Turn us, O God of our salvation (verse 4)
"Turne" - turn back, bring back, carry back again, restore, retrieve, reverse, take back, backward from, retreat, deliver, circumcise (Strongs Concordance #07725)
When we need revival, God wants us to cry out to him to turn us. He is the God of our salvation. He saved our souls. Now He wants to save us from a sinful life-style, or a sin in our lives that is hindering us from a closer walk with Him and greater usefulness for Him.
We must cry out to God to turn us. What does that mean? O, God, bring us back. Carry us back again; restore us to our former condition that we were in when we got saved. Retrieve us from the hand of the enemy; reverse our direction, and take us back to Yourself. We need Your help to go backward from sin, to retreat. Deliver us, we pray, and circumcise this sin from our hearts. Cut it out so that it will no longer encumber us.
What sins do we need to confess?
a. stubbornness, hardheartedness, stiff-neckedness
b. faltering in prayer life
c. lack of love for God
d. lack of love for others
e. lack of love and a passion for souls
f. lack of love for the brethren
g. selfishness
h. unkindness
i. inconsiderateness
j. insufficient studying and knowledge of the Scriptures
k. critical spirit
l. hypocrisy
m. serving to be seen rather than to glorify the Lord.
n. possession of worldly or evil things (books, movies, etc.) that need to be purged from the home
o. pride
p. purging out of counterfeit Bibles, anything not KJV
q. purging out of any music not glorifying to the Lord.
2. Turn away Your anger from us again and have mercy on us and on the generations that follow after. (Verses 4,5)
3. Entreat for revival (verse 6)
The result of this will be the rejoicing of God’s people.
4. Plead for God’s mercy. We deserve to be rewarded for our iniquities. (verse 7)
5. Plead for God’s salvation (verse 7)
We cannot get ourselves out of our sin(s) or out of the mess that our sin has gotten us into.
6. Listen to God (verse 8)
We must hear God’s word, listen to it, obey it.
The end result of this is that God will speak peace unto us, His people, His saints. We are His people, His saints, His holy, godly people. God will speak peace unto us.