Revival in Ourselves — Psalms 119

0:00 Good morning, dear saints. Good morning. It's a privilege, a blessing to be here with you all. Thank you all so much for your fellowship in the gospel and all the ways that you've been a blessing to my family and I throughout this past week. We've enjoyed being with you all and it's been wonderful to see the lord at work.

0:24 It it seems that the lord may have saved several souls this week for which we give him praise and thanksgiving and we're thankful to our god for the privilege that we each have to love him, to worship him, to serve him, to know him. Let's pray. Heavenly father, thank you so much for giving us your word. Please open our hearts and our minds to receive it. Glorify your name.

0:52 Help us to know you better, to love you more. Help us, Lord, to delight in you and to delight to do your will. We give you thanks that you are so great and so awesome and so wonderful and that you've brought us into an eternal relationship with yourself through faith in your son, our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. In his name, we thank you and praise you. Amen.

1:19 So, good morning everyone and happy Father's Day. You might expect that I'll be sharing with you a message about Father's Day today. Lord willing, I'll be sharing with you a message about something that I believe is on the heart of our heavenly father for every father who's here today as well as for every mother, for every grandfather, for every grandmother, for every son, for every daughter, for every young man and woman or boy and girl. And that theme is the theme of revival. Revival.

1:57 And if you have your Bible, please open up. You might say to the heart of your Bible. If your Bible didn't have concordances and dictionaries, if you were to open up to the middle, you might come to this book and maybe you would even come to this particular Psalm. Psalm 119. Psalm a 119.

2:19 The book of Psalms as you know is a book of songs that the Jewish people would sing to the lord. And I find it very interesting a theme that we find in this longest Psalm in the book of Psalms. In Psalm a 119, nine times over, the Psalm has prayed, revive me. Revive me. So, the longest Psalm in the Bible, I believe it's actually a a song or we might even say a prayer for revival.

3:01 In the New King James Version, that phrase revive me is found I I believe that that phrase is found or the word revive in the New King James Version. It's found 14 times in the book of Psalms. Why would the Lord include nine of those times in Psalm a 119? I believe it's because he knows it's something that that we all constantly need, to be revived in the Lord. Now, when we say revival, what do we mean?

3:40 That word revive me that's found nine times in Psalm a 119 according to Strong's Concordance, it means to live whether literally or figuratively or positively to revive. And it's interesting that in this Psalm, when it says revive me, the Psalm ist is not saying that he's going to revive himself. He's not saying he's going to revive someone else, but he's looking to the Lord and calling upon the Lord to revive him. And even as was already mentioned in the Lord's supper this morning, our dependence, our satisfaction, our all in all is to be found in God himself, even in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That word revive according to Webster's dictionary, it means to return to life or to recover life.

4:31 Now, as believers, we don't need to be born again and again and again and again. We just people need to just be born again once. So, it's not that we need to return to life, but for believers, I would apply this more to the later definitions there in Webster's dictionary, where it says to recover new life or vigor, to be reanimated after depression, To recover from a state of neglect, oblivion, obscurity, or depression. Do you ever feel like you need to be refreshed spiritually? In that sense, I would take this prayer for revival, revive me to apply to our lives as believers.

5:15 To recover new life or vigor, to be reanimated, to recover from a state of neglect. Does your spiritual life ever need to recover from a state of neglect? I think that often happens with us as believers. Sometimes, we may know that god's calling us to go and spend time with him in his word but we might think, oh well, let let me take care of this And then let me take care of that. And before we know hours have passed.

5:42 And we've neglected that time of intimacy with the Lord. And we might realize that in our hearts we don't have the peace and the joy and these spiritual blessings that the Lord wants to lavish upon us if we've been neglecting our relationship with the lord. In the King James version, it translates that prayer quicken me, quicken me and that means to make alive in a spiritual sense or to revive, to cheer, to reinvigorate, to refresh. And so our god wants us to be refreshed. He wants us to live revived lives as believers in our lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

6:24 This Psalm is a whole one one way that you might sum it up is oh Yahweh or Jehovah, this eternal self existent god. Oh Yahweh, revive your servant. Now, why would I say that the Psalm could be summed up that way? Well, I believe the name the the word god is translated in English. I think it's used once in Psalm a 119 but the name lord returning the lord referring to the lord as the eternal self existent one.

7:00 That name of the lord. That's used 24 times in this Psalm. Revive as we mentioned is mentioned nine times and then there's a certain phrase or word that the Psalm has used to refer to himself in this Psalm and I believe that that's a word that we could use to refer to ourselves as well and that's the word servant and because he's talking to the lord, he says, your servant and I believe that's a fitting way for us to look at ourselves as well and lord willing, we will consider that a little bit more in a little while. Another way to look at this Psalm would be how to be a holy, happy, and humble servant of Yahweh. The Psalm talks out be...

8:22 What are some evidences that we may need revival? Or who needs revival? Is revival really necessary? Here are some evidences that we need revival. Self satisfaction, I believe, is an evidence that we need revival because god wants us to be satisfied not in ourselves.

8:44 We know that in us that is in our flesh dwells no good thing. Paul said, who will deliver me from this body of death? And our satisfaction is to be in the Lord our God, not in ourselves. God tells us in his word that no flesh should glory in his presence, but rather we are to glory in the Lord. What is another evidence that we need revival?

9:08 Self confidence is an evidence that we need revival. The Lord doesn't call us to put our trust in ourselves. Rather, he says that we're to trust in him with all of our heart and to lean not on our own understanding. Worldly satisfaction is another evidence that we need revival. Being satisfied with sinful things of this world that are not pleasing to our God.

9:31 Sinful delights, another evidence that we need revival to if we're taking pleasure in things that are not pleasing to God. It's an evidence that we need revival. Lack of obedience to God's word is an evidence that we need revival. And that could both refer to sins of commission, things that we do or think, thoughts that we entertain in our minds that we know are not pleasing to the Lord. But it can also relate to sins of omission.

9:58 So when our God calls us to go and make disciples of all nations, when he calls us to go and preach the gospel, proclaim the good news to every creature, If we're silent as his witnesses, I believe that's an evidence that we need revival. Because the Lord wants us delighting in him in our hearts so that out of the abundance of our mouths we'll speak. And that we'll speak of his son who should be so precious to us. And the best news in the world is the gospel. And people need the gospel.

10:28 And who's gonna share the gospel with the people you know? I don't know most of the people you know, but you do. And God wants to use you as his witness to tell them about the Lord Jesus, to share with them of your glorious savior who they need if they haven't yet put their trust in him. Lack of desire to grow in relationship with God, I believe is another evidence of needing revival. If we're just kind of coasting along in our lives, not reading the word of God, thinking that, you know, hearing God's word Sunday mornings, maybe Wednesday evenings is enough to keep us going.

11:04 I believe that's an evidence that we need revival. Would would you think that, having a big breakfast, maybe a big brunch on Sunday morning, and a nice dinner on Wednesday night would carry you through the week physically? Obviously not. Right? And, how how many meals do you like to eat a day?

11:24 Probably for some three, maybe for some five or six. Maybe for some, they're on a seafood diet. They seafood, they wanna eat it. They're just constantly hungry, constantly eating. Well, I believe that's the way our life should be spiritually.

11:37 Feeding on the word of God, meditating upon the word of God, delighting in the Lord and thinking about his word throughout the day by God's grace and for his glory. And then leaving our first love for God is another evidence that we need revival. We know in Revelation, it talked about that church that was working hard and laboring hard, yet the Lord had something against them that they had left their first love. And I believe God wants us to live in constant first love for the Lord, where we love him more than anyone or anything. And our desire is to do his will and in good pleasure and that we want to obey him because we love him.

12:18 Is that how your life is? I know in my life, it's a struggle at times. That's why I need to constantly be brought back to being refreshed by the Lord and refreshed in Christ. Is revival possible? Yes.

12:31 I believe it is. I believe we see examples in scripture of revival. People like David, Paul, the Lord Jesus, we know he lived the perfect life, always saying and doing the things that pleased his father in heaven. What can we do when we need revival? The Lord Jesus said, ask and you shall receive.

12:51 Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you. When we need revival, I believe we should ask the Lord. And so I believe it's good for us to pray even consistently that the Lord will revive all of his people, all of those whose faith is in the Lord Jesus all over the world. Because, we need this refreshing.

13:14 We need this reinvigorating, being cheered in the Lord, rejoicing in him, recovering new life or vigor. And the Lord tells us in first John chapter five that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, then we know that we have the petitions that we've asked of him. Does the Lord want us to be revived? Yes, he does.

13:49 I believe it's a 176 verses. And it goes through all 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. So the first eight verses all begin with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The next eight verses all begin with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet, and all the way through the Hebrew alphabet. So it has 22 stanzas or groups of eight verses each.

14:13 And throughout this Psalm, it talks about the word of God. It's been said that Susanna Wesley, said to her two boys, if you fall in love with this Psalm, you'll fall in love with the whole Bible. Because of course, the word of God is the theme of Psalm a 119. In Psalm a 119, almost every verse speaks explicitly about the word of God. There might be two or three or four exceptions, but it speaks about God's word using words like law, testimonies, commandments, judgments, statutes, precepts, ways, word, justice, ordinances, promise, faithfulness, appointments.

14:58 And before we dig into Psalm a 119, I'd like to take a look at one verse in Isaiah chapter 57 which I believe gives us a couple prerequisites if you will for being revived is god's people. Isaiah chapter 57 in verse 15. It says, for thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him who is with him who has a contrite and humble spirit. To revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

15:43 If we want to be revived by the Lord, we cannot live lives of pride. Because God says that he resists the proud. He stands against the proud. But he gives grace to who? To the humble.

16:00 And so it's essential in our lives that that we have a contrite and humble spirit. The Lord revives the spirit of the humble. He revives the heart of the contrite ones. We should be broken before the lord about our sin. We should realize that we need god's help constantly and we should seek to live our lives dependent upon the lord at all times.

16:26 Again, in Psalm a 119, the word servant is used 13 times, I believe, referring to the Psalmist and why would I say that I believe that's a fitting way for you and I as believers to think about our own lives? Well, I'm going to read some phrases from the first verse of several books in the New Testament and mainly from the New King James version but I'm just going to substitute the word servant for bond servant in those verses. It says, Romans one one, Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ. Philippians one one, Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ. Here were individuals in the New Testament, mightily used of God.

17:17 How did they see themselves? How did the Holy Spirit lead them to refer to themselves? Is the holy word of God was being recorded? As servants of Jesus Christ. Titus one one, Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ.

17:36 James one one, James, a servant of god and of the lord, Jesus Christ. So, there you have not only Paul but also Timothy and also James referring to themselves as servants of Jesus Christ. What goes on? Second Peter one one. Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ.

17:57 Jude, Jude one one, Jude, a bond, a servant of Jesus Christ. And then in Revelation one one, it says, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants. That's you and me. God gave this revelation of Jesus Christ so that we who've put our faith in the Lord Jesus, we who are his servants could understand these things about Jesus Christ. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place.

18:32 And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John. So six of the New Testament authors were inspired by the Holy Spirit to refer to themselves as servants of God. Servants of Jesus Christ. And so if we want to live revived lives as believers, I believe it's important for us too to view ourselves as servants of God. And you might say, but but we're children of God.

19:02 And yes, by God's grace, we are children of God. And and yet, in God's, marvelous wisdom, we are his servants as well. Even at the end of the book of Revelation, in Revelation chapter 22 and verse three, it says, and there shall be no more curse but the throne of God and of the lamb shall be in it and his servants shall serve him. We are so blessed to be servants of the true and living god. We were made by the son of god.

19:37 We were made for the son of god and so, why do I emphasize this aspect about living our lives as servants of God? Because if we want to live revived lives as believers, I believe it's important for us to understand this relationship with that we have with God. That he is the awesome, great, eternal self existent one. And that we humble ourselves before him as his servants. And like Paul, that we might say, Lord, what do you want me to do?

20:10 I believe that's a good prayer even to pray every day. Lord, what do you want me to do? Because how are we gonna live our lives practically as his servants, if we don't look to him each day to show us his servants what it is that he wants us to do. And if we look to him for direction and then we ask him for the grace and the help to do it, then God can help us to fulfill his will for our lives. And so six New Testament authors referred to themselves as servants of god and then we had that reference to all of us as believers is his servants as well And of course we know that our Lord Jesus Christ is the perfect servant of the Lord who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

21:32 God wants your whole heart. Every bit of it. All of it. He doesn't want any of it left to go after sin or the things of this world. He wants our whole heart.

21:46 They also do no iniquity or no evil. They walk in his ways. How much sin should we permit and say is okay in our lives? Here the Lord says, they also do no iniquity. They walk in his ways.

22:03 And you and I, we fall short. And so we find ourselves needing to confess our sin to the Lord that he might cleanse us. And so that we can live in the intimate fellowship with God because we know God is holy and perfect and pure and he wants us to abide in him. Verse four says, you have commanded us to keep your precepts. Does it say once in a while?

22:31 Does it say when we feel like it? Does it say when it's popular? Does it say when it agrees with the teachings of the world? No. The Lord has commanded us to keep his precepts diligently.

22:43 So our desire should be to know what God says and to do it no matter what the world says, no matter how corrupt the world around us becomes. Our desire should be to obey the Lord in everything. And notice the shift that took place between verse three and verse four. In verses one through three, it was speaking in the third person about the blessed individual using words like they and speaking about the lord using words like him but notice what happened in verse four. Now, it's directly addressed to the lord himself.

23:24 You have commanded us to keep your precepts diligently And then notice how personal it becomes in verse five. Oh, that my ways were directed to keep your statutes. Then I would not be ashamed when I look into all your commandments. I will praise you with uprightness of heart when I learn your righteous judgments. I will keep your statutes.

23:49 Oh, do not forsake me utterly. How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to your word. With my whole heart, I have sought you. Oh, let me not wander from your commandments.

24:04 Your word, I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you. And so this Psalm goes on this intimate fellowship with God. Where the Psalmist is talking to the Lord about the word of God. And so God in love has communicated to us through his word. And he wants us in love to communicate with him through songs, through praises, through prayer.

24:34 And so it continues from verse four through the end of the Psalm. With the exception of maybe one verse, the psalmist is addressing the Lord. Wow. This is a psalm of revival, isn't it? It's a psalm of intimacy with God.

24:51 In what intimacy with the Lord this psalmist must have had to to go all the way through the alphabet talking about the word of god and his love for the word of god and his desire to obey the word of god and so we find that revival is a desire to obey the word of God. Is God enables us and empowers us and helps us to do so. And so nine times over, the Psalmist prays revive me. And revive me is followed by five different phrases. The Psalm has prays revive me according to your word.

25:35 He prays revive me in your way. Revive me according to your loving kindness. Revive me according to your judgments and revive me in your righteousness. And so God here in his word, he tells us, he shows us the path, the direction, the way of revival. The the direction of revival, it's according to the word of God.

26:02 If we're going to be revived, we're going to be revived by the word of god and to obey the word of god and then revival, it's it's in god's way so that we might do what's pleasing to the lord And God gives us three characteristics of revival, three characteristics that describe the Lord himself. And the Lord is willing to revive us because of these characteristics of himself. And as the Lord revives us, he revives us to function according to these characteristics of the Lord as the Lord works in and through our lives. He revives us number one according to his loving kindness. Number two according to his judgments or justice.

26:48 And number three in his righteousness. And so now let's begin taking a deeper look at some of these. So if you have your Bible open to Psalm a 119, let's go back now and begin with verse 25. Psalm a 119 verse 25. And you'll find that these prayers for revival come from different contexts where the individual has different needs and you and I face different needs at different times in our life.

27:54 Yeah. First Peter, we know that it's according to the word of god that we're born again by this incorruptible seed and it's also according to the word of god that we can grow. That we're to feed upon that pure milk of the word. To desire that pure milk of the word. That we may grow thereby.

28:15 God's word. And we find that not only is revival by the written word of God, but I find it interesting how each of these phrases associated with revival can point us to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. I believe these prayers for revival may even be prophetic in that sense. Looking forward to Christ and, and all that we need from the Lord that's revealed in him. Notice in Psalm a 119 verse 25, revive me according to your word.

28:53 How does John chapter one begin? In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. And we find that all things were made through him and without him nothing was made that was made. And then in verse 14 it says, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory is of the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth. And so, who is the word?

29:22 The son of god, the eternal son of god. Revival is found in him. Here, the Psalmist prayed, revive me according to your word. The word was God. The word became flesh and dwelt among us.

29:38 Revival is according to the Lord Jesus Christ himself. What did Paul record in Philippians chapter one verse 21? He wrote for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Life, eternal life, spiritual life, it's all about Christ. We were just talking about this this morning, weren't we?

30:02 That Paul desired to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And we can be reminded of Galatians chapter two verse 20 that I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. And so the revived life, this new life in Christ, it's all about Jesus Christ.

30:35 It's all about God working in us to will and to do for his good pleasure. The Lord is the one who energizes us, who empowers us by his Holy Spirit to live revived lives as we humbly surrender and submit to him as his servants, as children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. Revive me according to your word. It might remind us of John chapter 15 in terms of revival being in Christ. In John chapter 15 and verse four, it said, the lord Jesus, his words are recorded saying, abide in me and I in you is the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine.

31:21 Neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine. You are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing.

31:33 Did the Lord say that without him, we can do a lot of good things? No. He said without him, we could do nothing. So how dependent should we be upon our God if we understand that without him, we can do nothing? We should be utterly dependent upon the Lord.

31:51 I remember when I was a student at the University at Buffalo, there was a gentleman who was working as a cashier in the food service area. And many times as I was going through, we'd ask one another how we were doing and I found out he was a believer. And so we'd share prayer requests with one another. And over those years of praying for one another, I remember at one point he said, you know, it seems like God wants to keep me in dependence mode. Always depend to God the Lord.

32:20 Always things that we need to depend on God and trust him for. And isn't it that way in your life? I know it isn't mine. That they're constantly new trials, new challenges, new difficulties to face, and we're constantly in need of the Lord's help. Revive me according to your word.

32:58 How can we be revived when we're in the midst of affliction, when we're in the midst of difficulty? According to god's word. You know the devil would like to keep us silent in our witness as a result of believers facing persecution. But when we receive the word of God and let his word dwell richly within us then persecution or affliction as a result of persecution instead of it stopping as believers stopping us as believers from witnessing of Christ it can actually propel us forward in our witness. How is that?

33:35 Well, it's according to God's word. In Matthew chapter five, beginning with verse 10, the Lord Jesus said, blessed or happy are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So how should we respond when we're persecuted for doing what's right? We should realize that we're blessed.

33:56 We're these happy individuals who know the Lord and that, and that we will be living forever in the kingdom of God. Verse 11, blessed are you or happy are you when they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. And you might say, wait a minute. I got sad. I got depressed when when someone did that kind of thing to me.

34:21 But notice what verse 12 says. Notice why, we can understand that we're blessed or happy when people revile us or persecute us. It says, rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. So when we're persecuted for righteousness sake, when we face affliction for doing what's right, that should actually lead us to rejoice in the Lord and to be exceedingly glad and to know that great is our reward in heaven.

34:53 And the Lord says that the sufferings we may face in this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will follow. And the Lord will reward us according to our work done in his name and by his grace and for his glory. In Psalm a 119 and verse a 154, it says, plead my cause and redeem me. Revive me according to your word. Praise god for the blood of Jesus Christ by which we've been redeemed.

35:29 That price beyond the value of silver and gold that was paid so that our sins could be forgiven. How blessed we are to know the Lord. Revival is according to God's word. And then notice back in Psalm a 119 picking up with verse 35. It says, make me walk in the path of your commandments.

35:54 For I delight in it. Notice again how the Psalmist was not depending on himself. He didn't wake up in the morning and say, okay, today, I'm going to try really hard. I'm going to try harder than yesterday so I can do better than yesterday. No.

36:09 Instead, he was depending on the lord. He prayed, make me walk in the path of your commandments. He was trusting in the lord to make him, to help him walk in obedience to God's commandments. And so and I, so you and I, we need the help of our God because without his help, we cannot do the things that he calls us to do. But with him, all things are possible.

36:34 Notice verse 36, Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to covetousness. If you ever glance at a billboard or what might be in the checkout line or or TV commercials or things like that. Why are those things there? I think generally it's to try and make us covet for something. To try and make us desire for something that we probably do not need.

37:05 Why? Because the devil, the prince of the power of the air is working in the sons of disobedience and so the devil wants god's children to covet and to desire after other things. But as believers, we have that which is best. We have the lord himself in an eternal relationship with him and so God tells us in Hebrews chapter 13 Hebrews chapter 13 and verse five it says, let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have for he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

37:43 When we have the one who's the best, we don't need all of the rest. The Lord is the best and how blessed we are to know him. Incline my heart to your testimonies and not to covetousness. Notice verse 37, Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in your way. The television, the Internet, there's so many worthless things on it, aren't there?

39:00 William McDonald said our is recorded in his commentary. We should pray for divine realities. Not the shadows. Here is god's commentary on TV. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things.

39:15 TV depict depicts a never never land. A world that doesn't exist. God's word deals with life as it really is. As someone said this morning, the Lord is the real deal. And he teaches us how to live our lives according to his eternal realities and calls us to faithfully live as his servants.

39:38 And so the psalmist prayed revive me in your way. How can this remind us of Christ in whom we are to abide? Well, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me. So as the psalmist prayed revive me in your way, who could that be looking forward to?

40:00 The Lord Jesus Christ himself. He's the one in whom eternal life is found. He's the one in whom this abundant life is found. This life of revival. Revive me in your way.

40:14 Jesus said, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. So we are to be revived in his way. In Colossians chapter two in verse six it says, as you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk in him rooted and built up in him and established in the faith as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. So, revival is according to the word of god. It's according to the one who is the word.

40:46 Revival is in god's way. It's in the one who is the way. And then it says in Psalm a 119 in verse 88. There we read revive me according to your loving kindness so that I may keep the testimony of your mouth. And so revival it can only take place according to the Lord's loving kindness.

41:17 Because do we deserve to be able to live in an intimate revived relationship with the Lord? We don't deserve it. But because of God's loving kindness, he calls us to it. And we know from scripture that we love him because he first loved us. As we think about this, revive me according to your loving kindness, we may be reminded that god is love and that the lord Jesus said, greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

41:50 But what did the lord Jesus do for us? When we were still at enmity with god in our minds by wicked works, yet the Lord Jesus laid down his life for us. He showed a love that's greater than the love of any mere human being. He showed us the perfect love of God. And according to God's perfect love, he desires to revive each and every one of us and to help us to live refreshed, revived lives in Jesus Christ, our Lord.

42:22 In Psalm a 119, this is repeated again in verse a 159 where it says, consider how I love your precepts. Revive me, oh lord, according to your loving kindness. Because of god's loving kindness, his mercy, his compassion, The lord revives us. It is the lord revives us. He revives us to live according to his loving kindness.

42:50 What did the lord Jesus say is the greatest commandment? To love the lord our god with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength. So the revived life is a life of seeking to love God with all that we are and with all that we have. The revived life is a life of seeking to love our neighbors as ourself. To love others as the Lord wants us to love them.

43:13 To love others according to how Christ loved us. Revival is according to God's loving kindness. In Ephesians chapter five verse two, we can be reminded of how this revive me according to your loving kindness can remind us of Christ who is god, who is love. In Ephesians chapter five and verse two, it says, and walk in love is Christ also has loved us and given himself for us. An offering and a sacrifice to god for a sweet smelling aroma.

43:50 Revival is according to god's loving kindness. And then also, So, this revival according to god's loving kindness, we are to be revived to love the Lord as he deserves. The Lord Jesus asked Peter, do you love me more than these? I don't think he was referring to the other disciples because Peter responded, yes, Lord. And Peter had just denied the Lord three times.

44:46 But the Lord asked Peter, do you love me more than these? And Peter responded, yes, Lord. You know that I love you. And so I believe by way of application that can apply to you and I that the Lord in his word asking the question, do you love me more than these? For some of you, maybe it's, do you love the Lord Jesus more than video games?

45:09 Do you love the Lord Jesus more than sports? Do you love the Lord Jesus more than entertainment or social media? Do you love the Lord Jesus more than your work? Do you love the Lord Jesus more than your hobbies? More than all the things you've collected during your lifetime?

45:27 The Lord Jesus said, do you love me more than these? And the Lord deserves that we love him above all else. Right? He certainly does. Revival is according to the Lord's loving kindness.

45:40 It's possible because of his love for us and as he revives us, he revives us to love him like he deserves and to live our lives in humble, loving surrender. And then in Psalm a 119 verse a 156, It says, Psalm a 119 verse a 156. It says, great great are your tender mercies, oh lord. Revive me according to your judgments. And so there we see that revival is according to god's judgments.

46:21 If we are to live revived lives, it should be to live in obedience to the lord and we know that the lord Jesus is the judge. So, again, this can remind us of the lord Jesus. In Acts chapter 10 in verse 42, it says, and he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that is he speaking about the lord Jesus who was ordained by god to be judge of the living and the dead. The lord Jesus ultimately is the judge and revival is according to god's judgments. So, how can we as believers live our lives according to god's judgments?

47:08 In second Corinthians chapter five, for application for us as believers, it says this, beginning in verse 14. It says, for the love of Christ compels us or it motivates us because we judge thus that one died for all, that if one died for all, then all died. Notice what it said. The love of Christ compels us. Why we might ask?

47:36 Because we judge thus. Here's how we're to judge. Here's how we're to decide regarding our lives, regarding your life personally. That if one died for all and that's the lord Jesus, then all died and he died for all, the lord Jesus died for all, that those who live, that's you and me, that those who live should live no longer for themselves. How much longer should we live for ourselves?

48:05 No longer. Because our lives now are for our lord and master, the lord Jesus, our god, the one who died for us and rose again. That those who live should live no longer for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again. So, our lives are now for the lord, our god. I remember one time as I was working in a public high school, I saw a student in the cafeteria line and on the back of his shirt was a cross.

48:35 And on one side of the cross, it said, he died for me. And on the other side of the cross, it said, I'll live for him. That sums it up pretty well, doesn't it? That's what that's what each of us should desire and live out day by day in our lives. He died for me.

48:52 I'll live for him. And so revival is according to God's judgments as we receive God's mind, his thinking, his decisions regarding our lives, then we can be revived. And it's revived according to his word, according to what god says. In verse a 149 of Psalm a 119, It says, hear my voice according to your loving kindness. Oh lord, revive me according to your justice.

49:28 In this word translated here, justice, I believe, is the same Hebrew word that was earlier translated judgments but revival is according to god's justice and again, we can be reminded of our lord Jesus Christ as it says in Acts chapter three in verse 14. In Acts chapter three in verse 14, it says this, but you denied the holy one and the just and asked for a murderer to be granted to you. The lord Jesus is the just one and he is the one in whom revival is found and revival is according to god's justice. We know it says in Micah chapter six and verse eight, the way that we are to walk and to live revived lives as believers. In Micah chapter six in verse eight, it says, he has shown you, oh man, what is good and what does the lord require of you but to do justly, to love, mercy, and to walk humbly with your god.

50:35 And so god revives us so that we can live justly according to his justice Amen. In Psalm a 119 and verse 40, Psalm a 119 and verse 40, it says this, Behold behold, I long for your precepts. Revive me in your righteousness. Revive me in your righteousness. And in first John chapter two and verse one, again, reminding us of our lord Jesus, it says this, my little children, these things I write to you so that you may not sin And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.

51:27 Revival is according to the righteous one. It's according to our lord Jesus Christ. In first Peter chapter two and verse 24, it's speaking about the lord Jesus. It says, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we having died to sins might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. So not only does God revive us because he's righteous, but he revives us to live righteously.

52:00 It also speaks of that in first John two twenty nine and first John three seven. And so, we see that revival is found in Christ. The one who is the word, the one who is the way, the one who is love, the one who is the judge, the one who is just, the one who is righteous. Revival is found in him. And as we seek the Lord to revive us, he revives us according to his words that we can obey it.

52:31 In his ways that we can abide in Christ. According to his loving kindness so we can show his loving kindness to others. According to his judgments so that we can live deciding and thinking according to God's judgments to do what is just and right. May we seek the Lord and may he revive us by his grace and for his glory. Let's pray.

53:41 Revive us in your way. Revive us according to your loving kindness that we might love you more than anyone or anything. And that we might love others as we should. Revive us according to your judgment so that we can understand that our lives are to be lived for you, our eternal God. And thank you, Lord, that as we live for you, we won't regret it.

54:03 Our Lord Jesus promised us that that he will reward each one according to his work. And Lord, revive us in your righteousness that we might do what's right and good in your sight, that we might live our lives to love and honor and please you. Help us, Lord, to live our lives as your faithful servants. But we also thank you, Lord, that we are now part of the bride of Christ. And we look forward to our Lord Jesus's return.

54:32 And we would say even as you say in your word, even so, come, Lord Jesus. Oh, God, thank you for calling us into this intimate love relationship with you. Lord, help us like this psalmist to love your word, to feed upon your word, to desire to obey it with our whole heart, and to seek you diligently to live our lives and fellowship with you where we're constantly communicating with you because we love you. We ask these things and we give you thanks in our Lord Jesus name. Amen.