“Will you not revive us again so that your people may rejoice in you?” (Psa. 85:6 CSB).
William Mackay wrote appropriate words to this verse two centuries ago: “Revive us again; Fill each heart with Thy love; May each soul be rekindled, With fire from above. Hallelujah! Thine the glory. Hallelujah! Amen. Hallelujah! Thine the glory. Revive us again.”
The prophet Habakkuk, also many centuries ago, penned these glowing and longing words to God: “Lord, I have heard the report about you; Lord, I stand in awe of your deeds. Revive your work in these years; make it known in these years. In your wrath remember mercy!” (Hab. 3:2).
Often, we think of the tent revivals of years gone by. Notable evangelists have crossed our nation time and again with messages of revival to our people. Our minds go to the scenes of the Billy Graham crusades in cities around the world. Revival is a word used in Christian circles. It means things like resurgence, restoration, revitalization or recovery. Revival is simply God’s people acting like God’s people once again. It is Christianity being lived in the lives of Christians.
Solomon, the great king of Israel, also heard words of revival years and years ago in the very voice from Heaven. Plainly and completely, it told him what he must do to have revival as he led his nation. These words reach out to us to have revival now: “…I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple of sacrifice. If I shut the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on my people, and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land” (II Chron. 7:12-14).
