1. "Friend, does that fit into your picture of God? Does your theology have room for God's rightful wrath, for his hot anger? And do you understand yourself to be a sinner who would deserve God's wrath?"

2. "They didn't want to live under God's good rule. They wanted to be like God. They wanted to be God. And so they were tempted to act against God's will. And so they came under God's just wrath."

3. "You can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You can't work yourself into an acceptable state before God. All you can do is recognize your utter helplessness and turn to God and pray."

4. "We are being saved from our vain efforts to find true and lasting joy in things of this world. We turn to Christ and find joy in him. If God revives us, our eyes will be opened to his goodness and glory."

5. "Why do you sin? Why do you turn back to folly time and again? Because you believe that there is joy to be found in these things. So you run after the fleeting pleasures of sin and we all do this. We are stupid enough to believe this ridiculous lie by Satan."

6. "Repentance is not just turning a circle, going the wrong way, turning to God and then just turning back. It's not just praying a prayer."

7. "In his righteousness, God did not leave the guilty unpunished. Instead, on the cross, Jesus took the sins of all those who would turn to him upon himself so that God can be righteous and forgive at the same time."

8. "Don't let the accuser tell you just because you were stupid enough to fall again, God now doesn't love you anymore. Christ took your sin upon himself so that you, if you trust in him, are now being declared righteous."

9. "The righteousness we know will not just be a declared righteousness, but it will be a righteousness that will be our own. Because we will be changed and we'll be like him."

10. "Friends, as we look into this world, we have nothing to fear or to complain about. Instead, we should pray. Let us pray that more people may be revived. May our good and merciful God grant revival so that many more will find true and lasting joy."

Observation Questions

1. In Psalm 85:1-3, what four specific actions does the psalmist say God did for His people in the past (look for verbs describing what God did regarding their land, sin, and anger)?

2. According to Psalm 85:4-5, what does the psalmist ask God to do, and what concern does he express about the duration of God's anger?

3. In Psalm 85:6-7, what does the psalmist say will be the result if God revives His people, and what two things does he ask God to show and grant?

4. According to Psalm 85:8, what choice does the psalmist make, and what does he say God will speak to His people and saints?

5. In Psalm 85:10, what four attributes are described as meeting and kissing each other, and how are they paired together?

6. According to Psalm 85:12-13, what will the Lord give, what will the land do, and what role does righteousness play in relation to God's coming?

Interpretation Questions

1. Why is it significant that the psalmist begins his prayer for revival (verses 4-7) by first remembering what God had already done in the past (verses 1-3)? How does remembering God's past faithfulness shape how we pray?

2. The sermon emphasized that Israel's greatest problem was not external enemies but their own sin and God's righteous wrath. How does this understanding of the human condition change how we think about what "revival" truly means?

3. In verse 6, the psalmist connects revival with rejoicing in God: "Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?" Why is rejoicing in God presented as the goal of revival rather than simply improved circumstances or moral behavior?

4. How does verse 10—"Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other"—find its ultimate fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ, particularly at the cross?

5. The psalmist warns in verse 8, "but let them not turn back to folly." How does this warning clarify who the promises of peace and salvation apply to, and what does genuine repentance look like according to this psalm?

Application Questions

1. The sermon asked, "Where do you seek joy?" Take an honest inventory of your past week—what did you turn to first when you were stressed, tired, or discouraged? How might you practically cultivate seeking joy in Christ before turning to other sources of comfort?

2. The psalmist's response to spiritual decline was not frustration or anger but prayer. When you observe godlessness in your community, workplace, or nation, what is your typical first response? What specific step could you take this week to make prayer your primary response?

3. The sermon included a testimony of a young woman whose calm joy during exams led a classmate to faith. In what specific setting this week (work, school, neighborhood) might your visible trust in Christ stand out to others, and how can you be intentional about displaying that peace?

4. Verse 8 says, "Let me hear what God the Lord will speak." What practical changes could you make to your daily or weekly routine to prioritize listening to God through His Word and prayer, especially when you feel spiritually dry?

5. The sermon called teenagers and children to personally turn to Christ rather than relying on their parents' faith. If you are a parent or mentor, how might you intentionally create opportunities this week to discuss with a young person in your life what it means to personally trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior?

Additional Bible Reading

1. Ezra 1:1-11 — This passage describes the actual return from Babylonian exile that Psalm 85 likely references, showing how God fulfilled His promise to restore His people to their land.

2. Romans 5:1-11 — Paul explains how righteousness and peace come together through Christ's atoning work, directly connecting to Psalm 85:10's vision of these attributes meeting.

3. Habakkuk 3:2 — The prophet's prayer, "O Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years," echoes the psalmist's cry for revival and models how to pray in times of spiritual decline.

4. Colossians 1:15-23 — This passage shows how Christ reconciled all things through the cross, bringing peace through His blood, fulfilling the hope of Psalm 85 that glory would dwell in the land.

5. Revelation 21:1-8 — This vision of the new heaven and new earth depicts the ultimate fulfillment of Psalm 85's promise that righteousness and faithfulness will characterize God's restored creation forever.

Sermon Main Topics

I. The Spiritual Decline of Christianity in Germany and the Need for Revival

II. Remember: God's Gracious Work in the Past (Psalm 85:1-3)

III. Request: A Prayer for New Revival (Psalm 85:4-7)

IV. Rejoice: Confidence in God's Certain Future Revival (Psalm 85:8-13)

V. A Call to Pray for Revival Beginning in Our Hearts

---

Detailed Sermon Outline

I bring you greetings from Munich, Germany, from the country of the Reformation. It's just a few years ago that we celebrated 500 years of the Reformation. Mark Dever, your pastor, was there and we had a wonderful time. And yet we realized that the way Germany celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Reformation had not much to do with what the Reformation was truly about. Indeed, I would say that probably Martin Luther wouldn't have approved of most of the ways the Reformation was celebrated.

The Lutheran State Church, Luther's own church, used the occasion of the 500th anniversary to lobby a bit more what they had lobbied already for a few years. So they asked the German government to finally allow gay marriage. Yeah, you're hearing right. The church lobbied the government to do that. The chancellor was actually opposed it.

That's Luther's own church. The state church is quite happy to do whatever they need to do in order to fit with the mainstream to do whatever people want. And they claim this is what Luther would have wanted, because after all, Martin Luther was a progressive. He brought about change.

Well, their very questionable efforts don't really lead to any good results. The church is experiencing a steep decline in Germany in the 1970s. In the early 1970s, 95% of all Germans were members of a church. Pretty much everyone in Germany.

Now today, that's only true for less than half the population. So just within a span of a bit more than 50 years, half the population exited the church. Now that's Christianity in name only. If we look at the real attendance figures in churches in Germany, we'll see that amongst the 19 million. So a little bit less than a quarter of all Germans who are still officially members of the Lutheran state church or the state church in general, only 3% or so are actually attending church on an average Sunday.

So that means 0.6% of our population would go to a state church service in a Protestant church that's a country of the Reformation. Now then, we have free churches. So churches that are not part of the state church system, like the church that I'm pastoring. And you would think that these churches certainly need to grow in the midst of a decline of a church that is just not preaching the gospel. But sadly, that's not true.

The largest free church gymnast in Germany is the German Baptist Union. They only have 70,000 members in a country of 83 million. So that's less than 0.01%. 70,000 out of 83. Overall, the free church landscape might have half a million people.

So today, in all of Germany, we might see roughly 1% of the population being at church now. Most of these churches are not gospel affirming, not gospel preaching churches, not only the Lutheran state church that is so eager to gay blessings and and is often led by gay ministers has gone downhill. Even the German Baptist Union recently had a debate about the meaning of the cross and they couldn't agree what the cross actually means. The German Baptist Union has agreed that they will allow churches to do gay blessings. So that is Christianity in Germany, France.

It's so sad.

It's so sad. And when I look at this, I long for a new reformation. I long for revival. How about you?

Do you long for revival? Not only in my country in Germany, but in your own country. For sure the US isn't as virtually dark and post Christian as Western Europe is. But, but at the same time there's certainly much going on in this country and in so called Christian churches that has nothing to do with Christianity. That is pure evil and a disgrace to the gospel.

So do you long for revival?

And do you long for revival not only out there in the country, do you long for revival where you are? Do you long for revival in your workplace, in your neighborhood? Do you long for revival in your family?

And then there's an even more personal longing for revival? Do you long for revival in your own heart, a new spiritual vibrancy?

Honestly, I often do.

So what do we do? What can we do if we long for revival? I mean, after all, we need to acknowledge that revival is something we can't do. Sure, God has used people like Martin Luther, like George Whitfield or Jonathan Edwards to bring about revival. But ultimately revival is always a sovereign act of grace by God.

So what can we do? Well, I think we can pray. We can pray to the God who, who alone can bring revival. And with this I want us to turn to our scripture passage for today. Psalm 85.

It's a Prayer for revival.

And as you turn to this Psalm 85 in the Bibles you brought along or you find in front of you, I hope this psalm will do the following for you. I. I hope that this psalm will fuel your prayer for revival both through looking back on a revival, a past revival that we will read about and by looking forward to a most certain revival that God will bring about and still in the future. So listen, as I read from God's holy, inerrant and infallible word, Psalm 85 to the choirmaster, a psalm of the sons of Korah. Lord, you were favourable to your land, you restored the fortunes Of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people.

You covered all their sin. You withdrew all your wrath. You turned to from your hot anger.

Restore us again, O God, of our salvation and put away your indignation toward us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet. Righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.

Yes, the Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps away. Let me pray with us. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word, which gives us focus.

Lord, we pray that you will speak through your word. I pray that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart will be acceptable in your sight. Oh God. Lord, I pray that you speak to us and that you, by your spirit, open our hearts that we may listen and understand and act upon your word. Lord, use your word to revive us again, that we may rejoice in you.

Amen. This psalm has really three parts. And that will be the three points of our sermon today. The first three verses really remember. They remember God's gracious work in the past, when God brought about a not further defined revival.

And then the verses 4 to 7 request for a new revival. And finally we read how the psalm writer rejoices because he has regained new confidence that God will will grant a future revival. That's verses 8 to 13. So the three points of the sermon, very simple. Remember, request, rejoice.

Remember, request, rejoice. So let's first look at the first three verses. In these verses, we read how the psalm writer remembers a revival that God once worked. I'll read again the first three verses.

Lord, you were favorable to your land, you restored the fortunes of Jacob, you forgave the iniquity of your people, you covered all their sin, you withdrew all your wrath. You turned from your hot anger. So the sons of Korah look back to a time when God intervened on behalf of his people. When we read here about your land and about your people, we need to keep in mind that this is referring to Old Testament Israel, you know, called here Jacob. So it does not.

This psalm is not about the United States of America and it's not about Germany.

So if we want to apply this psalm correctly, we can't apply it to a nation, or we need to apply to God's people. We can apply to the church and we can apply to us personally. And most importantly, we can look at this psalm and see the God who is the same yesterday, today and forever. So I want us to look at this psalm in this way. This first part here describes what God once did, how he once intervened on behalf of his people.

Most commentators assume that this refers to Judah's return from the Babylonian exile. I trust you know a little bit of biblical history that after the Israel once was one big state. After David and Solomon, it was divided into the northern and southern kingdom. The northern kingdom was destroyed in 722 B.C. and the southern kingdom remained called Judah.

And then between roughly 605 and 586 BC the new major power, Babylon, moved towards Jerusalem and in three ways destroyed the city and led the people into captivity. The Old Testament prophets are very clear that all this did not happen because Babylon just suddenly showed up and Israel wasn't strong enough. Now, God makes very clear he acted in all of this. It was his doing. He used Babylon as an instrument in his hand to discipline his chosen people due to their ungodliness, their idolatry and their many other sins.

So while we don't know for sure if this psalm refers to the return from the Babylonian exile, what is very obvious in what we read here is that Israel's biggest problem was not some other power. The biggest problem was not external. The real problem was that the people had sinned against their God and they were under God's just wrath, under his hot anger.

Friend, does that fit into your picture of God? Does your theology have room for God's rightful wrath, for his hot anger?

And do you understand yourself to be a sinner who would deserve God's wrath?

And God created us human beings in his image so that we would rejoice in Him. Our first parents were placed in a place that was very good and God gave them good commandments. But what did our first parents do? They turned from God. They distrusted him.

They didn't want to mirror him, to image him to all creation as it was supposed to do.

No, they didn't want to live under God's good rule. They wanted to be like God. They wanted to be God. And so they were tempted to act against God's will. And so they came under God's just wrath.

And we all have done the same. We all have followed our first parents. We all have gone astray. We all don't let God be God.

Some of us don't even acknowledge. All of us time and again act against his good word. We don't trust him as we should.

So we all are deserving of God's wrath, of his anger.

This is true for all of us. The Bible is very clear. We all have sinned, fall short of the glory of God. And it was true for Israel back then. But then something amazing happened.

That's what we read here. Despite his rightful anger over his rebellious people, we read that God had mercy on his people. He was favorable to his land. He restored the fortunes of Jacob. He showed much grace and forgave the iniquity of his people.

He covered all their sin. He withdrew all his wrath. He turned from his hot anger. And so Judah was allowed to return from exile. Judah was granted a new start, a revival.

Friend, I wonder if that is your experience too.

Do you have a certain hope that God has forgiven your iniquity and has covered all your sin?

Do you know if God has withdrawn his wrath and turned from his hot anger over your sin? You know, Israel was able to see that God had indeed forgiven them, that he indeed had done it, because they were able to see how God brought them back from captivity into freedom. And what God did back then for Judah was just a picture, just an image of what he would do later on in a much greater way.

So when the fullness of time had come, God the Father sent, forced his one beloved Son not to restore us to a land, but to God himself. He came not to bring us back to a particular plot of land, but into God's eternal kingdom. So God came in Jesus Christ to live the life we should have lived. A life that was marked by perfect obedience, but complete, a complete willingness to live under the rule of His God and Father. And so Jesus Christ alone didn't deserve God's wrath, His hot anger.

No. He was rightly the subject of God's perfect love. He was a beloved Son. And this Son called us, called all of us to turn from our wrong ways and to trust in Him. And trust the Father.

He called us to follow Him.

But because we would not obey, something more had to happen than just his call for us to turn. And so he went to the cross, where he took God's just wrath over our sin upon himself.

He gave his life. So that we can live. And now he calls us to trust Him. And then Christ was brought back from dead. He is alive.

He ascended to heaven where he received dominion and glory and kingdom.

So where do we look if we want to remember, if God has done something for us, that we can be certain that we have received forgiveness. When we look to the cross, we look back to the cross. We remember what God has done to save us from his rightful anger. Now if you are here today and you have not turned to Jesus, if you have not accepted him as your Savior and the Lord of your life, then let me plead with you. You need to be made alive.

Because if not, if you don't turn, if you don't find shelter in Christ, you are still under God's rightful wrath, under his hot anger. And you don't want to be in that place.

Let me say a word to the teenagers, to the kids here. It's not good enough that your parents believe this and bring you along. And you hear that often. You have to turn to Christ. You need to let him be your Lord and Savior.

Especially you teenagers. If the time comes to move out of your parents house, the big question is, whom will you follow? For whom will you live?

Turn to Christ.

Holy Christian, you know that God has shown you amazing grace.

He has forgiven you. He has forgiven me. He has forgiven us our iniquity. He has covered all our sin. He has withdrawn his wrath and turned from his hot anger.

Instead, he looked at you in love.

And friends, before we continue on, I want you to take a moment to remember what God has done for you.

Take a moment in the quietness of your heart to thank God that He has forgiven your sin that has given you true life. And it doesn't matter if you can remember when that happened in your life. All that matters is that you can remember and trust that it has happened as Christ gave Himself for you. So take a moment, just a moment, and praise God for that.

Remembering God's past grace in our lives will now embolden our prayer for a new revival. And this is what we see as we read on and up. Psalm. The psalm writer remembers God's past intervention in grace. And he's now encouraged to boldly request a new revival in the midst of a new crisis.

So I read verses four to seven.

Restore us again, O God, of our salvation and put away your indignation toward us. Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.

Now again, the author doesn't provide any historic details. If the first three verses describe the return from the Babylonian exile, then what we read here is now probably the realization that not all is well back in Israel and people have returned. But as we read in the Bible, Judah is very quick to forget about God and to again give themselves to all kinds of evil.

And they realize things don't return to the former prosperity and glory.

They give themselves to idolatry and all kinds of evil. It's shocking as we read in our Bibles, how this people that was saved by God's grace was brought back to the chosen land, to the promised land. How quickly they turn away from God.

And in a way, that is what we see time and again. When I describe what happened in Germany after the Reformation until now, it's the same story over and over again.

We see how people who have experienced so much grace, where God has done so much good, are so quick to forget, turn away from him and turn to evil.

What does it do to you if you see all the godlessness around you? What emotions well up in you when you are confronted with idolatry and evil that seems to be so prevalent in in your country too?

I can tell you how I often respond when I see these things in Germany. Emotions well up in me and that's often an emotion of anger and frustration.

But this psalm convicted me that this is the wrong way to respond. There's a better way. Instead of just being frustrated and angry, it is to pray.

And the psalm writer doesn't just pray for these people. No, he includes himself amongst those who need God's help. He prays, restore us again, O God, of our salvation. So at the root of his prayer is the realization that relationship with God is not what it should be.

If we read the Old Testament, it's shocking to see how frequently this is happening, right? God intervenes and saves his people and they praise him briefly and then turn away. And then they call to him and sometimes they don't even. And God shows mercy again and they turn away from him quickly again, over and over again, time and again they rebel against him. And time and again, in his great patience and love, God forgives.

And as we see that in the history of Israel, we need to realize this is our story too, isn't it?

Is that your story? Can you be very convicted during a sermon and during a service on Sunday morning just to go back to sin in the afternoon? So what should we do?

Should we go home and try again and try harder? That's certainly a good thing to try. But you can't pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You can't work yourself into an acceptable state before God.

All you can do is recognize your utter helplessness and turn to God and pray. So come to his throne of grace and request forgiveness. Ask him to bring about a new revival. This revival needs to start in our hearts. If we long for revival in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our workplaces or schools, this revival needs to start within us.

So let's join the psalm writer in his prayer.

Lord, will you not revive us again that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. Now, there's one more aspect I want us to pay attention to. Do you know the ultimate goal of all revivals should be?

It's a truly restored relationship to the Lord. Where there was wrath and anger, there will be rejoicing.

Will you not restore revivals again that your people may rejoice in you? That's true salvation. We are being saved from our vain efforts to find true and lasting joy in things of this world. We turn to Christ and find joy in him.

If God revives us, our eyes will be opened to his goodness and glory. And that will cause us to rejoice, just as a bride rejoices in her groom.

So how about you? Where do you seek joy?

I think that's a good test for yourself to just check on your spiritual health. Where do you seek joy? Do you seek and find your joy primarily in the Lord? Or do you seek joy primarily in a partnership, a family, in a career? Do you seek your joy in your health or wealth?

Do you seek joy in parties?

Kids? Where do you see joy in sports, video games, social media?

Where do you seek joy after a long day in the office?

In a glass of wine, newest episode of your favorite Netflix series?

And where do you seek joy first thing in the morning?

To be clear, we should be grateful for every good gift the Lord gives us. So it's perfectly fine to rejoice in good gifts, but we should not seek our ultimate joy in these things, and they will let us down anyway.

I trust you know that if you seek your joy in the things of this world, they will let you down.

And do you know that seeking your joy in Christ is the best way to fight sin?

So why do you sin? Why do you turn back to folly time and again?

Because you believe that there is joy to be found in these things. So you run after the fleeting pleasures of sin and we all do this, right? We are stupid enough.

We are stupid enough to believe this ridiculous lie by Satan that, ah, God said this, but this will bring me more joy and it will leave you empty. You will not find true and lasting joy in sin. So if. If we come to a realization that true and lasting joy is to be found in Christ, that will strengthen our resolve to fight sin.

Plead with God. Plead with him. Will you revive us again? Will you revive me again that I will rejoice in you? Lord, do this change my heart.

Grant me more joy for you.

And I pray for a growing joy in this church, a joy that will go forth to wherever you go.

I recently heard from a young lady in our church who just graduated. And she walked up during the graduation ceremony with another girl who she didn't know. And they walked up and as they walked up, this other girl turned to her and said, hey, just want to let you know that through your witness, I've become a Christian. And she said, what?

I don't know you. And she said, you know, during the early years of our studies, when we went to the exams, it was a large class, so they didn't know each other. But I saw you when everyone else was freaking out. You just had this calmness and this joy. And that was puzzling to me.

And one day I actually asked you, why are you so calm? Why do you seem so joyful? And you just said, I know Jesus, I trust in Jesus. She couldn't remember that she had done it. And this other girl said, this was so strange and interesting that after the exam I went home and started reading up on Christianity.

I found a church, I came on a good preaching, I was converted. And so here they are going up to graduation ceremony, and she's telling her, your witness has caused me to know the Lord. Friends, I pray for more such conversions as our joy becomes visible. Not a fake joy, but a true deep joy in the Lord that enables us to stay calm in the midst of exams and trials and difficulties that other people will see something is different. And we all, everyone longs for joy.

And you can help them to see where true joy can be found. May God revive us so that we will rejoice in him, so that others will see Him. So that's what we see. We remember what God has already done. And then that causes us, as we are reminded of who God is, to turn to him and request that he will do it again, that he will revive Us again.

And then in verse 8 to 13, the Psalmist now has a new joyful confidence that what he just prayed for, informed by what he remembered, will be answered, that God will bring about a certain future revival. And that's our third point. I read again verse 8 to 13. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him.

That glory may dwell in our land. Steadfast love and faithfulness meet. Righteousness and peace kiss each other. Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky. Yes, the Lord will give what is good and our land will yield its increase.

Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps away. So verse eight is really interesting. Right after the psalmist has prayed and has asked God to revive him against it, he will rejoice in the Lord. He makes a very personal choice. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak.

So if you were just wondering, how can I find more joy in the Lord? Here's your answer. You pray for it, and you turn to God. You listen to him as he speaks to you.

So study God's word. Seek him in his word. Pray. Lord, I want to know you more. I want to trust you more.

I want to find My joy in you. And then you turn to Him. Don't close your Bible. Lift your hand, say, I need more joy. Look at him.

Look at him. Because he is beautiful. He's glorious. And as you look to him, you will find joy. Joy in his goodness, joy in his great promises to all who truly trust Him.

So let us hear what God the Lord will speak. For he will speak peace to his people, to his saints. But let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who who fear Him.

So to whom do these promises apply? Obviously not to those who briefly turn to the Lord and then quickly turn back.

Repentance is not just turning a circle, going the wrong way, turning to God and then just turning back. It's not just praying a prayer. These promises apply to those who don't turn back to falling. That doesn't mean that we don't fall into sin again. But even if we fall in sin, we turn back to Christ because we fear God and we love God.

The promise applies to those who have truly come to know the Lord as a God who is holy and just and is to be feared above all. His salvation is near to those who fear him.

So back then the psalmist was looking forward to the day when, as we read in verse 10, steadfast love and faithfulness would meet when righteousness and peace would kiss each other. Now what verse 10 is looking forward to is what happened when God became man in Jesus Christ. Right? God displayed his steadfast love for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. And in this he also showed his great faithfulness because he kept his promises that he would send a Savior, a Messiah.

He sent His Son, Jesus Christ. His steadfast love and his great faithfulness met in Him. Yeah, his righteousness peace kissed each other. In his righteousness, God did not leave the guilty unpunished. Instead, on the cross, Jesus took the sins of all those who would turn to him upon Himself so that God can be righteous and forgive at the same time.

And because Christ is is our righteousness, we can have peace with God. So righteousness and peace come together on the cross.

Dear Christian, I hope that you know and rejoice in the fact that you have peace with God.

And don't allow even your sin to rob you of this joy. Don't let the accuser tell you just because you were stupid enough to fall again, God now doesn't love you anymore.

Now Christ took your sin upon Himself so that you, if you trust in him, are now being declared righteous. And because you're righteous in the sight of God, you have peace with God. Isn't that good news?

And in a way, what verse 10 is pointing to from back in the psalm to the future. In a way, even though the cross is the place where it comes together, it even points beyond the cross. It points to a time that is still in the future. The ultimate salvation that is now near is still near. But we are still longing for this time of the ultimate final salvation when we'll be saved out of all the troubles and out of all our sin.

God will do it one day. The righteousness we know will not just be a declared righteousness, but it will be a righteousness that will be our own. Because we will be changed and we'll be like Him. And then our peace will not just be a true peace that God declares we have, but it will be one that will fill our hearts completely and for all eternity. I think the last three verses make very clear that this is a glimpse into a glorious future.

It's a beautiful picture, how faithfulness springs up from the ground and righteousness looks down from the sky and then this declaration. Yes, the Lord will give what is good and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps away. That's a picture of when Christ returns.

So this blessed land is a place that all Christians will enter one day. When Christ returns, then the whole creation will be reformed. Then all evil, all pain, all suffering will come to an end. Then we will finally cease to sin. And we will rejoice in the Lord as we have never before.

Then our longing for revival will give way to eternal joy.

Friends, as we look into this world, we have nothing to fear or to complain about.

Instead, we should pray.

Let us pray that more people may be revived. May our good and merciful God grant revival so that many more will find true and lasting joy.

I would ask you, as I conclude the sermon, to join me in prayer that God may grant us a new revival. A revival that begins in our hearts and emanates out to our families and to our workplaces and to our cities and to the ends of the earth. And then let's praise God for what he has already done and for what he has promised he will most certainly do in the future. And so we can pray. Come, Lord Jesus.

I pray with us. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your holy and inspired word. Lord, we thank you that you reveal yourself in you Word as a God who is good.

We thank you that as our first parents turned away from you, you haven't turned away from us.

We thank you that you have called out a man and a family and a nation to be your own. And that you have caused this nation to be a blessing to all the nations. We thank you that you have engrafted us, that we can be part of your people. But we admit, we confess, that we would have deserved your just wrath, your hot anger. And yet, in your great mercy, you have taken the wrath, the anger upon yourself, so that we can be reconciled to you, so that we can know peace.

Lord, I pray that as we go from this place that you revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you now and forevermore. Amen.