“Turn Us” (Ps 85)

“Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause your anger toward us to cease” (vs4)

 
In Ps 85, three things are revealed: (1) He put away wrath (2) we must be turned so that wrath can be put away (3) wrath will be put away and people will be blessed in the areas we were cursed.

First, He put away wrath already and without our help. Scripture says, “Lord, You have been favorable unto Your land: You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.  You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people, You have covered all their sin.  Pause.  You have taken away all Your wrath: You have turned yourself from the fierceness of Your anger”, so that God in Christ, by the cross and eternal decree, has purged the sins of His people, pacified His anger, and proven Himself just in the forgiveness of sins.

Without your effort or permission, God took Christ the Mediator… the Substitute for you and me, God’s elect… and poured upon Him the fierceness of fury, so that He could forgive and yet honor His law.

He predestined us for life, past tense, and He brought all things to pass, punishing Christ to give us blessing (Rom 8:29-30).  It is absolute and irrevocable: God’s anger is gone eternally for sinners for whom He died.

Yet, secondly, there is wrath on believers.  It is not the vindictive wrath of hellish fury; it is the chastening love and wrath of the Father.  Hezekiah was true to God and blessed, “But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up: therefore, there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem” (2 Chron 32:25).

This wrath is God’s hidden face, when the bible is closed, the spirit is quenched, and you’re powerless before your wickedness.  This Babylon is a separation from the goodness and fullness of Christ, so that we suffer needlessly for our unbelief and sin (Luke 1:20).  This chastisement causes us to fear, repent, and BEG God to change our behavior, so that He can remove the chastening that we endure.  Ps 85:4-7, says, “Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause Your anger toward us to cease.  Will You be angry with us forever? Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?  Will You not revive us again: that Your people may rejoice in You?  Show us Your mercy, O Lord, and grant us Your salvation”.

It is God’s salvation because it is according to God’s word, only.  True religion and revival is when the bible, and not men’s word reigns supreme, so that “Thus says the Lord” rules over creeds, pastors, and human associations: what God says is the rule and life we lead (2 Chron 34).

We get grace to obey Christ.  He who FORGAVE us graciously gives us the Spirit also, so that as we believe on His love, we’re made able to love each other (Rom 8:2-4).

He sends the WRATH to teach us to believe and love, and as we obey Him, He takes wrath away, as promised, and gives blessings.

Ps 85:8 says, “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”. Let us never go back to unbelief, as if salvation by grace means that we can live to our lusts and use His word to distort and rip out the truth, as if words like “elect” cannot go with “seek”, and words like “no works” cannot abide the truth of “unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:10).

Don’t turn to corrupting the scriptures or denying them to maintain your position, but believe all that He says, and He’ll be with you to do it, being your strength.

What you and I cannot do, we say, “Turn us”, enable us, make us do what we can’t do by the gift of the Spirit for Christ’s sake (Luke 1:35-37).

Lastly, future blessings are promised for repenters.  Ps 85:9-10 says, “Surely His salvation is near them that fear Him; that glory may dwell in our land.  Mercy and truth” - God’s faithfulness to His word and God’s word of mercy - “are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other” (vs10).  Where there is righteousness and obedience, peace is there as the result, and peace is only for the obedient.

Ps 85 ends with a prophecy of what shall happen, “Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.  Yes, the Lord shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase”, so that He will hear our prayer (vs11-12).

Spurgeon speaks of the child who heard him preach and cupped his ears to hear better. Mr. Spurgeon asked the boy, “Are you hard of hearing?” And, he said, “No sir, Mr. Spurgeon.  My mamma told me that if God speaks to me, it will be by your voice, and if God speaks, I want to hear it”.

Brothers, if we pray in Jesus’ name, not to make ourselves “better” than others and not by any righteousness or power that we contribute, then God WILL hear our prayers.  Cup your ears, so that you can hear, for He will respond with “that which is good”, and we will be fruitful, joyful, and SATISFIED as the result.  Ps 85:13 says, “Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall set us in the way of His steps”.  He will give OBEDIENCE to those who ask.

The Lord Shall Comfort Zion & Choose Jerusalem (Zech 1: 17)

“Cry yet, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts; My cities through [good] shall yet be spread abroad; and the Lord shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.”

First, it doesn’t matter what is happening, when God ends His chastisement and gives deliverance, nothing can stop it – “Then the angel of the Lord answered and said, O Lord of hosts, how long will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which you have had indignation these seventy years? And the Lord answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words” (Zech 1:12-13).


He doesn’t help us because we’ve improved; He helps because the time that He predetermined has come – “Therefore has the Lord watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he does: for we obeyed not his voice…Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of your servant, and his supplications, and cause your face to shine upon your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake” (Dan 9:14,17). He established 70 years for the destruction of Jerusalem, and then on schedule, like a man awoken to work, He sets forth to bless. The enemies have wrought havoc upon us by God’s purpose, and now, He is ANGRY that they have treated us so lovelessly. Therefore, He intervenes – “And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore thus says the Lord; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, says the Lord of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem” (Zech 1:15-16). He does us good because He is good; it isn’t because I’m learning, growing, or improving; it is BECAUSE HE is gracious - O my God, incline your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our supplications before you for our righteousnesses, but for your great mercies” (Dan 9:18).


When He saves, there is no unsaving. No accusation can be laid against us and no power can stop God – “Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemns? It is Christ that died, yes rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us” (Rom 8:33-34). We can be sure about revival of soul, if we BELIEVE the blessing is for Christ’s sake and the time has come, according to scripture. If we believe, then we have what is written – “Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you” (Matt 9:29).


Secondly, God’s grace is permanent grace and one day, we shall see God DELIVER us from all alarms. The tears of life, poverty of soul, etc, shall be conquered by His faithfulness to us, which was determined before we entered these bodies of sin – “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (II Thess 1:7-8).


Thirdly, if God is your Savior, then don’t be afraid of sin, man, or anything – “There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it” (I Cor 10:13). God is above all, stronger than the enemies, and faithful to His word – “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under the law, but under grace (Rom 6:14).” And, again, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7).” We are not slaves of sin because God is stronger than Satan and everything in us.


Lastly, the time has come, let us work, but as we work, let us believe that salvation is BECAUSE of Christ and THROUGH Christ and FOR Christ’s glory.