Revival

December 7, 2022

I don’t know when “revival meetings” became popular in conservative Christian circles. I know that in the latter part of the nineteenth century they were common in the ministry of such men as Charles Finney and Charles H. Spurgeon. Wesley and Whitfield preached to large throngs of people in the eighteenth century, but I don’t know if they called their meetings revivals. In the twentieth century, men such as Billy Sunday and Billy Graham, and women like Aimee Semple McPherson held revival meetings. And to this day, lesser-known preachers continue to host revival meetings to reach the unsaved and minister to the backslidden.

This morning as two of my pastor friends joined me for breakfast and prayer as we have done for years, the Psalm that formed the foundation for our prayers came from 119, and included the following verses asking God to send revival:

    “Plead my cause and redeem me; 

Revive me according to Your word. 

     Great are Your tender mercies, O Lord; 

Revive me according to Your judgments. 

     Consider how I love Your precepts; 

Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.”

—Psalm 119:154, 156, 159 

The revival requested in these verses is somewhat different than that promoted in traditional revival services. First of all, the plea is for personal revival. He doesn’t ask that thousands, hundreds, or even dozens of people get saved or revived. He simply asked God to revive, to renew his own life. That’s always a good place to start. I wonder how many revival meetings have come and gone with little to show for all the time and expense because there was no pleading with God by the revival promoters for a renewal of their own lives. I’ve often wondered how much God’s work through me was limited by the limitation of God’s work in me.

Second, the threefold foundation for revival is stated. We ask for revival because we need redemption, because God is merciful, and because we love God’s Word. If I cannot recognize my own need for renewal, if I don’t see my need for mercy, and if I don’t value God’s Word, I am putting myself in a position where God cannot do his supernatural work in or through me. The one who seeks revival in others must first see the need for it in himself.

Thirdly, that word “according to” seems important; after all, it’s repeated three times. Revival is dependent upon God’s Word. If I neglect the Holy Scriptures, I am depriving God of his voice in my heart. I must be willing for that Word to judge me, to convict me of sin so I can repent and receive the lovingkindness that was demonstrated when my sin was judged in Christ on the cross. Revival only begins as we kneel before the cross in humble confession and contrition. And revival of others must always begin with me.