revival

Will you not revive us again,

that your people may rejoice in you?

Psalm 85:6

I am not a revivalist but I do believe my soul experiences revival. There are times when I need a renewed sense of purpose, mission, and praise-filled rejoicing. I don’t think such revival can be met superficially by manipulation though. God has to be the Great Reviver! He has to get my attention. He has to lead me through whatever has dimmed my affections in order for me to return to a new zeal. Sometimes life itself gets really hard and God revives me in my weariness. There is a revival that is primarily spiritual, but also emotional and sometimes physical.

In those seasons of difficulty it is not at all wrong to 1) recognize the state of my soul’s dryness and 2) pray for God to do the reviving my soul needs. That is what the sons of Korah direct the congregation to do in this psalm. They pray to receive revived souls. They ask God to do the reviving. It is a song then of repentance, restoration, and a request for revival. It is not manufactured. It is not worked up. It is clearly manifested by God’s work in them exclusively. If God does not do the reviving there can be no revival!

O Lord,

God of restoration: You have restored in me what has been lost and broken. God of renewal: You have made all things new right now. God of revival: You have brought new life to my weary and worn soul! Thank You! May I continue to rejoice in You, my Great Reviver!

Amen

revived from calamity

You who have made me see many troubles and calamities

will revive me again;

from the depths of the earth

you will bring me up again.

Psalm 71:20

Lord, You have made me see

many trials and calamity,

losses amid catastrophe.

What I thought would never be

came to me.

“Why did You do this to me?”

My soul pleaded to be free

from all trouble brought to me

as grief rolled like a sea

drowning my soul in this calamity.

I rode the waves less than buoyantly,

head just above water I could not see

that Your hand was always reaching out to me

guiding me over stormy sea

keeping me alive in the catastrophe.

But then You helped me see

You were carefully staying over me

so thus guided even in this calamity

nothing would destroy me.

I would become stronger… eventually.

You brought me from troubled sea

to stand on the shores of eternity

and breathtaking glimpses of what is ahead of me

now fill this soul of mine with ecstasy

because now, revived from calamity, in Jesus I am free!

what it takes to be revived and renewed

When the humble see it they will be glad;

you who seek God, let your hearts revive.

For the LORD hears the needy

and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.

Psalm 69:32-33

God loves to revive and renew. But first we must recognize our need for such revival. This passage describes the people who know they need renewal. 

They are humble. Pride will refuse to see the need for God’s transformative work so those who are freed must repent of pride and admit their humble state. They are needy. Not only that, they acknowledge their need for God to bring desperately longed-for change. They cry out to Him! They are prisoners. Circumstances hold them captive and limit them in some painful way. They are bound by their sin … or outside influences … or a mixture of both in some way. God’s reviving renewal sets them free.

And this is how God brings new life to old losses and pains. We first must humbly accept that we need what only God can do. We are powerless to renew our own situations. This is Jesus’ job! We must come to Him humble and needy. Until we are aware of that need, we will stay stuck in our hardships or sins, like prison bars that keep us from moving forward. We are all needy people craving mercy and grace that Christ longs to pour over us! We must come to God regularly in our helpless bondage. We need freedom. Jesus will throw open the doors to a new life, take us by the hand, and lead us to it with Him! Renewed and revived, we can humbly praise, see our needs met, and be released from what once held us back!

create and renew

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

Psalm 51:10

There is complete forgiveness of sin with God. And there is much more. God not only will forgive us when we are truly remorseful and repentant, but He will work at the heart level, making things new. In Christ we are made into new creations, given new desires and capacities to live in the righteousness that Christ supplies, and renewed in spirit to actually WANT to do the right thing. It is this clean heart and renewed spirit that are distinct to Christian conversion. No other religion makes you new!

What is amazing in Psalm fifty-one is that David prophetically prayed for what Christ would bring in His death and resurrection. David’s sins deserved death under the law: He committed adultery, murder, and conspiracy at the highest office of earthly authority in Israel. He disdained the covenant and led by example for the nation to do the same. And yet, when confronted, David confessed, repented, and begged for renewal and for a clean heart. He knew God’s grace even under the curses of the Law. And David knew his only hope was for God to re-create and renew! His old self deserved death. Only a new heart could be remade to love the Lord and keep His ways.

Lord, my only hope has been renewal in Jesus. In Christ I am a new creation. The old sin has gone. The new life has come. Praise You, My Lord! Amen

wait in hope of renewal

All the days of my service I would wait,

till my renewal should come.

Job 14:14b

Job looks at a life that has been decimated by loss, grief, and sorrow. Catastrophe has wiped out his wealth. Disaster killed his family. Disease has wasted his own body. And yet he longs for something better. He expresses a firm patience in His problems and plans to persevere despite the pain and pressure. He will wait for God to bring some better things. He will long for a new work to be done. Job hopes for renewal.

Job’s faith despite his unthinkable situation is instructive for just how hope works! It is the way we find God at work even today as we often must wait and still serve God even as circumstances are less than ideal. Getting a new life in Christ does not mean we won’t have difficulties. God renews best in the midst of our troubles and through chaotic change.

Case in point: Genesis 1:2. The whole world began in a formless void… a chasm of chaos that God spoke into an ordered universe. God does excellent creative work with what seems unmanageable. Creation began in chaos. And so often does renewal! God will renew and recreate in Christ our chaotic circumstances and transforms decimated lives! We must patiently wait, and trust, with hope in the God of renewal.

Christ restores from suffering.

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

1 Peter 5:10

This is the only New Testament passage that directly speaks of God’s desire to do restorative work. And it is such a great promise! Restoration is much more prominent in the Old Testament where my recent studies have found over forty-five usages in the ESV as God does a work in Israel with the word “restore”. This is due to the uniqueness of the Old Covenant and the curses of the Law that demanded punishment and then restoration after Israel’s failures to keep the Law.

In the New Testament we have no such stipulations since Jesus has fulfilled the Law and His sacrifice once-for-all now restores us completely with a New Covenant written in His blood. There is, however, this passage in 1 Peter related to restoration after Christians go through persecution or suffering. And it is very significant. God, in grace, will restore us from seasons of sorrow and suffering. And this restoration is accomplished and lasts forever in the work of Jesus! It isn’t about our relationship with Him, but about our own emotional and spiritual health.

In Jesus my Lord, I am restored, confirmed, strengthen, and established beyond the worst pains and sorrows I will know. This is true. I experience it even now. God ordains seasons of pain and suffering to do His God work so that this kind of restoration will bring Him glory as Jesus reigns over me. Thank You, Lord, for such restoration!

restored double

Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;

today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Zechariah 9:12

O God,

You do good work. Your grace pours over me more than I need. You fill me. You fulfill me. You save me from my worst sins and failures. You turn my mistakes into Your miracles of mercy. You restore to me double what I ever had thought I had lost. You are a good Father Who delights in giving good gifts to His children. I once was a prisoner holding onto hope in Jesus… waiting, praying, hoping, and trusting that one day sorrow could turn to joy and restraint to dancing! And now I enjoy Your bountiful restored blessings… more than I can count. I am in awe of such a God of grace!

Jesus,

I did not deserve this kind of extravagance. Yet you have poured out Your life for me. You have called me to daily deny myself, take up a cross, and follow You. And here I am now in possession of such an enormous wealth of spiritual blessing! Truly You have done “exceeding abundantly above” all that I can ask or imagine according to the riches of Your grace. I am beyond grateful! Praise the Lord Who restores to us double!

Amen

before my eyes

“At that time I will bring you in,

at the time when I gather you together;

for I will make you renowned and praised

among all the peoples of the earth,

when I restore your fortunes

before your eyes,” says the LORD.

Zephaniah 3:20

It’s happening

right before my eyes.

Restoration

beyond what I could realize!

God is renewing

right before my eyes

what I thought impossible

is now His great surprise.

At the cross

right before our eyes

Lamb of God

took sin when crucified.

At the tomb

right before our eyes

Christ renewed

eternal life, set free, never to die!

And in my new life

right before my eyes

Restoration

as Jesus now supplies

abundant new life

right before my eyes

grief and loss praise-changed my heart cries…

and this happened

right before my eyes!

restored to enjoy the new work

I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,

and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,

and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.

Amos 9:14

When God promised to restore a broken people, He also commanded them to work in response to what He restored. I love the way Amos in his prophetic encouragement captures this dichotomy. God promised to restore the fortunes of His people. In order to see restoration complete, the Israelites would need to act. And it looks something like this:

GOD RESTORES!

The people act.                         God rewards.

Rebuild the cities. —————>      Inhabit the new home.

Replant the vineyards. ——————>  Enjoy the new wine.

Replant gardens. ———————->    Eat of the new fruit.

So all that God does in restoring broken lives comes with responsibilities to be realized by those restored lives. God restores. Without His merciful work we would never know the joy of the new beginning and the fruit of it all. But we must obey in His renewal. And so it is in salvation: Jesus saves, but we still obey. He restores, but we still follow. The fruit of holiness is God’s work and our obedience.

In the restoration that God is now doing in me, I expect to still do some rebuilding and replanting. I am in the middle of that work right now, and it is a joy to have the privilege to do that work! But God will bless in HIS RESTORATION! I find a new home… new sustenance… and the joys of new wine!

restored from the swarm

I will restore to you the years

that the swarming locust has eaten…

Joel 2:25a

God sent judgment to Judah in the form of a locust plague that destroyed multiple crops. In an agrarian society this was devastation. It led to financial collapse and famine. It eventually was a foretaste of the bigger Day of the Lord to come. And it was all God’s plan. Yes… a good God brought hard experiences so that in the pain He might be found.

It was also God’s plan that a just God would be a good God in restoration. The God Who takes away also restores new life. The Judge whose justice judges sin is also the Renewer Who forgives and fills hearts again with life and joy.

And this is still how God works. Through the means of the cross and in an empty tomb Jesus always restores what sin and death have devoured. And in our lives, when the locust swarm of loss, sorrow, grief, or sadness eats away at our increase, God will, in mercy and grace see us and restore us as we learn in a season that our lives do not consist in the stuff of this world that we want to place our trust upon! Those sorrows may come in swarms… the feeling of loss may last for years, but God is working on an eternal scale, so hang on… God is what we have always needed most.

The promise: “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you.” Joel 2:26.

Did you see that word “wondrously”? Well… it is! AMEN!!!!

We waited for the harvest.

For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed.

When I restore the fortunes of my people…

Hosea 6:11

The ground was broken in our brokenness.

The soil ripped open in deep distress.

The seed was sown.

In the sorrows known

we waited.

The crop was watered by our tears,

waiting as we did, uncertain in our fears,

this crop unseen grew,

and with what we knew,

we waited.

Summer storms were harsh, but nurtured care

as seedlings matured in the soil there.

Optimism matured beneath

as the crop came into new green leaf

we waited.

Finally, a day of harvest now today!

We rejoice to abundantly reap and say:

“We receive this gracious grain,

praise You, O God, for new life again!”

We waited!

God provided.

We waited!

God restored.

3 parts to restoration

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel, and I will be jealous for my holy name.

Ezekiel 39:25

Three things from this verse grab my attention as I contemplate how God restores what gets broken. They help me appreciate my own experience of His restorative work within me.

1. MOMENT. God declares that He restores “NOW”. It is present in its timing. It is in this moment. It is always on God’s heart to see restoration happen… God took the initiative in sending His Son to redeem and restore us so that always… NOW is the time of salvation. God presently and always works to restore our brokenness as we come to Him for hope and healing.

2. MERCY. God did not have to redeem and restore. In the case of sinful Israel, they deserved judgment for defiling the covenant. But in mercy He restored them to Himself. In mercy God saves us in Christ. In mercy He restores lost and broken parts of our lives.

3. MOTIVE. God’s motive for restoring us isn’t just feeling sorry for us. It isn’t pity. It is MUCH higher. He is jealous for His name’s sake. He restores because He is a loving, holy, and perfect God. He gets the glory in the new good that He brings. We do nothing except believe and receive His merciful work.

restored to my Restorer

Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored!

Renew our days as of old—

Lamentations 5:21

The biggest part of restoration is restoration to God… always. When He provided forgiveness of sin through the sacrifice of Jesus once for all, He did it to restore us to Him. When He restores broken lives ruined by sin, He does it so that we may be brought close to Him. When He rebuilds shattered lives that felt hopeless in loss and sorrow, God brings new joy so that with Him we might rejoice. When one day He receives us into eternal glory, it will be so that we will glory in His name, in His power to save, in His deliverance, in the God Who restores us to Himself!

O Lord,

You are renewing my days right now. I am restored to you in Jesus. I am freed from sin’s damning future. I am secured by the work of Jesus my Great High Priest!

You have seen me through a dark season and renewed my hope. I did not die, but felt like I was dying. I found new hope beyond my worst despair. I found Your hand giving all that I needed and all that I asked to have. I found You as You restored many things, some of them I did not realize I had lost. I love You, Lord, as You showed me You are in the certain center of renewed hope and healing! 

Amen