“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” - Psalm 51:1
When I mention the word, “revival,” most of us have a mental image of a tent crusade or special weeknight meetings in a small church. We tend to think of revival in terms of special singers performing and an evangelist preaching. We also imagine long, extended altar calls, with the evangelist appealing for people to make a public response.
While this is a popular view of “revival,” it may surprise you to know that Biblical revival is more of a personal matter. While churches, cities and even nations experienced revival and awakenings in the Bible, revival itself begins on a personal level.
Whether your church has a “revival” scheduled this summer or not, you can experience revival yourself. Although this sounds rather simple, the process may be very difficult. You see, most of us want the results of revival but we don't necessarily want to invest in the process of revival.
Here's the problem. Revival has a cost. We want others to pay that price, but we don't want to pay it ourselves. When others pay the price, they experience the blessing of revival.
Last week, I wrote about David's transgressions. His adultery with Bathsheba and his attempted cover-up of the affair had caused a great chasm to exist in his fellowship with God. For a year, David refused to own up to his sins. Finally, God sent the prophet Nathan to confront him. Convicted by the truth, David repented.
Repentance is a hated word today, even within the Church. In spite of the negative feelings we have about repentance, our practice of it is actually liberating and thrilling. Repentance leads to revival. Often, repentance is the price we pay for revival.
Psalm 51 captures David's prayer of repentance. It is a chapter that every believer needs to read often. The psalm is broken down into two parts: repentance and renewal.
In the first part of the psalm, David appeals to God for mercy. In no way does David mention any past accomplishments or victories. Instead, he acknowledges that he is guilty before God. He begs for mercy. “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”
David does not pray that God will have mercy because of David's good deeds of the past. Rather, he prays that God will have mercy, “... according to thy lovingkindness.”
Today, many think that their good deeds will cancel their bad deeds. David knew that wasn't true. It wasn't true for him then and it isn't true for us today. As a guilty man, he threw himself on the mercy of God.
Just as a guilty man throws himself on the mercy of the court, we need to throw ourselves on the mercy of God in true repentance. David did not excuse his sin. He owned up to it and took responsibility for it. We should do the same.
David sought and received the forgiveness of God. Perhaps you have failed the Lord and sinned greatly. Let me recommend that you read Psalm 51 over and over again. Seek the Lord's mercy just as David did. God is merciful to those who come to Him in humble repentance.
We can experience personal revival by coming clean with God and being made clean by Him. Rather than hiding our sins, we need to confess them. Instead of excusing our failures, we need to own up to them. Adam and Eve tried to use the blame game when they were confronted with their sin in the garden of Eden. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. The blame game didn't work then. It doesn't work today.
Revival requires a thorough dealing with personal sin. Too many take a band-aid approach to repentance. They only want quick relief. Meaningful revival occurs when there is meaningful repentance.
You don't have to wait until a “scheduled revival,” is held at your church. There's no need to wait for a long altar call at a tent revival. Come to the Lord right now. Honestly and humbly pour out your heart to Him. Confess your sins before Him. Truly repent. Ask for His mercy and grace.
Real personal revival may occur in your life today.
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