Transcript

I appreciate Mark and Lee Tucker. They are always a blessing to us.

Psalm 143. Let’s go there this Sunday evening. It has been a long time since I have looked at this text of Scripture. In the Psalms one of the things you have is David penning his own testimony out before everyone, as he wrestles, as he struggles, as he repents, as he learns the things he should have done differently, as he’s being radically persecuted for his faith in God. In one sense, David was just minding his own business keeping the sheep. God called him to be king, and he just yielded to God and obeyed God, and everything came against him. King Saul, the mightiest man on the earth, made it his pledge to kill David. And here David was, knowing that he is supposed to honor the king and could not put his hand against God’s anointed, and yet that king is trying to kill him. Well, in the midst of that David wrote many of the Psalms while he is literally running for his life. It is interesting, in this running and hiding literally in caves, crying out to God, looking to God, he also finds that there is sin in his own heart. And that’s a good notation to keep, that when the crisis comes and very often, if you’re a child of God, things are going to come against you. Stuff is going to happen that is not your fault. It wouldn’t be unnatural at all. In fact, it’s supposed to happen. All those who live godly in Christ Jesus, the Bible says, should expect to be persecuted. Somebody at work is going to twist your words, and try to put you in a bad light, because they don’t like your Christian testimony. And on and on we could go and you find yourself sometimes in a terrible, you’re in David’s cave. You’re in a terrible spot with these persecutors, and in that situation God begins to show you that “Yes, that’s true, you may not have been guilty in any way to cause this particular trial that’s come against you, but I’m showing you things that I want you to deal with also.” And that’s where we find David.

Let’s look at it together in Psalm 143 beginning in verse one. David cries out,

“Hear my prayer, O Lord; Give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness, in Your righteousness! And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, For in Your sight no man living is righteous. For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; My heart is appalled within me.” David here is saying that he’s just about to explode with anxiety and discouragement. Verse five,

“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hand against you; my soul longs for You, as a parched land. Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails; Do not hide Your face from me, Or I will become like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear Your lovingkindess in the morning; For I trust in You; Teach me the way in which I should walk; For to You I lift up my soul. Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in You. Teach me to do Your Will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground. For the sake of Your name,” well, that’s key, “O Lord, revive me. In Your righteousness bring my soul out of trouble. And in Your lovingkindess, cut off my enemies And destroy all those who afflict my soul, For I am Your servant.”

That’s an imprecatory prayer there at the end where David, I’m just going to say this and get right to the unpacking of the exposition, but David cries out for God to destroy his enemies. He says, “Because I am Your servant.” And we know in the book of Revelation that those who have been martyred for honoring Jesus Christ cry out to God to return and bring retribution and judgment against those who have persecuted them. There is a righteous time among the saints of God when you righteously call on God to bring His judgment against those who are persecuting God’s cause and God’s people. I can’t tell you when that time is, but I know it is taught in the Psalms. I know it’s taught in Revelation. And God’s going to return one day first to glorify His name but also vindicate His children and bring retribution and judgment against those who came against His children.

Look folks, we are in the minority. Have you noticed that lately? We are in the minority and you can expect…on the Fox News website, I just saw where a general in the army had given a speech at a prayer breakfast and talked about his faith in God, and now a group is just championing a cause to have him, I guess, court marshalled or dismissed for what they said was blasphemous and awful things he did for talking about God in his speech. What kind of day are we coming to in this country? We’re in the minority, and you can expect to have every kind of twisting, and spinning, and us being put in a false light, and be shown to be something we’re not. But in those difficult days, just like David finds himself, you know what God will do? God will bring us into a great revival. And that’s exactly what David experiences here, a revival.

Let’s look at it together. Three truths about this revival. Now, first of all, notice relationship. Relationship. Notice the boldness David has in going to God in this prayer, because he knows he has this established, firm relationship with God. He says, “Hear my prayer, O Lord. Give ear to my supplications! Answer me in Your faithfulness and in Your righteousness.” Now, that’s quite a bold statement. He didn’t timidly say, “God, if You don’t mind, I know I’m unworthy, but could You hear me today?” No, he comes boldly to the throne of grace. He’s got confidence.

Now, notice what he says. He says, “I’m coming to You boldly in Your faithfulness and in Your righteousness.” Now, that’s a powerful statement. David does not say, “I come to You boldly, because I’ve been faithful and You ought to answer me. I am righteous, and I deserve this.” Absolutely not. He says, “God, You’re faithful, and You’re righteous, so I know I can go to You boldly.” I mean, he understood those attributes of God. I’m going to develop those a little more in just a second. But think about it, ask a lost person, someone who doesn’t know Christ, ask them about God’s faithfulness and God’s righteousness. Can they give you any kind of answer? Of course, only a child of God who has that established relationship and Christianity is first and foremost a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. It is misused. It is misunderstood, but Christianity is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And David had this covenant relationship with God, now listen, strap in and understand this, he had a covenant relationship with God that God initiated. He said, “God, You started this whole thing. I was keeping the sheep minding my own business, and You came to me, and called me from that place, and called me to be king of Israel, called me to rule this nation in righteousness. That’s what I’m trying to do. So, God, since when You called me, You initiated this covenant relationship with me, I know that You’re going to be faithful to maintain it and keep it, even if I am imperfect.” It’s a powerful truth. Do you go to God like that? Do you run to God in boldness based on His faithfulness?

Then he says, “Not only in Your faithfulness, but in Your righteousness.” In other words, God has righteously made David, a sinner, acceptable in His holy presence. Look friends, look: God saved you through His Son, Jesus Christ therefore, you have an absolutely righteous salvation. God was righteous in choosing you from the foundation of the world. God was righteous in causing you to be able to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God was righteous in sending the Holy Spirit of God to convict you of your sins and make you aware of your need for Christ. God was righteous when the Holy Spirit of God regenerated your soul, and the new birth occurred, and instantaneously you saw your sin and became a repenter, and instantaneously you say, “My faith is in Jesus Christ.” How did He do that righteously? How can He do that for you and not do that for everyone? How can He do that for you, a sinner who ought to receive judgement, and justice, and eternal wrath from His hand? How can He be righteous and let you, a sinner, go free? Because His Son took your punishment and your crime. Perfect justice has been met by Jesus Christ suffering, bleeding, and dying in your place. God imputed into Christ your unrighteousness and all that ought to be judged and condemned, and therefore, He imputed into you Christ’s righteousness. So in an acceptable, holy, and righteous way, God has made you fully acceptable before Him.

I could tell you, “Look, if you’ll do this for me, I, Jeff Noblit, promise you I will be faithful to do this, this, and this and on July the whatever, I’m going to do this for you. And then in September, I will do this again, and whatever it is.” And I can be one hundred percent totally committed to be faithful to you. But you know, I’ve got a problem and actually, you’ve got a problem. I’m finite. I may get sick. I may lose my mind. I may die. My faithfulness in the end is not worth all that much. But the infinite God, who cannot be moved, who cannot be thwarted, who cannot die, who cannot change His mind, when He initiates a relationship with you and says, “You are Mine! My Son died for you! I came for you! I’ve redeemed you through my blood! I’ve sent my Spirit to woo you and convict you! I saw that you had a Gospel preacher to bring you into an understanding of Gospel truth, and I’ve made you a child of God!” You can bank on it! God is faithful, even when we are unfaithful. God is faithful, even when we are weak. God is faithful, even when we sin. David, hiding in a cave running for his life, and also realizing, and we’ll see the penitence in this Psalm, knows God is faithful. The relationship is still there.

Do you get that child of God? When you’ve sinned your worst sin, when you’re experiencing your worst moment, the faithful covenant keeping God is still faithful to you. Look, quit looking at you. Quit being so narcissistic. It’s not about you, and it’s not about your favor. It’s about God who initiated the relationship and is faithful to keep it. You better say a big Amen right there now, or we are all going straight to hell and quickly. If He didn’t initiate it, and if He’s not faithful to keep it, we’re all in bad trouble, Amen? I mean that you could sit in here, with all your heart say, “Amen,” and five seconds later your mind could be straight in the middle of the gutter, because that’s what you are. And that’s what I am. But God is faithful.

Now, He didn’t just say, “Hey, I am going to be faithful to save you.” He accomplished the salvation according to the mandates of His righteousness. Satan, demons, fallen men, no one can dare bring an accusation of injustice in untrue or unfair favoritism of God in saving His elect, because His Son took our place. He is the vicarious atonement for us in our place. And look, all the world, the haters, the scoffers, the deniers, the accusers of the brethren, which is one of Satan’s chief names, they are silenced in a hush as God says, “I’ve righteously redeemed My own through My Son.” Wow. David knew he had that kind of relationship based on God’s faithfulness and God’s righteousness. My friend, that’s why the New Testament tells us we can come boldly to the throne of grace. Did you hear that? You think, “You don’t know me. I can’t come boldly.” Yeah, you can come boldly in His faithfulness and His righteousness. Not in yours. In His. Throw it on Him.

A little bit later, he talks about God saving him, and rescuing him, and reviving him. What does he say? “For Your name’s sake. Your name is on the line, God. You started this thing. You started this relationship. You called me to be Your child. You called me to be king. So You better get me through this thing, or Your reputation is on the line.” I’m going to tell you, you need to take God up on that. You need to say, “God, I’m going to heaven, and I’m going to be glorified, because my faith is in Jesus Christ, or Your reputation is on the line. You’ll be called a failure, because You didn’t finish what you started.” Amen. He started a good work in you, and He will perfect it, Philippians says, until the day of Christ Jesus. Put God on the spot with it. He loves to be put on the spot with His Word, not with your word, but with His Word.

So here David is, a Jew. He understood fully God’s choosing and electing of Israel. He understood fully that God had chosen Israel out of all the peoples of the earth, that He would maintain a faithfulness at least to a remnant of Israel. And then, stepping above that in fuller progressive revelation of the doctrine of redemption, he knows that God individually is saving individuals whom He chose and elected, and He will keep them also in His faithfulness and in His righteousness. Now when you run across people who just categorically with a hard spirit, “I reject predestination. I reject election. I reject foreknowledge. I reject being called. I reject being chosen.” By the way, those are the words the Bible uses over and over and over about those who are saved. “I reject every bit of that. It’s up to man to believe.” Look, when you find those who do all of that, it’s so funny they never have a problem with God electing Israel. They never have a problem with that. You say, “Well, isn’t Israel in a unique way chosen of God?” Well, yeah. Yeah, they are. God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees to start a country called Israel, and that’s God’s chosen people. We all believe that, Amen? Well, what’s wrong with all those other people on the earth? A sovereign God chose to do it.

You see, David knew that. And he also knew that God was also choosing and electing individuals. When I, Jeff Noblit, think of my own conversion to Christ, I get into my car that night in February. I’m driving back to college. I just happen, coincidence, to turn the radio on. It just happens to be WSM out of Nashville. They just happen to be playing religious broadcasting, because it’s Sunday night. I just happen to hear choirs singing on the radio, and I didn’t like choirs singing, but it made me feel good. They just happened to have an evangelistic Presbyterian pastor coming on after that who preached the Gospel. All that just happened to happen. No, God came after me one Sunday night in February and apprehended me. Just like David was sitting out there keeping the sheep just doing faithfully his job and his dad, Jesse, says, “Come in here David. The prophet Samuel is here. Someone is going to be anointed king of Israel. I don’t know which son it is. So far I’ve struck out on all the rest of them.” David walks in, and the prophet says, “That’s the king of Israel.” I can imagine David said, “Huh!? What? Me?”

So David knew this was God’s initiating of this relationship. In other words, you can’t ever be revived if you’ve never been vived. David knows he has been born again. David is a true born again believer in the promise of God’s redemption through a coming Savior, just as we are born again believers looking back on the cross at a Savior God sent. So here David is, this born again believer. He knows he’s got a relationship with God. He’s running for his life but he also has a repentant spirit, and he’s going to experience revival in the midst of all of this.

The Bible says, “In Jesus Christ we have a new covenant. In Jesus Christ we have a better covenant. In Jesus Christ we have an eternal covenant.” That’s Hebrews 8:8, 8:6, and Hebrews 13:20. In other words, as you’re teaching through Hebrews, over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over again you’re going to say, “That’s what the Jews did. That’s what the Jews had and Jesus is better. Jesus is the culmination. Jesus is the fulfillment.” So much so that Hebrews 8 says, “All the Old Testament dichotomy, every bit of it, all of it, all the sacrifices, all the ritual, all the priest craft, all the temple, all the everything,” this is the New American Standard Word, “has now become obsolete, because Jesus fulfills it all.”

Well, it all points to Him, and so what we see in David’s life is a parallel truth for what we have in Jesus Christ. In Jesus Christ, God initiated a relationship to us which He will keep in His faithfulness and in His righteousness and we can come boldly to Him based on that. I just sometimes wish I could get in your brain, because I know that some of you are still so self-focused. That’s idolatry. Quit it! Quit thinking about you and your failure. Look at Him and His faithfulness. You will sin less by focusing on His faithfulness than focusing on your failure. Are you with me?

Secondly, not only relationship, but in this revival he’s going to experience there certainly is renewal. Now, in all of this there are many aspects of what repentance is in all of this personal testimony that David’s unfolding before us. We’re just now in verse 2, so pray that we aren’t here until 11:30, okay? He says, “And do not enter into judgment with Your servant, for in Your sight no man living is righteous.” That’s a sense of confession and a spirit of repentance in that. Someone said, “Repentance may be old-fashioned, but it is never outdated as long as there is sin.” John the Baptist, the cornerstone of his preaching was “Repent.” Jesus regularly preached, “Repent.” The apostles preached, “Repent.” Turn from. Turn from whatever your viewpoint is. Turn from whatever your idea of religion is. Turn from whatever your concepts of how man is right with God. Turn from that. Reject that. Now turn and embrace God’s provision through Jesus Christ in faith alone in Jesus Christ. Now certainly, it includes known sins. But the once for all break is a turning from the old false views of works religion, thinking of yourself, “Can I do this? Can I do that? Can I stop that? Can I start this?” Turn from focusing on all religion and philosophies, and turn, and unreservedly cast yourself with no hope in anything but Christ. That’s repentance, that turn.

Someone said, “Repentance is a radical break from earth’s trash,” and earth’s trash includes all false religion and all false philosophies that teach you that you get to know God, you get forgiveness in anything other than faith in Jesus Christ. It’s all trash. I can prove that. The Apostle Paul said, “Wrap up everything I did and all my religious understandings, teachings, philosophies, theology and life,” he said, “It’s but dung, cow manure.” That’s what he said. New Testament. It’s just dung. It’s just trash compared to just coming to cast myself with no hope in anything but, “Christ, if You don’t save me, I’m lost forever.”

Notice five parts in this renewal that David shares with us here. Notice, first of all, there is a crisis. There is a crisis. Verse 3. “For the enemy has persecuted my soul; He has crushed my life to the ground; He has made me dwell in dark places, like those who have long been dead. Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; my heart is appalled within me.” I was going to say that there are some renewals we have without a crisis, but that’s rare, I think. When a crisis comes, here David is, he talks about dark places, because literally he’s hiding in caves. That’s not a figure of speech. He’s hiding in caves for his life and in that situation he looks to God in a new, and humble, and desperate way. Maybe God has brought a financial crisis in your life, a marital crisis in your life, a child crisis in your life, a crisis with friends or an enemy. It could be anything. The pressure is on, and God is no respecter of persons. God brought it to the end that you might get closer to Him that there would be a renewal. David said, “It was good that I was afflicted that I might learn Thy statutes.” “It was good that I was afflicted,” he said. The word “afflicted” means a painful malady, a deep difficulty, a crisis. “And I drew closer to God.” Well, crisis. Notice secondly, conscience. Your conscience when the crisis hits, the Spirit of God works, and you begin to think about how you’re not close to God, or haven’t been recently as you used to be. Look at verse 5. Conscience. “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your doings; I muse on the work of Your hands. I stretch out my hands to You; my soul longs for You, as a parched land.” “I remember the days of old.” I have to speculate some to say this, but could not David be saying, “I remember how it was when it was just me, and my harp, and God, and the sheep out there, and I just sang and praised my God. We were so close. His power was so real in my life. His presence was so sweet and so precious. And I saw that He had an unusual calling on my life, because the lion and the bear would try to attack the sheep, and I killed them with my bare hands. I can’t do that! God’s power was with me.” He said, “I remember those days. God, it’s not like it used to be.”

Maybe some of us this very Sunday evening need to remember the days of old when you prayed, when you really prayed. When you had your daily quiet time with God, and you really had a daily quiet time with God, and you meditated on the Word of God, and it brought richness to your soul, and that was a conviction and a commitment of your life. When you shared the things of Christ with others around you, because it was just coming out of you. It wasn’t because you memorized your Acme Soul Winners Kit. Jesus was just real in your heart, and you wanted to talk to Him, to others, and it just came out. His conscience is pricked. “I remember the days of old. God, I want it to be back like it used to be.”

Thirdly, not only crisis and conscience, but notice confession. Back up in verse 2, he basically confesses that he has failed. He says, “Do not enter into judgment with Your servant.” Why would he say that if he is not confessing sin? “In Your sight no man living is righteous.” David just lumps everybody else in there with Him. He says, “I know I should be judged. God, as far as that goes, we’re all just a bunch of messes, and wretches, and worthy of judgment before You.” Verse 5, “I remember the days of old.” That’s a confession. “I confess to You I’ve backslidden away from the intimacy I once knew with You and shared with You.” Crisis and conscience and confession. Then, the sweetness comes. You know, the moment you go to God with a token of humility and say, “Oh God, I’m not right on this,” God immediately wraps His arms around you. Immediately. God doesn’t put you on probation. No time out with God. Immediately God wraps His arms around you.

Look at verse 6. “I stretch out my hands to You; my soul longs for You, as a parched land.” He longs for the Lord’s closeness again. Now notice, I think, something very important and this is what happens when true revival comes into your heart. He doesn’t seek God’s power, he seeks God’s presence. He doesn’t seek God’s cure, he seeks God’s closeness. “God, as far as I’m concerned, I would like for this thing to be moved, but that’s not priority right now. I’d like to be out of this crisis, and that’s not wrong, but that’s not number one. Number one is I want to be close. Close to You. I long for You.” He’s not looking for God’s solution. He’s just looking for God.

Some of you remember Shanky Sharp, mayor of Muscle Shoals. Shanky was converted here in this church and became a vibrant witness for Jesus Christ, and he was diagnosed with cancer. I think Shanky lived about ten years after he was diagnosed with cancer. He told me more than once that he wouldn’t trade the cancer back for the sweet closeness he found with Jesus Christ. He found himself in a crisis, but he found himself in consecration with God.

Now, is it not true that the Christian life should have continual little revivals in it? Hopefully, every Sunday when you come and hear the Word of God preached there’s a sense of revival, a renewal, “God get me back right again. Let’s get back on track.” But sometimes you’re like David. God really is working on you. I’ve been in those caves. I’ve been in those situations when I knew that I had enemies. I knew what they were saying, what they were doing, was totally untrue, yet God would speak to me and say, “Yeah, but you’ve got a lot of issues in your own heart. You’ve got some sins you need to deal with. Those people don’t even know what they are, but you and I know what they are.” God was bringing revival to my soul, and those who were persecuting me were just instruments in God’s hand. Isn’t God good like that? Let me ask you something: what is it going to take for God to get your attention? Oh listen to me, God’s arm is not short, like He can’t reach you, and you better hope He does. He disciplines every son He calls and if you’re without discipline, the Bible says you’re an illegitimate son. You’re not a true child of God. Consecration.

Well, let me move on. Compassion. This is God’s compassion, as He, like I said, wraps His loving arms around us and helps us. Look at verse 7. “Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails; do not hide Your face from me, or I will become like those who go down to the pit.” Now here David is basically saying, “God, there’s no plan B. I want You, and I want Your answer or none at all.” Then he says, “Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning; for I trust in You.” Now notice the renewal here. The reconnection here with God. “Teach me in the way I should walk.” There’s a sense the Spirit of God has come to him in forgiveness and affirmation, and now he wants to be teachable again, and he wants to walk with God again. “For to You I lift up my soul.” I like phrase in verse 8, “Let me hear Your lovingkindness in the morning.” Have you ever gone to bed and wished you could wake up in a new world? Have you ever gone to bed and wished you could wake up and things would be different? That’s kind of what David is saying. “Lord, I trust that You’re going to bring a new day for me as I’m seeking You. I just want to be back right to You.”

Now look at verse 9. Notice the confidence again. “Deliver me, O Lord, from my enemies; I take refuge in You.” Now back up there in verse 2, he’s talking about his sins. There is a sense of separation and despair that he’s not quite where he needs to be with God. When you get down to verse 9, he’s saying, “My refuge is You.” I think that speaks of that consecration and compassion he’s experiencing from God. Child of God, listen to me: you cannot comprehend the compassion of God toward His children. You cannot comprehend the deep, deep wells of mercy He has for you. The moment you turn to Him and say, “Oh Lord, I need You.” I’m telling you, He’s right there back with you. You may have broken the fellowship, but you never broke the relationship, because He started it. And His bowels of compassion, as the Bible says, are flooded out toward you.

Well, thirdly: return. He’s returning back to be and walk in the way that he used to. I just outline it this way: first, he returned to his pattern, verse 10. “Teach me to do Your will; for You are my God. Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” He said, “God, I want to get back to where I’m teachable. Teach me to do Your will.” He said, “Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” Isn’t that a neat phrase? “I don’t want to be like this anymore.” And have you noticed in Christianity, as God grows you, it gets a little less. I talk to preachers sometimes, and I talk about how there is just hardly any good mentors and guys in the pastorate. Young guys, they start out, and they chase this idea and that idea, and they get on this extreme and that extreme, and they bring this gimmick into the church and that gimmick, trying to make it all happen. They get over here in this ditch, and then they realize that “Well, that’s not really biblically right.” And then they overreact to that, and they get over here in this ditch. And I said, “Maturity is when you’re always weaving some, but instead of going way over here and way over here, pretty soon God gets you to where you’re kind of going like this.” Amen? In other words, the Spirit of God speaks to you, and He speaks to you, and He speaks to you. You repent, and you get back on track more quickly. More quickly. That’s the pattern of your life. The Spirit filled life is not stopping to sin. It’s a reacting quickly to the initial promptings of the Spirit of God. That’s a Spirit filled life. You’ve learned that it’s painful to get off track. “God, pull me back on.”

He’s returned to his pattern of being teachable and spiritual, and then he says, “Let Your Spirit lead me on level ground.” He’s predictable. You know that’s one of the things that you are commended for. Everywhere I go, people that know you, people that have been to our church, come to the conference, they say, “Your folks are just bing, bing, bing. They’re just right there. They’re always the same. They’re always serving. Their spirits are always joyous.” Did you know you are perfect? The pastors come to our church, and they’re just like, “How do you do that?” I say, “I don’t do it. It’s not me. Trust me.”

Well, what am I saying? Well, when there’s some maturity, you’re predictable. Amen? Isn’t it good when people get predictable? It’s hard to live with someone you don’t know what you’re going to get in the morning. “Lord, help. Who knows what I’m waking up with tomorrow.” You just have no idea. Maturity is when there is a predictability. David said, “I want to get back to where just walking with you is my pattern.” And people can bank on it, when they see David, they know a man after God’s own heart has shown up.

Well, he returns to his pattern. He returns to his purpose. Verse 11. “For the sake of Your name,” that’s it, “O Lord, revive me.” Not, “Lord, I’m dying in this cave. I want to go back to my family. Revive me.” No. “Lord, it’s cold out here, and I’m barren, and I’m so lonely, and it’s difficult.” No. “God, that You might glory, bring the revival I need to my soul.” You see, here’s the thing: David didn’t want to just get better, he wanted God to get His situation better God’s way and by God’s means, so God would get the credit, and people couldn’t say, “Wow! David made it all the way through! David made it through the cave, and Saul was trying to kill him, and David did this, and David did that.” No.

David said, “I’m not interested in any of that. That pride has been broken. I want to get back on track and get out of this mess so that people will say, ‘God, David’s God, brought him through,’ for the sake of Your name.” And that goes all the way back to what we were saying in the beginning. “God, You began the relationship. You initiated the covenant. You chose me in unmerited favor. You cast Your unlimited grace and favor toward me. Now, if I perish, and I don’t fulfill the mission for which You’ve called me, then Your reputation is on the line. So for the sake of Your own name, for Your own glory, get me through this.”

Not only his pattern and his purpose. His pattern to be teachable, spiritual, and predictable. His purpose to glorify God. But lastly, his position. I didn’t deal with the imprecatory nature of this one. That’s in verse 12. “And in Your lovingkindness, cut off my enemies and destroy all those who afflict my soul.” But here is what I am going to deal with. “For I am Your servant. I am Your servant. That’s all I am. That’s where I want to be. That’s what makes me happy. That’s all I have to have. I’m God’s servant.”

Well, that’s a portrait of revival that is applicable to all of us all of the time, no matter what generation or what place.

Let’s stand together in prayer.