Whenever God’s people exalt Christ and properly appreciate Him, there will be restoration and revival in the church! The people of Israel have left God and did not exalt Christ – and there was desolation and destruction.
But the psalmist prays in Psa. 80:1, 3 “O Shepherd of Israel, give ear, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who are enthroned between the cherubim, shine forth….O God, restore us; and cause Your face to shine, and we will be saved.”
When we as God’s people exalt Christ and give Him the preeminence in our life, the first place in everything, we are being revived and restored.
Being saved by calling on the name of the LORD
How are we saved? How can sinners become sons of God? At one point in our life someone spoke to us concerning the Lord Jesus who came to die on the cross for us, resurrected, and ascended to the right hand of God in the heavens. Now Christ is the life-giving Spirit ready to come into our spirit – we just need to call on the Lord’s name.
When we call, Oh, Lord Jesus! – we are saved! We are initially saved by calling on the name of the LORD! As the Bible says, Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Acts 2:21).
Calling on the name of the Lord is the way for us to be saved – and when we call, we call on the name of the LORD! This means that in the sight of God whenever we call on the name of the Lord Jesus – Oh, Lord Jesus! – we enthrone the Lord and we exalt Christ! When we exalt Christ and give Him the preeminence in us, we are saved!
This is the initial restoration and revival – we are saved and restored, we are revived in our spirit, and we receive the life of God! After we are saved, whenever we call on the name of the Lord, we enthrone Him and exalt Him, and we are restored and revived!
Exalting Christ in all the aspects of our life
After we are saved, we daily call on the name of the Lord and we daily learn to give Him the first place in all things. We as regenerated people need to come together in the meetings of the church and exalt Christ by our singing, our praising, our praying, and even our shouting, Praise the Lord!
We shouldn’t be silent – we need to exalt Christ by declaring, Oh, Lord Jesus, You are right now at the right hand of God – we exalt You! We give You the preeminence in our church life, our family life, our work life, our personal life, and in everything! We exalt You Lord Jesus!
Christ is right now at the right hand of God in the heavenlies (Psa. 80:14-15) and He is also the Spirit in our spirit in our day to day living. Whenever we feel down or we feel that we are backsliding, we need to exalt Christ. Actually, we should have a daily habit of praising the Lord and exalting Christ.
We shouldn’t care about how we feel in our soul, and we shouldn’t say, “I don’t think my exalting Christ matches my experience”. No! Just praise the Lord! Enthrone Him! Give Him the first place in your life. And speak of Him and the process He went through to people to bring them to call on the name of the Lord!
Israel being restored when they exalt Christ
Psalm 80 speaks of the people of Israel and their desolate situation, and the psalmist prays to God that He would remember Israel as God’s flock (Psa. 80:1-7) and as God’s vine (vv. 8-13). Israel is God’s flock, and God is their Shepherd; also, Israel is God’s vine, and God is the Planter.
For the sake of Christ as the Man at God’s right hand, the psalmist prays that God would visit His vine. This is the best way to pray: pray that God would visit the saints, the gospel contacts, your friends, for the sake of the Body of Christ, the universal vine of the Triune God!
For now, the people of Israel still reject Christ as the Messiah; but there will be a time when they will recognize Him and exalt Him, and they will be restored and revived!
When the Lord Jesus will appear to them physically at the end of the great tribulation, they will all believe into Him and repent, and God will restore them and revive them! How we need to pray for the people of God, for Israel, that the Lord would save them and restore them!
May many of them see Christ, exalt Christ, and enthrone Christ so that God may revive them, restore them, and bless them!
Lord Jesus, we praise You right now! We don’t care for how we feel or for any of our failures – we just want to Praise the Lord! We exalt You, Lord, and we give You the first place in all things by faith. Have the preeminence in us. Have the first place and be the deciding factor in our life. Keep us calling on Your name and giving You the rightful place in us – the first place, the preeminent place – in everything!
References and Further Reading
- Sharing inspired from the life-study of Psalms (msg. 31), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization-Study of Psalms (2), week 13.
- Buy the Morning Revival on Psalms (Crystallization-Study, part 2) online;
- Acts 2:21 and the note on Calling on the Name of the Lord.
- Hymns on this topic:
# I give You the first place / In all things by faith!
# O how nigh the Lord is unto all who call on Him! … Jesus! O what a name! - Picture source: restoration and revival.
