The Scope and Focus of Revival (6)

His name shall endure forever;
His name shall continue as long as the sun.
And men shall be blessed in Him;
All nations shall call Him blessed. Psalm 72.17

Key to blessing
As we have seen, the essence of God’s covenant promises to His people – all of which are “Yes” and “Amen” in Jesus Christ – is that we are blessed of God so that we might bring His blessings to the world.

There’s a small problem with this plan, however: The world frequently doesn’t want to be blessed. We saw in Psalms 2, 12, and 53 that many people in the world are in rebellion against God. They want to throw off His Law and all the blessings it promises. They substitute for His truth a wide range of lies, deceptions, and half-truths. They refuse to seek Him; and very often, they turn their anger toward God against His people, in the forms of persecution and oppression.

How can we bless people who don’t want to be blessed?

God has an answer for this: The Kingdom of God. Recall what we saw in Psalm 66. 3, 4:

Say to God,
“How awesome are Your works!
Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.”

This same idea is repeated in Psalm 81.13-15:

“Oh, that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
I would soon subdue their enemies,
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
The haters of the Lord would pretend submission to Him…”

The words submit and pretend obedience translate the same Hebrew verb: כַֽחֲשׁ chachash which means to cringe and to feign obedience. When revival comes, and God’s people repent of their sins and walk boldly and consistently in His ways, praising Him and declaring His works, the effect on the enemies of the Lord is to cause them to back down, lay low, and go along with the flow of divine power, which is like rivers of living water through and from the City of the Lord (Ps. 46.4-7; Jn. 7.37-39).

The Kingdom of God is the power of God at work within, among, and through His people (1 Cor. 4.20; Acts 1.8); and its effect, as it comes on earth as in heaven, is to turn the world rightside-up for Jesus Christ, bringing the blessings of righteousness and making all things new wherever His banner is raised. Psalm 72 spreads out the broad horizon of blessing that comes to the world as the Kingdom comes and God’s people are revived and take up their calling to the Kingdom and glory of God (1 Thess. 2.12).

The blessing of the Kingdom
The scope and extent of divine blessing outlined in Psalm 72 is nothing short of breathtaking. David wrote this psalm for his son, Solomon (v. 20, cf. superscription), as he ascended the throne and became heir of the covenant promised to David (cf. Psalm 132). Without going into too much detail, let’s simply enumerate the many blessings that come to the world as the Kingdom comes through God’s anointed King:

vv. 1, 2: righteousness becomes the standard of judgment for God’s people
v. 3: peace reaches to even remote parts of the earth
v. 4: the poor, needy, and oppressed receive justice from the Lord (cf. also vv. 12-14)
vv. 5-7: the fear of the Lord’s King reaches to all generations, and the blessings that flow from Him take the form of righteousness and peace (cf. Rom. 14.17, 18)
vv. 8-11: the rule of King Jesus extends to all the earth, and even His enemies will bow before Him, and offer Him gifts (cf. also v. 15)
v. 16: the earth will be maximally fruitful in yielding its blessings to the world
v. 17: the Name of Jesus will endure forever, and all people will count themselves blessed in Him, and call Him blessed
v. 19: the whole earth will be filled with His glory (cf. Hab. 2.14), and His Name will be blessed everywhere

This is the work God does as His Kingdom advances on earth as it is in heaven. We do not expect to realize this fully in the course of history; the fullness of the Kingdom awaits the new heavens and new earth. But, like dough responding to leaven, we do expect to see real progress of that Kingdom throughout the course of human history, as God puts Christ’s enemies under His feet, and gathers His people together as one Body and Kingdom to bless and praise Him, to seek the wondrous things and exceeding great and precious promises He holds out to them in our Lord Jesus Christ, and to bless the world with the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

Praying Psalm 72 for revival
This psalm should fill our minds with a vision and our hearts with a burning desire for revival. Revival comes as God’s people repent of their sins and call upon the Lord to fill, direct, and empower them for seeking the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. This work begins in prayer, as Jesus Himself taught (Matt. 6.10). Pray for each of the various bullet points of this psalm, that God would move among His people to extend the blessings of Jesus Christ to lost, suffering, confused, oppressed, and needy people everywhere.

Pray for the people in your Personal Mission Field, that you might be God’s agent of blessing to them, to show the love of Christ and share the Good News of His Kingdom as often as you have opportunity. Pray that God will silence His enemies, expose the lies of unbelieving worldviews, and put in the hearts of lost people to begin seeking Him as He created them to do (cf. Acts 17.26, 27). Pray for boldness for all believers, that we might daily repent of sin and take up our Kingdom-and-glory calling in every area and aspect of our lives. Pray that the Spirit of God will flow rivers of living water through His people, to refresh and renew a thirsting world.

Then pray specifically about your own calling to seek the Kingdom of God today. How might God use you, in the various relationships, roles, and responsibilities that are before you today? Say with Isaiah, “Here am I! Send me!” and ask the Lord to show you the work He has for you in the day ahead, that you might serve and glorify Him (Ps. 90.16, 17), and thus His Kingdom might advance through you on earth, as it is in heaven.

Pray a big Kingdom vision; then go forth in every small detail of your life to be a Kingdom ambassador for our risen, reigning, and soon-returning King and Savior, Jesus Christ.

For Reflection
1. Summarize the vision of the coming of God’s Kingdom as it is outlined in Psalm 72.

2. What can you do to have this vision more constantly before your mind and in your heart?

3. How can believers encourage one another in our daily calling to seek the Kingdom and righteousness of God?

Next Steps – Preparation: Find a prayer partner to join with you in praying Psalm 72 for revival. Plan to meet – online, or by phone – on a regular basis to seek the Lord for revival, using this and the other psalms we have considered in this series.

T. M. Moore

We are pleased to offer Worship Guides for use in your family or small group. Each guide includes a complete service of worship, and they are free to download and share by clicking here.

For a fuller discussion of why we need revival, and how to seek it, order a copy of our book, Restore Us! by clicking here. If you would like a 28-day, morning and evening challenge to seek the Lord for revival, write to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and I’ll send you a free PDF of our reader, Give Him No Rest.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.