Rev J R Tallach
At the invitation of the Mbuma Zending Committee, my wife and I travelled to Holland on April 24 to attend their annual gathering, which was held an hour’s drive south of Utrecht. On the Sabbath I supplied the Old Reformed congregation (some 45 in attendance and considered small by Dutch Reformed standards) and on the Monday I was asked to address the 4000 gathered for the Mbuma Zending meeting.
I spoke on Psalm 85:6: “Wilt Thou not us revive again, that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?” Taking the Psalm to have been penned after the return of the southern kingdom from their captivity in Babylon, in the light of the words, “Thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob”, we noticed that the prayer was for the revival of vital religion among themselves. Their return had been of the Lord and brought great joy, but shortly thereafter they were embroiled in many difficulties from those around them. Plots were hatched and threats made and an appeal to the Emperor resulted in the cessation of the work for a time.
But it is their own spiritual deadness that concerns the Psalmist: “Wilt Thou not us revive again?” The Cause of Christ has many enemies in these days, but our concern over a day of small things ought to begin with ourselves. There is a reminder also of the Lord’s kindness and power in the past, “revive us again”. They had been revived at the Red Sea by the Lord’s deliverance, and again in the wilderness by the water from the rock and the manna from heaven, and their prayer was for such a blessed visitation again. The New Testament Church has had its times of revival, as at Pentecost (the Jews) and Antioch (the Gentiles). Is this not one of those petitions about which the Lord says, “I will yet for this be enquired of by the house of Israel, to do it for them”?
Where there is such a revival, the Church rejoices in the Lord: “that Thy people may rejoice in Thee”. The latter part of the Psalm plainly speaks of Christ. The first Adam bore the image of God in knowledge, righteousness and holiness, but righteousness and truth were lost at the Fall and peace therefore departed. What was scattered and lost by Adam is gathered together by Christ. Truth was honoured, righteousness was established and the requirements for true peace were exhibited in the blood of Christ when “the kindness and love of God appeared”. Revival involves a looking again to that holy temple and a fresh experience of that great truth, “Salvation is of the Lord” (Jnh 2:9).
The collection for the day amounted to 45 000 euros. It was a remarkable gathering for numbers, generosity and, above all, the prayerful interest in our Zimbabwe Mission by so many people. We were very hospitably received by the Bart and van Haafen families and made welcome by the Old Reformed Congregation in Utrecht.