I.　The intrinsic reason for the desolation of God's house wasthat Christ was not properly appreciated and exalted byGod's people; they did not give Him the preeminence, thefirst place, in everything—Psa. 74:1-11; 2 Chron. 36:19; Col.1:18; Rev. 2:4:

A.　Their failure to give Christ the preeminence and to honor andexalt Him was the cause of their becoming sinful and evil—Jer. 2:13.

B.　The desolation ofthe church as the house of God always issuesfrom the negligence of the experience of Christ—1 Cor. 1:9-13,23-24, 30; cf. 3 John 9.

C.　The real revival in the church depends upon everyone in thechurch life giving Christ the first place in everything—Psa.73:25; 80:15, 17; cf. Hab. 3:2; Hosea 6:1-3:

1.　To give the Lord the first place in all things is to love Himwith the first love, the best love, regarding Him as everythingin our life—Rev. 2:4; Col. 1:18; 3:11.

2.　We must not love anyone or anything above the Lord,including our soul-life—Matt. 10:37-39; Rev. 12:11.

3.　We love the Lord because He first loved us, infusing Hisloving essence into us and generating within us the lovewith which we love Him—1 John 4:19, 7-8, 16:

a.　Christ's love of affection constrains us to live and to dieto Him—2 Cor. 5:14-15; Rom. 14:7-9.

b.　Christ's love makes the believers martyrs for Him—Rev. 2:10; 12:11; Rom. 8:35-37.

4.　We love the Lord according to the divine dispensing of theDivine Trinity as love—5:5; 8:39, 35; 15:30.

D.　The enjoyment of God in the house and city of God can bemaintained and preserved only when Christ is properly appreciatedand exalted by God's people:

1.　An idol is anything within us that we love more than theLord and that replaces the Lord in our life—Ezek. 14:3.

2.　Any thing, matter, or person that preoccupies us and keepsus from the full enjoyment of Christ is an idol—1 John 5:21.

II.　Psalm 73 is on the sufferings of the seeking saints andunveils God, Christ, as our unique portion and desire—1 Cor. 1:2:

A.　Psalm 73:2-16 records the sufferings and puzzles of the God-seekingPsalmist:

1.　The Psalmist was nearly stumbled by the situation concerningthe prosperity of the wicked—vv. 2-3.

2.　The Psalmist said that he had purified his heart in vainand that he had been plagued all day long—vv. 13-14.

3.　If the Psalmist had spoken to others about his situation,they would have been stumbled—v. 15.

4.　The more the Psalmist considered his situation, trying tounderstand it, the more he was troubled and perplexed—v. 16.

B.　Through the revelation given in the sanctuary of God, thePsalmist obtained the solution to his troubling and perplexingsituation—vv. 17-28:

1.　The sanctuary of God is the place where we may obtainthe revelation that we need—Lev. 24:2-4; Dan. 2:17-23; cf.5:12, 14.

2.　God's sanctuary is in our spirit and in the church—1 Cor.3:16; Eph. 2:22.

3.　We enter into the sanctuary of God by exercising our spiritand living in the church—1 Tim. 4:7; 3:15.

4.　Once we are in the sanctuary—in the spirit and in thechurch—we receive another view, a particular perception—Psa. 73:17-20:

a.　Certain secrets in the Bible were not made known to usuntil we came into the twofold sanctuary—our spirit asthe personal sanctuary and the church as the corporatesanctuary.

b.　God's way is made known in the sanctuary; when weexercise our spirit and live in the church, God's waybecomes clear to us—77:13.

C.　Psalm 73:25-26 is the revelation given in the sanctuary of Godto the suffering and seeking saints:

1.　"Whom do I have in heaven but You? / And besides You thereis nothing I desire on earth"—v. 25:

a.　Verse 25 reveals that God's pure seeker would have Godas his only possession in heaven and his unique desireon earth: 1)　God was the Psalmist's unique goal; the Psalmistdid not care for anything except God and gainingHim. 2)　In this matter Paul was the same as the Psalmist,counting all things as refuse in order to gain Christ—Phil. 3:8.

b.　The Psalmist was pure in heart—Psa. 73:1: 1)　To be pure in heart is to have God as our one goal—Matt. 5:8. 2)　A pure heart is one that is set on nothing but God: a)　God Himself is the reality; anything other thanGod is vanity. b)　If we continue to seek something other thanGod, our heart is set on vanity. c)　Only a seeker with a pure heart can say that hehas nothing but God and desires nothing besidesGod.

2.　"My flesh and my heart fail, / But God is the rock of myheart and my portion forever"—Psa. 73:26:

a.　The Psalmist realized that God was working to deprivehim of all material things so that he might enjoy God inan absolute way: 1)　Through the revelation given in the sanctuary, helearned why God does not allow the seeking saintsto prosper as the worldly people do. 2)　God intends that nothing should distract us fromthe absolute enjoyment of Himself. 3)　God's intention with the seeking saints is to removeall material blessings and physical enjoyments sothat they may find everything in God.

b.　When the Psalmist went into the sanctuary of God, hereceived the revelation that nothing in heaven or onearth can be his enjoyment but God Himself, and hetook God as his all—the rock of his heart and his portionforever—Deut. 32:4, 15, 18, 30-31; Psa. 18:2, 31, 46;31:2-3; 61:2; 62:2, 6-7; 71:3; 78:35; 89:26; 92:15; 94:22;95:1; Matt. 16:18; 1 Cor. 10:4; Eph. 3:17a; Col. 1:12; Eph. 3:8.

III.　Psalm 80 reveals that restoration comes by exalting Christ:

A.　In verses 1 through 7 the Psalmist prays that the Shepherd ofIsrael would give ear (v. 1); in both verses 3 and 7 he prays,"O God, restore us; / And cause Your face to shine, and we willbe saved."

B.　In verses 8 through 13 the Psalmist speaks regarding God'sdealing with Israel as His vine, which He brought out of Egyptand planted; whereas the vine once was flourishing, it eventuallybecame desolate.

C.　In verses 14 through 19 the Psalmist asks God to visit Hisvine (Israel) for the sake of Christ as the man of His righthand:

1.　Son in verse 15 refers to the Lord Jesus; when He becamea man, He joined Himself to Israel—He is "the son whomYou have strengthened for Yourself"—Hosea 11:1; Matt. 2:15.

2.　In Psalm 80:17 the Psalmist goes on to say, "Let Your handbe upon the man of Your right hand, / Upon the son of manwhom You have strengthened for Yourself"; this versereveals that Christ is at the right hand of God, the highestplace in the universe; the first place, the highest position,the preeminence, has been given to Christ—Mark 16:19;Acts 2:33; 5:31; Phil. 2:9-11.

3.　The way to be restored from desolation is to exalt Christas the full solution to every problem—1 Cor. 1:9, 24, 30:

a.　Whenever God's people do not give Christ the preeminence,the house of God, signifying the church, becomesdesolate.

b.　Whenever God's people exalt Christ, giving Him thepreeminence in every aspect of their living, there is restorationand revival—Psa. 80:18-19.

4.　Christ is now at the right hand of God (Rom. 8:34; Col. 3:1;1 Pet. 3:22), and whoever calls upon Him as such a Onewill be restored and revived (Acts 2:33, 21; Rom. 10:12-13).

5.　As regenerated people, we need to come together in themeetings of the church to exalt Christ by praising, singing,and shouting—1 Cor. 14:26:

a.　Instead of being silent, we should exercise our spiritualbirthright to exalt Christ.

b.　The more we exalt Christ, giving Him the preeminencein everything, the more we will be revived and restored.