One Antidote for Many Ills

Spurgeon takes the repeated refrain of Psalm 80 — "Turn us again, O Lord, cause your face to shine, and we shall be saved" — as the church's one all-sufficient prayer for every ill, arguing that because all problems trace to one source (the withdrawal of God's favor) they can all be cured by one remedy (his return), and he identifies the genuine benefits of revival as the salvation of sinners, the healing of church quarrels and divisions that flourish in idleness, the silencing of enemies by holy living, and above all the glory of God which only a spiritually alive church can render. He then turns the two-part prayer into a searching personal application — "turn us again" is addressed in turn to the minister (who must preach with fearless fidelity), to workers (who must serve with deeper dependence on the Spirit), to intercessors (who must pray with greater agonizing earnestness), and to every member (whose daily business, family life, speech, and habits must be brought into full honesty and godliness) — and "cause your face to shine" is identified as the indispensable divine element without which all human effort and increased numbers amount to nothing. He closes by urging every believer to turn present resolutions immediately into prayers rather than letting them dissolve, and with a tender appeal to unconverted hearers to recognize how much God's people groan over their souls and how precious those souls are in heaven's reckoning, before turning with a final corporate prayer that God would do what no human effort can — pour out revival upon his church and bring many reluctant hearts to himself.Sermon delivered by Charles Spurgeon on November 9th, 1859.