Psalm 119.81-88 (6)

Pray Psalm 119.88.
Revive me according to Your lovingkindness,
So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.

Psalm 119.87, 88.
(Ripley: Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah, O My Soul)
For my foes would make an end to my existence on the earth.
Yet Your precepts I befriend to know the greatness of their worth.
In Your kindness, Lord revive me! In Your love, restore my soul!
Let Your Word in me alive be; I will keep it well and whole.

Read Psalm 119.81-88; meditate on verse 88.

Preparation
1. What did the psalmist ask of the Lord?

2. Why did he want that?

Meditation
Psalm 119 leads us to seek the Lord for revival nine times. Nine times the psalmist called on God to revive him, because he knew he needed revival if he was going to endure the afflictions that were upon him. Only God can revive us (Jn. 6.63), and when He does, we know it by what the Spirit does in us.

Here is clear evidence of our being revived: receiving and keeping the testimonies of God’s Word. It will do us no good to pray for revival if we do not desire this, if we are not hungering and thirsting for the Word of God, to understand and obey it. When God revives us, He makes our mind eager to know Him and to understand His will. He quickens our heart with excitement and delight to feed on His Word and walk His paths. He settles receiving and keeping the Word as the highest priority and value in our conscience, so that, treasuring His Word, our will, choices, and actions all become submissive to it.

The Spirit, working with the Word of God, thoroughly reconfigures our soul, so that, in our daily life, we find Jesus being more fully formed in us (2 Cor. 3.12-18), and we live in a manner consistent with that transformation, loving God and our neighbors with renewed strength and consistency. When we pray for revival, this is what we must seek.

And we should pray for revival daily, because we need it every day and all day long. God has made us new creatures in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5.17). He has given us His Spirit as a fountain of living water to refresh and revive us, and to overflow from us with grace and truth to the people in our Personal Mission Field (Jn. 7.37-39). Seek revival and renewal, and mission will follow.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
“Seek revival and renewal, and mission will follow.” But we always have options. That’s the scary thing about free will.

Here is the flip side of seeking revival and living according to God’s Law.
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power…always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth…these also resist the truth…” (2 Tim. 3.1-8). Nobody benefits.

Or, we can pray with the psalmist:
“Revive me according to Your lovingkindness,
so that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth” (Ps. 119.88). Everybody benefits.

The choice is yours:
“…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Josh. 24.15).

But I must add in this tender thought: Jesus wants us to follow Him. (Matt. 9.9)
And God wants us to choose life. As Moses wrote:
“…therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days…” (Deut. 30.19, 20).

Choose wisely.

But if I might add: choose revival, renewal, and mission. For your own benefit and the benefit of those in your Personal Mission Field.

For reflection
1. What do we mean by “revival”? What does revival look like?

2. How should you pray for revival? How would you encourage your fellow believers to pray for revival?

3. If we choose not to seek revival – as by praying for it and living by God’s Law – to what will that lead?

We should depend upon the grace of God for strength to do every good work. The surest token of God’s goodwill toward us, is his good work in us. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), Commentary on Psalm 119.88

Pray Psalm 119.84-86.
Commit this day and all its work to the Lord, to serve Him according to His Word. Pray that He will keep you alert to temptation and help you resist the devil throughout the day.

Psalm 119.84-86.
(Ripley: Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah, O My Soul
Lord, how long, what shall my days be? When will You Your judgment toll?
Let my enemies disgraced be, those who persecute my soul.
All the proud dig pits to slay me, and they persecute me strong!
Let Your Word my strength and stay be: Help me, Lord, receive my song!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.