Wilt Thou not Revive us Again?

Some believe this Psalm to be written of David, possibly eluding the treachery faced of the Philistines. Others attribute it to a post-exilic time, after their return from Babylon, desiring life as they knew prior to the captivity.

We cannot know with certainty, but it is apparent that the Psalmist desired restoration to a former time in which God’s blessing was poured out abundantly upon them.

There is no doubt that God would send revival again, but we must desire it.

Many today have no desire for revival.

What exactly is revival; a series of meetings, a week of going to church every night, or a time to hear from the Lord and experience a renewing of our spiritual lives?

In his book, The Secret of Christian Joy, Vance Havner writes:

“The greatest need of America is an old-fashioned, heaven-born, God-sent revival. Throughout the history of the church, when clouds have hung lowest, when sin has seemed blackest and faith has been weakest, there have always been a faithful few who have not sold out to the devil nor bowed the knee to Baal, who have feared the Lord and thought upon his Name and have not forsaken the assembling of themselves together. These have besought the Lord to revive his work in the midst of the years, and in the midst of the fears and tears, and in wrath to remember mercy. God has always answered such supplication, filling each heart with his love, rekindling each soul with fire from above.”

I desire true revival for our church. Because if revival takes place here, it will spread out into the community.

We are living in an age where few have experienced true revival.

I am not talking about going away and talking about how good the message was, but beginning anew for Christ.

[talk about revivals of yester year and how they changed the community ]

We can have that here at VBC and in Holly Ridge if we want it.

Most never have got it because they don’t want what it takes to get it.

Revival will not come just because you ask for it.

Revival comes because you want what God wants and are willing to do what it takes.

I want us to look at the aspects of true revival revealed in this verse as we think on:

Wilt Thou not Revive us Again?

I trust God will speak to our hearts so that we will desire true revival.

I. Revival Requires Prayer

—Wilt thou not revive us again?

The Psalmist had a yearning for revival.

He offers an earnest, heartfelt plea for revival.

He has languished in a spiritual desert long enough.

He has sought God to send what he desperately needs.

Revival will not come without a desire for it.

Im not talking about a desire like you desire to have a new car.

Im talking a desire like you need a heart transplant and only have hours to live.

Thats the kind of desire Im talking about.

For this reason revival does not start at the Church.

It starts in the heart

We cannot expect to enter a revival service with a complacent, half-hearted attitude: “Well I’m here; let’s have revival”.

There has to be some preparation on our part.

We must seek God in prayer

Hosea 10:12

Hosea 10:12 KJV 1900

Sow to yourselves in righteousness, Reap in mercy; Break up your fallow ground: For it is time to seek the Lord, Till he come and rain righteousness upon you.

We must come to God with fear

Habakkuk 3:2 KJV 1900

O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make known; In wrath remember mercy.

Habakkuk once he heard the Lord, he was afraid and he knew who it was he was hearing from.

We must come before God in humility, with a clean heart.

2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV 1900

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

He has promised to help us, if we meet His conditions.

Man can’t bring revival, but if we will seek God He can send it.

Are you willing to earnestly seek God in prayer for genuine revival?

Revival requires prayer,

II. Revival Restores the Passion

—Wilt thou not revive us again?

The Psalmist desired to be revived again.

There must have been revival before.

Likely the Psalmist remembered a time when the nation of Israel was committed to the Lord, a time when He was worshipped and the people served Him.

He longed to experience such a time again.

He had tasted of what the world had to offer and found it lacking.

He was passionate about receiving all that God had to offer.

Was there once a time in your life when you had a desire for the things of God?

I am sure if we would be honest we would have to admit that we aren’t as close to God as we should be.

True revival can restore our passion for Christ.

This is something I dont believe we really want.

a Passion for Christ means

Passion for the church

Passion for souls

Passion for prayer

Passion for Holiness

Passion for Righteousness

Passion for God

Why are our churches so cold and indifferent spiritually?

There is no passion.

Any relationship will suffer without passion.

My wife would wonder if I loved her if I never seemed to enjoy what we have together.

How does Christ feel as He looks down upon us?

I pray that God will revive us again.

This is a personal matter between you and Him.

Psalm 51:12 KJV 1900

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; And uphold me with thy free spirit.

Have you lost your joy?

Does it seem a burden to come to church?

Have you lost your passion to see souls saved?

Do you have a passion for prayer

Do you have a passion for Holiness and Righteousness?

Do you have a passion for God?

True revival will renew that joy and restore your passion for the things of God.

Revival requires prayer

Revival Restores the Passion

III. Revival Renews the People

—Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

Notice he said that thy people may rejoice.

True revival will touch all of us.

I have seen times of personal revival where a few people were helped.

That is always a blessing.

Anytime that folks receive help from the Lord we ought to rejoice,

but I long to see corporate revival.

If we experience true revival the whole congregation will be affected.

I pray the Lord will move in every life here.

I would love to see the power of God evident in all of us.

If revival were to sweep our church there is no telling what we could accomplish for the cause of Christ.

There would be a new found sense of love and fellowship.

We would be united for a common goal.

We would be filled with compassion for those around us.

We will not be content with barely getting by spiritually.

There would be a renewed sense of urgency and commitment.

Our worship of the Lord would be better; our lives would be richer.

We would experience life more abundantly in Christ!

Our Christian walk is individual, but not isolated.

We influence others.

Each of us have the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the church and Lord, but we must be right with Him in order to do so. Ps. 51:10

Psalm 51:10 KJV 1900

Create in me a clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me.

The heart of many problems is a problem of the heart.

True revival will remove feelings of hurt, anger, and bitterness.

We would have a different outlook on everything if we were to experience revival.

I want all of us to be proud to be a member of this church, not because of who we are, but who He is!

True revival will provide that.

Notice what it did for the early church.

Acts 2:42–47 KJV 1900

And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

IV. Revival Reveals the Purpose

—Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?

The Psalmist desired to rejoice in the Lord.

He longed to praise God for His abundant blessing.

He could do that personally, but he desired the people to rejoice in the Lord.

There was a desire for God’s people to offer praise unto the Lord.

Our purpose is to rejoice and praise the Lord.

Many today have lost sight of their purpose.

I have witnessed folks in worship services that looked as if they wanted to be anywhere but there.

They had no passion, no desire for the Lord.

Coming to church and worshipping the Lord is a privilege, not a burden.

I don’t want to be guilty of failing to rejoice in the Lord when I come to His house. He is worthy of our praise and adoration!

I want us to be a people of purpose.

If the church isn’t magnifying the Lord, we are missing the mark.

My desire is that people would recognize that VBC is a place where the presence of God is felt.

I want the community to know that we are a congregation that desires to see souls saved and lives changed;

a people that loves the Lord and isn’t ashamed to praise Him.

You might feel as if you have little to praise the Lord for.

Maybe you are in the midst of a trail today.

Maybe life has not worked out as you had planned.

The enemy has maybe tried to tell you that God has forgotten you and He no longer cares.

Trouble may abound, but rest assured you are loved.

Jesus gave His life upon the cross so that you could be saved.

If you belong to Him, that alone is reason to rejoice.

If He never did another thing for me, just saving my unworthy soul would be enough to praise Him throughout eternity. I am sure if you will take the time to consider your life, you will find reason to rejoice in the Lord.

I believe true revival will reveal that purpose to us. 1 Chr. 16:29

1 Chronicles 16:29 KJV 1900

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: Bring an offering, and come before him: Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

God has put us here for a reason; we are here to lift up His name and be about His business.

I pray our revival will reveal His purpose to all of us. I want to have that passion and purpose again.

Conclusion:

Have you given any thought to our revival?

I sincerely hope you haven’t waited until today to begin praying. Our nation is in desperate need of revival. Victory is in need of revival.

We need a move of God among us that will stir our hearts for Him. All of the great revivals had to begin somewhere. Why not let the next one begin within our hearts here at Victory?

Revival is set aside for those who know Christ.

It serves as a time to challenge us in our walk with Him and renew our desire to serve Him.

Related Media

Related Sermons