This is the 3rd installment in the Revival Series (TRS). Next week, we will be back to the Transformation Leadership Series and we will examine the life of Joshua.
Psa 84:1-12 To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! (2) My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. (3) Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God. (4) Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah (5) Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. (6) As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. (7) They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. (8) O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah (9) Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed! (10) For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (11) For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. (12) O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!
We must continue to long and yearn for revival.
Posture
Lover (v2)
- “How lovely” – comment of the beloved (cf Ps 43.4 Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.)
- this is such an important expression for us
Yearns, faints and cries (v2)
We who are in love with God yearns to spend time with God.It is for all. (v3)
It has a place for all. Altar is where God is. Even the sparrow and the swallow, small creatures that have to fend for themselves, insignificant creatures found a home in God’s presence. We rejoice to come back home. We may be in a 6 or 7 star hotel, we still want to go home. Home is a place of acceptance where we belong where we find comfort. Home is a place we can be ourselves. We are not ashamed to cry at home. We know we are accepted at home.Great men cry. DUMC men cry. So, DUMC men are great men. Hey I cried during worship. Great.
The swallow built a nest which is a place of rest. The close we draw to God the more we are renewed and refreshed. The nest is also a place of multiplication where we nurture the next generation.
Happy (v4)
Those who seek God’s presence are supremely happy.This is similar to the Beatitudes.
God wants to renew us and empower us. That’s the blessings and delight we have.
Pilgrimage
Strength
Pressing on with God’s strength. (v5)The same power of the God who created the universe is available to us. If we are honest to ourselves, we know our strength is limited.
When we are weary and tired, remember God’s strength is available to us. We are shortchanging ourselves if we rely on our own strength.
Challenges
Pressing on in spite of all the challenges. (v6)As we journey through a place that is dry and thirsty, we resolve to turn to God to turn the place we are into a place that gives life. We do not allow the problems we face to trouble us. We want to overcome the problems with God’s help.
Guillaume and Delphine Gauvain founded the Bethel Orphanage for Blind Children in China. They are taken from a place of comfort and yet they count it a great joy to be able to pour their lives into the 36 blind young boys and girls.
Until we meet God (v7)
Pressing on from strength to strength until each meets God.We start off corporately but end up as individuals. We are God’s specials. When we look at a group photo, we want to first look for ourselves. We just want to see that we are there. God hunts for us similarly. He is concerned about each and everyone of us. He wants to see a breakthrough in our lives. He cares for us because each and every one of us is precious to him.
Prayer
Plea for mercy and grace (v8)
As God’s people, it is our privilege to pray to God. We can connect to God in an instant. God is personal and he wants to relate to us. The Bible tells us he draws close to us when we draw close to him. Like a relationship between two persons, if only one person wants to draw near, it will not work. Our prayer is just one breath a way from God.Call upon God at all times. Don’t just call upon him in good times. Prayer is this incredible privilege of a child of God.
Look with favour on your anointed (v9)
The Bible reminds us to pray unceasingly. It also tells us that God’s house is going to be a house of prayer – not a house of teaching or any other things. God answer prayers for the Chilean miners. When they were trapped down there, they have prayer meeting all the time. They had no choice. We have a choice. Let’s pray.Position
What is our position in a revival?It’s better (v10, cf Amos 8:5a)
To be in God’s presence is better than anywhere else.A doorkeeper is a privileged position in OT. But the Psalmist was saying he was willing to assume the lowest position just to be in the house of the Lord.
Pastor Daniel reminded the ministry team not to continue praying. We must remember that it’s God’s at work not how good we pray. Our goal is not to see the person we pray for go down. Pastor Daniel said those who don’t fall as possibly stubborn.
We have a choice to be in church on Sundays.
Amo 8:5a saying, "When will the new moon be over, that we may sell grain? And the Sabbath, that we may offer wheat for sale
If our desires is to be with God, then let us not be too eager to leave the service.
God is exceptionally good.
Know that the Lord is exceptionally good. (v11)(A little girl whom I have met once before came over to look at my notebook. She even gave me a sweet smile. She ran away before I got a chance to snap a photo.)
God is incredibly good. God’s blessings can be wonderful.
Pastor Daniel said it’s important to stay in Malaysia. He said Malaysia is recession-proof. God wants to pour his favour on us.
Trust
Those who trust in God will be truly blessed (v12)Pastor Daniel recognized that God blessed him with a great family, a great church and also the realization of the Dream Centre, a centre to serve as a benchmark for the world. This is a place that everybody is welcomed.
Aubrey and friend recorded a Christmas program in the Dream Centre in August, attended by people from different ethnic groups. It is recorded by 8TV.
The 3 H’s to long for God.
Hunger - We must continue to thirst for God. We may hunger for food but we must hunger for God.
Humility - God opposes the proud but he gives grace to the humble (James and 1 Pet). The last person to be on the wrong side with is God. We must walk in humility and submission.
Holiness – We must choose not to participate in any sins. God withdraws when there is sin. God speaks to us in our conscience.
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