About this sermon
Psalm 80 is Israel’s prayer for restoration, probably after Assyria swept away the northern kingdom. The refrain grows stronger each time: ‘Restore us, O God, and cause your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.’ Israel was a fruitless vine, and Jesus Christ is the true vine in whom his people bear fruit. God’s face shines on his people in Christ, the Son of Man at his right hand, and that grace revives the church to call on his name.
Sermon transcript
As we continue our study of various psalms from the book of Psalms, tonight we consider Psalm 80. Psalm 80. Psalm is entitled as follows. Hear the word of God. For the choir director sent set to El Shoshanim, the psalm of Asaph. Oh, give ear, shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock, you who are enthroned above the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your power and come to save us. Oh, God, restore us and cause your face to shine upon us and we will be saved. Oh, Lord, God of hosts, how long will you be angry with the prayer of your people? You have fed them with the bread of tears and you have made them to drink tears in large measure. You make us an object of contention to our neighbors and our enemies laugh among themselves.
Oh, God of hosts, restore us and cause your face to shine upon us and we will be saved. You removed a vine from Egypt. You drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground before it and it took deep root and filled the land. The mountains were covered with its shadow and the cedars of God with its boughs. It was sending out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the river. Why have you broken down its hedges so that all who pass that way pick its fruit? A boar from the forest eats it away and whatever moves in the field feeds on it. O God of hosts, turn again now, we beseech you. Look down from heaven and see and take care of this vine, even the shoot which your right hand has planted and on the son whom you have strengthened for yourself.
It is burned with fire. It is cut down. They perish at the rebuke of your countenance. Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, upon the son of man whom you made strong for yourself. Then we shall not turn back from you. Revive us and we will call upon your name. Oh, Lord, God of hosts, restore us. Cause your face to shine upon us and we will be saved. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let’s ask the Lord to shine the face of his grace upon us and instruct us from his word this evening. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Indeed, we pray that you would shine the light of your countenance upon us, that we may be saved. We pray that by your spirit you would open our minds and our hearts to behold wondrous things from your word.
We ask, Heavenly Father, that you would use me in an unworthy earthen vessel to declare the glories of your word this evening with clarity and power, with clear instruction. And we pray that you would make us open and receptive to these truths. We pray that you would be with us now. Heavenly Father, we ask all of these things through Christ our Lord and all of God’s people said, Amen. You may be seated. Title my sermon this evening is Restore Us, and there’s quite a number of keywords you can be listening for tonight. I would focus in especially encourage the children to listen for the words Restore, Shepherd, Vine and Son of Man. Well, dear ones, our psalm for this Lord’s Day evening is another community lament that reflects an historical situation where God’s people faced national distress over harsh treatment inflicted upon them by a foreign adversary.
The NIV study Bible, in its introductory study note, I think puts it well in describing this psalm as, quote, Israel’s prayer for restoration when she had been ravaged by a foreign power. It goes on to say, it seems likely that Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, referred to in verse two, here represent the northern kingdom. This suggests that the disaster suffered was the Assyrian campaign that swept the Northern Kingdom away. And just by way of historical notation, the tribes of the Northern Kingdom, Samaria, were exiled by the Assyrians in 722 BC. So that just kind of gives you a little historical marker for around the time when this psalm may have been written. That study note goes on to say that recent archaeological surveys of Palestine have shown that Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside experienced at this time a dramatic increase of population, no doubt the result of a massive influx of displaced persons from the north fleeing the Assyrian beast.
This could account for the presence of Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh at the Jerusalem sanctuary. and for a national prayer for restoration with special focus on these tribes. And some might say, well, that’s interesting historical information. But is this really a psalm that we as God’s people today living as we do under the new covenant, living after the coming of Christ? Is this is this a psalm that we as God’s people today should take upon our lips and use to pray and use to sing praises to God? And my answer to that question would be absolutely yes. This psalm is most appropriately prayed, especially and sung, especially today by Christ’s church during times of intense persecution. And when the enemies of the gospel threaten to destroy and decimate the church of Jesus Christ, And I would also suggest to you that this is a song that it is appropriate for us to sing and to pray during periods of Christian history.
When the church finds itself under the providential discipline of God, it finds itself chastened by the providential discipline of God for its unfaithfulness, its worldliness and its unfaithfulness to the gospel. And therefore, when the church is in need of spiritual renewal and restoration, And restoration, of course, is the central theme of this psalm. God’s people at this point in history need restoration, national restoration, and, of course, more foundationally, spiritual restoration. This major theme of the psalm is seen by the repeated refrain. The refrain starts in verse three. Oh, God, restore us and cause your face to shine upon us and we will be saved. This refrain is repeated four times. It’s repeated in these in these precise words three times in particular. But with each repetition, there is an intensification to this refrain. And so in verse three, for example, God is just addressed as O God.
But skip down to verse seven. And how is the Lord addressed? O God of hosts. Restore us. And cause your face to shine upon us. And then at the end of this psalm in verse 19, O Lord, O Yahweh, God of hosts, restore us. Cause your face to shine upon us and we will be saved. The third the third repetition of the refrain is in slightly different wording in verse 14, where it says, Oh, God of hosts, turn again. Now we beseech you look down from heaven and sea and take care of this vine. So you see sort of the the flow of the psalm is one that is of increasing intensification as God’s people cry out to the Lord for restoration and salvation. With all of this in mind, let’s dive into our psalm for this evening and consider what we can learn from it.
And I want to have us first focus on the opening section of this psalm, verses one through seven. And what we have in this opening section, this is the first point in your sermon outline, is an earnest appeal for the shepherd king of Israel to act for the restoration and deliverance of his people. We have here an earnest appeal for the shepherd king of Israel to act for the restoration and deliverance of his people. The psalm opens with a cry, a plea, that is dripping with pathos. O give ear, shepherd of Israel. How is God addressed in the opening verse of this psalm? He is addressed as the shepherd of Israel. O give ear, shepherd of Israel. You who lead Joseph like a flock.” Yahweh the Lord, the covenant God of Israel, is depicted as a God who shepherds his people.
His people are his sheep. He leads them like a flock. And then he describes this shepherd of Israel as one who is enthroned above the cherubim. And the psalmist pleads with Yahweh the Lord, the shepherd king of Israel, to shine forth. There’s so much, I could actually preach an entire sermon on just this one verse. There’s so much packed in here. Now, when you think of a shepherd, what kind of images come to your mind? My suspicion is that when we think of shepherds and shepherding, we tend to think of a sort of peaceful pastoral scenes. You know, we reflect upon Psalm 23. He leads me besides quiet, quiet waters. He restores my soul. And we think of we think of peaceful imagery and we think of shepherds in sort of almost a sentimental way, almost a romanticized way.
But it’s important to understand that the term shepherd was actually a common title for kings in the ancient Near East. And so when God is referred to as a shepherd, There are often royal connotations attached to that, not sentimental or, you know, sentimental types of of associations, but rather royal connotations attached to this. And the fact that God is here viewed as the shepherd king of Israel is confirmed by the psalmist picturing God as enthroned above the cherubim. Now, what are cherubim? Well, the cherubim in the scriptures are angelic beings. In fact, they are the guardians of the throne of God. In a sense, shepherds are these and these glorious angelic beings. And there were two artistic cherubim of gold on the mercy seat that was located on top of the Ark of the Covenant.
Children, do you know what that mercy seat? on top of the Ark of the Covenant with the two cherubim of gold. Do you know what that mercy seat represents? That symbolizes the throne of God. And so by symbolizing the throne of God, The seat of gold, the cherubim that were on top of that mercy seat, on top of the Ark of the Covenant, which was located in the Holy of Holies in the sanctuary, first the tabernacle and later on the temple, symbolizes God’s gracious and holy reign as the divine king, the divine king who dwelt in the midst of his holy people. And in the Old Covenant, in Old Testament times, God’s Shekinah glory shone above the mercy seat where these these figures of cherubim were placed. And so this is very significant. So the psalmist is crying out to God, appealing to God as the royal shepherd king who leads his people, the royal shepherd king who is enthroned above the chair of him, who is sovereign, who reigns in grace and mercy.
And what is the petition for the shepherd king of Israel? What does the psalmist ask of the shepherd king? He says, shine forth. Shine forth. This is a picturesque plea for God to display his power and glory in coming to the rescue of his afflicted people. Shine forth, God had shown forth in the past. The psalmist is essentially asking, I believe that just as God’s supernatural kind of glory shown above the cherubim on the mercy seat in the sanctuary and just as he led forth his people in the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day and by a shining pillar of fire by night, leading and guiding and protecting and governing his people. So now may God stir up His glorious power to intervene, to save and to restore His afflicted and likely displaced people.
As it says in v. 2, before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, three tribes of Israel who dwelt in the northern kingdom. Before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh, stir up your power and come to save us. And then v. 3, We are confronted with the first refrain. Oh God, restore us. And cause Your face to shine upon us and we will be saved. The psalmist here petitions God for a national restoration of His distressed and likely displaced people. And notice, as part of this restoration, the psalmist says, cause Your face to shine upon us. What is this a reference to? What does it mean for God’s face to shine upon you, to shine upon me? Of course, God is a spirit. He doesn’t literally have a face like you and I do. The face of God, what does that face represent?
Well, this, first of all, it’s important to understand that this is actually alluding to and hearkening to the Aaronic priestly blessing recorded back in Numbers 6, 24 through 26. I’d invite you to turn there to Numbers chapter six. And let me just read verses 24 through. I’m going to start with verse 23. This is what God through Moses told Aaron, Aaron, the high priest, Moses, his brother. God instructed Aaron to place the name of the Lord upon the people by speaking this blessing, this benediction. Verse 23, speak to Aaron and to his son saying, thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them, the Lord bless you and keep you. Notice verse 25, especially the Lord do what the Lord make his face shine upon upon you and be gracious to you.
The Lord lift up his countenance on you and give you peace. So they shall invoke my name on the sons of Israel. and I then will bless them.” So, in light of the Aaronic blessing, what does it mean for God’s face to shine upon His people? Well, the picture of Yahweh’s face shining upon His people is a picture of God looking upon His people with grace, favor, and divine approval. And it is only as God shines His face upon His people that they will be saved as the refrain says, Oh, God, restore us and cause your face to shine upon us and we will be saved. There’s no salvation, no deliverance, whether national or spiritual, apart from God shining his face, the light of his grace upon us. Does God shine His face upon us today?
Yes, He does. The reason that God can shine the face of His grace upon us believers today is because the Father turned His face away from His Son when the Son was dying on the cross for our sins. And Jesus cries out, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? In other words, by implication, why have You turned Your face away from Me? For Christ bore the wrath of God on the cross in our place, in our stead. Deliverance and salvation, whether national or personal, is only possible when God looks upon us with grace and favor. But how can God look upon us sinners, wretches, disobedient, fallen in Adam? Children of wrath, how can God look upon us with favor? How can He shine the light of His countenance upon us? Well, because He sees us in union with Jesus Christ, His Son.
Only as the Father looks upon us in Christ does He view us with grace and favor. In union with the Lord Jesus Christ, the face of God, our loving Heavenly Father, shines upon us with divine approval. For as the Father testified of His Son at His baptism, at Christ’s baptism, this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And if you are in the Son, then God is well pleased with you because He’s well pleased with His Son. Not because He’s pleased with you in and of yourself, but because you are in Christ. O God, restore us and cause Your face to shine upon us and we will be saved. And then, again, There’s some intensification that takes place beginning at verse four, where the psalmist, the psalm of Asaph, this is ascribed to Asaph and the Asaphite singers.
Oh, Lord, God of hosts. Here, the covenant name of God is used. Oh, Lord, God of hosts. How long will you be angry with the prayer of your people? Now, what is who are the hosts? What does it mean for God to be the God of hosts? Well, remember how the shepherd imagery pictures God as a mighty king and he is the shepherd king of Israel who sits enthroned above the cherubim, this mighty shepherd king. is also the captain of our salvation. The term host, this is a military term. Yahweh is the God of hosts, both the heavenly host of angels and also the earthly hosts of his people who are called to engage in holy warfare against the world, the flesh and the devil. Of course, we today in the new covenant, we are not called to take up arms against the wicked and unbelieving.
We are called upon to take the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, and to extend the olive branch through the proclamation of the gospel to call the nations to repentance and salvation, not to destroy the wicked, but to bring them the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ. But in any case, Oh, God, the Lord God of hosts, God is the sovereign king and captain of his hosts. And here the psalmist confesses that God is angry with his people. In fact, God appears to be so angry from the psalmist vantage point that it seems as if even the prayers of his people stir up his hot wrath. Now, if you have read the historical books of the Old Testament, you know about the history of the northern kingdom after the united monarchy under David and Solomon, under Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, the 10 tribes separated off from Judah. in the south, and so the northern tribes were under Jeroboam, the son of Nebat.
And if you know about the history of the northern kingdom, it is a sad, sad history. It is a history of apostasy, a history of God’s professed people turning away from the Lord and under the wicked leadership of Jeroboam, a false priesthood, a false apostate form of religion was raised up among the people of God. And thus, the people of God in the Northern Kingdom as a whole broke the covenant. They went after other gods. They were unrepentant, unbelieving, and disobedient. And while God raised up prophets and sent his prophets to his people in the Northern Kingdom, calling them to repentance, and while God preserved a godly believing remnant among the northern tribes. Nevertheless, as a whole, the northern tribes were deeply wicked and unbelieving. And so God raised up the Assyrians to come in and kick them out of his land, to take them into exile.
And the Assyrians were brutal and beastly in their treatment of God’s people. And here in verse five, it says, You have fed them with the bread of tears and you have made them to drink tears in large measure. God is angry with the prayers of his people, his covenant breaking people, and he’s fed them with the bread of tears and made them to drink tears in large measure. This is very as is common in the Psalms. We have here picturesque language of the deep sorrow of God’s people that resulted from God’s anger. And that deep sorrow is expressed as a diet of tears. And what a contrast to God’s provision for his people in the wilderness. Remember when God was leading the Israelites through the wilderness, he brought them out of Egypt and he gave them his law on Mount Sinai and he led them through the wilderness.
How did God feed his people in the wilderness? He provided them manna from heaven. And he also at times when they were in thirsty land, he provided them water even from the rock. But now God’s people under judgment, now they’re not eating manna from heaven. They’re not drinking water from the rock. Their meat and their drink are their own tears. So sorrowful are they under the chastening hand of God. Not only are They sorrowful over God’s judgments upon them, but also, as it says in verse six, you make us an object of contention to our neighbors and our enemies laugh among themselves. They are they are sneered at by their Gentile unbelieving neighbors. They are scoffed at. They are derided. And then verse seven, we have the second refrain with its note of intensification. Oh, God of hosts, restore us and cause your face to shine upon us and we will be saved.
Well, that leads us here. Here again, this repetition underscores the earnestness and intensity of the psalmist’s plea. But next in the second section here in verses eight through 13, And this is my second point, we see a reflection on past mercies contrasted to present distresses. We have past mercies, we have a remembrance, the psalmist remembering God’s past mercies and contrasting that with the present distresses that are being experienced by God’s people. In verses eight through 11, the psalmist here remembers how God in his covenant mercies had graciously delivered his people from their slavery in Egypt and had settled them, planted them like a vine, if you will, in the promised land. As it says in verse eight, you removed a vine from Egypt. What what vine is the psalmist talking about? He’s talking about Israel.
You removed a vine from Egypt. You drove out the nations. He conquered the people of the promised land and he planted this vine in the promised land. You know, Israel in the Old Testament is sometimes pictured as a vine, a vine that God has planted in the promised land. And I know I I read this passage last Lord’s Day, but I would refer you again to Isaiah five verses one through seven, Isaiah, chapter five, verses one through seven. And one of the sad things about this vine that God had planted is that sadly it turned out to be a fruitless vine, a vine that invited God’s judgment, a vine that was eventually burned up and cut down. Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning his vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill.
He dug it all around, removed its stones and planted it with the choicest vine. And he built a tower in the middle of it and also hewed out a wine vat in it. Then he expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard than I had that I had not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes, did it produce worthless ones? So now let me tell you what I’m going to do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed. I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. I will lay it waste. It will not be pruned or hoed, but briars and thorns will come up and I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it.
Their God is through. Isaiah is predicting judgment upon the nation. And then there is an explanatory note in verse seven. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah, his delightful plant. Thus, he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed for righteousness. But behold, a cry of distress. Sadly, Israel was a fruitless covenant breaking vine throughout its history. But Jesus Christ, Being the true Israel is also the true vine, and in him we are the branches. This theme of the vine and the branches comes out in John chapter 15. I’d encourage you to turn to John 15. Let me just read the first five verses of John chapter 15. We see how Christ succeeds where Israel failed. Christ is the true Israel, just as he is the last Adam who succeeds where the first Adam failed.
The first Adam broke the covenant. Christ has kept the covenant. Israel of old broke the covenant. But Jesus, the true Israel, the true vine of God, has kept the covenant and life and fruitfulness comes from abiding in him. Jesus says in John 15, I am the true vine and my father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in me. And I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so 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, he bears much fruit.
For apart from me, you can do nothing. The only way you and I can bear the spiritual fruit of righteousness and obedience, walking after new obedience, bearing the fruit of the spirit is if we are attached to Christ, the true vine for life and salvation comes from him and through him. And so getting back to our psalm for this evening, with all of this in mind, the psalmist writes. that God had removed a vine from Egypt, drove out the nations, planted it in the promised land. Verse nine, you cleared the ground before it and it took deep root and filled the lands. The mountains were covered with its shadow and the cedars of God with its boughs. Cedars, mighty trees were covered with its boughs. And notice verse 11, it was sending out its branches to the sea.
Meaning the Mediterranean Sea, the western extent of the of the promised land, and it shoots to the river, the Euphrates River to the to the east. Here we have the ideal fullness of the promised land that God had given to his people. But then in verses 12 and 13, the psalmist expresses perplexity over God’s apparent abandonment of his vine. As he says, why, verse 12, why have you broken down its hedges so that all who pass that way pick its fruit? Why have you removed your protection from us, Lord, so that the Assyrians, these foreign aggressors, these bestial, cruel oppressors have come in and have have indeed picked its fruit. And then he describes these aggressors as a boar from the forest. Verse 13, a boar from the forest eats it away and whatever moves in the field feeds on it.
Now, with all of this in mind, in the closing section of our psalm for this evening, we see a plea for restoration, but restoration through the promised son of man. Hope is found for this burned down fruitless vine. Hope is found in this mysterious figure of the Son of Man. Here again, we find a plea for restoration through the promised Son of Man. Look at verse 14. Oh, God of hosts, turn again now. We beseech you. Look down from heaven and sea and take care of this vine. Don’t abandon us. Shine the light of your countenance upon us once again. Take care of this vine, this vine, which by implication you, Lord, have planted. Even the shoot, verse 15, even the shoot which your right hand has planted and on the son whom you have strengthened, for yourself.
Again, we see here another plea for God to restore his people. And notice in verse 15 how Israel, this vine of the Lord, is also described. It is described as God’s son. In fact, this is another image for Israel, God’s people, in the Old Testament. Israel is described back in, if you want to look it up and read along with me, Exodus 4, verses 22 and 23. Israel is described as the Son of God. In Exodus chapter 2, verse 22, we read these words. God instructs Moses, then you shall say to Pharaoh, thus says the Lord, Israel is my son, my firstborn. So I said to you, let my son go that he may serve me. But you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn. So Israel is God’s son.
But then, verse 16, what has happened to this vine, this son? Verse 16, it is burned with fire. It is cut down. They perish at the rebuke of your countenance. Instead of the light, the shining light of God’s countenance, they have experienced the rebuke of his countenance for their apostasy and covenant breaking. And then we see this plea focusing in on another figure, the Son of Man figure. Verse 17, let your hand be upon the man of your right hand, upon the Son of Man whom you made strong for yourself. Let your hand be upon this man of your right hand. For God’s hand to rest upon someone is for God to strengthen them, to bless them. Let your hand be upon the man of your right hand. And who is this man of God’s right hand?
He is described as the son of man. whom you made strong for yourself. Now, some folks think, some commentators think that this too, in verse 17, this son of man figure must be referring to Israel again, given that back in verse 15, the son seems to be referring to Israel. But more likely, I think Dr. Van Gammeren is probably correct when he writes the following. The ground of hope in restoration lies in the man at your right hand, also called the Son of Man. These are allusions to the Davidic dynasty. See, King David represented God’s people. As the king, he was the representative. He was God’s right hand man, if you will. But David was also a type, a picture of his greater son. And who is that? Jesus Christ, the messianic son of man.
Dr. Van Gameren goes on to say, these allusions to the Davidic dynasty focus the hope of the godly in the continuity of God’s redemptive purposes. You see, God was not through with his people. He had not finally abandoned them. Though they were faithless, though they were apostates, though they had broken the covenant, there was yet hope. And that hope is found in this Son of Man figure. Dr. Van Gammeren writes, regardless of what happened at Samaria and of what may happen to Jerusalem, the Lord will be true to David. Remember, God had made a covenant with David the king and promised David a perpetual dynasty. And that perpetual dynasty was fulfilled in great David’s greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s kingdom will be established by the Messiah of David, as Dr. Van Gemeren says, and he refers us to Psalm 2.
Friends, Jesus, the Messiah, great David’s greater son, he is the ultimate answer to this prayer. God’s kingdom has drawn near to us in Jesus Christ. And he is the ultimate messianic son of man who established the kingdom of God and who will consummate it at his glorious second advent. Have you embraced him as your shepherd king? Have you looked to him for restoration and salvation? He is your only hope. He is the only hope of the church of Jesus Christ. And then verse 18. After petitioning the Lord to let His hand be upon the man of His right hand and to bless, make the Son of Man, who is made strong for yourself, after the psalmist directs our hope to this Son of Man figure, what will be the result? Verse 18, then we shall not turn back from you.
Revive us and we will call upon your name. This is a, I believe, a vow, a promise that, Lord, if you will restore us through the Son of Man, then we will call upon your name. But then we will be enabled to call upon your name because we will abide in the true vine, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then this psalm comes to a climactic conclusion in the final refrain. Oh, Yahweh, Oh, Lord, the word Lord, there is an all capital letters indicating the English translators are indicating that this is a translation of the Hebrew term Yahweh, which is the covenant name for God, the God who graciously comes and binds himself in covenant love to his people. Oh, God, Lord Yahweh, God of hosts, restore us, cause your face to shine upon us. And we will be saved.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, praise be to God that His face shines upon us in the Lord Jesus Christ. As you trust in, as you abide in Him, the face of the Father in grace and mercy and forgiveness shines upon you and that will transform you and enable you and revive you. It will enable you to call upon His name. And as we as a church look to the Lord Jesus and abide in him, calling upon his name, resting and trusting in him, crying out to him, he will restore us and revive us. Amen. Let us pray. Gracious Lord and Father in heaven, we thank you, O God, for the richness of Holy Scripture. We thank you, O God, for the truth of your word. It is a lamp unto our feet, a light to our path.
And we thank you for Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Man, our Messiah, our Savior, our King, our Lord. We pray that by your Spirit, you would revive and restore us, O God. And we, by your grace, will call upon your name and not turn back from you. We pray these things in Jesus’ name and all of God’s people said, Amen. Let’s rise and respond to what we have heard by singing together hymn 413, Revive Thy Work, O Lord. 413.
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