Monday - Psalm 80 - Visit This Vine

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HIS is a psalm of revival. What is revival?  Revival is a miraculous visitation of God's Spirit through which His approving presence brings life and vigor back to His people after a period of spiritual decline.  Perhaps it is futile to try to give a recipe for revival.  Certainly, there is no guarantee that if we will just use the right "incantation" then God will be obligated to give us water from a rock on our whim. When it comes to the impartation of life, we are at God's mercy.

For us to experience a reviving, God must hear our cry.  He must come to us.  He must deliver us.  He must turn us to Himself.  He must show us His favor.  He must bring us back to life.  That having been said, there are surely some common prerequisites which might be found before each major revival in history.  If God doesn't revive us, we will not be revived.  Then again, if we don't really even care if we have revival or not, we can be fairly certain that God will not force feed it to us (2^ndChronicles 7:14).

We are His people.  He redeemed us with His own blood.  We are His temple.  We are His workmanship.  He wants to fellowship with us and to bless us and to use us.  If we are lifeless and lethargic and powerless then there must be a disconnect somewhere.  The problem cannot be in Him.  So, the problem must be with us.  We look around lazily and wonder why God doesn't do something fresh among us.  It couldn't be our apathy, could it (1^stThessalonians 5:19)?  Let's pray to God and ask him to "visit this vine" again.  But, as we wait, let's diligently show our sincerity by making preparations for His arrival.