Revive us According to Your Word
Being stuck in a tiny apartment for over 14 days with a dirty floor taught me a lesson today. I mopped our floor, swept our floor, and still a little bit of dust clung to our floor.
As I am preparing for our next study in our online group, I have spent a lot of time in Psalm 119, and in verse 25 the Psalmist writes:
“My soul cleaves to the dust: revive me according to your word” Psalm 119:25 NKJV
The ESV translates this verse: “My soul clings to the dust, give me life according to your word!”
I couldn’t help but think of this verse as I swept and mopped the floor. No matter how hard I tried, I could not perfectly clean up the dust. It kept clinging to the surface.
And you know what I realized? I am like that dust, clinging to the surface. Clinging to the temporal. Clinging to surface level Christianity.
You know, the “read my Bible for 10 minutes and then turn on Netflix for 3 hours” type of Christianity. Check mark Christianity.
Not only do I cling to surface level Christianity, I cling to the temporal: the news, entertainment, food…
And I don’t know about you but I can tell when this has happened. I can tell when I have not been spending enough time clinging to God in prayer and clinging to His word because:
- I become irritable
- Stress and fears plague my mind
- I become negative
- I become unmotivated
- I compare
- And trapped in a tiny apartment becomes suffocating.
But, what if a place I feel trapped in, is actually a place I have been planted in? A place where revival can happen. Where my clinging grips can be loosened and replaced on what matters.
How? With heavy duty cleansing by the Spirit and power of God’s word.
Notice the Psalmist declares this in the second part of the verse, “revive me according to your word!”
How does revival come? Through the Spirit and power of God’s Word.
But how?
A quick run through Psalm 119:10-16 shows us how. Look how the author refocuses and clings to the Word of God by the words and phrases he used.
With my whole heart I seek you…let me not wander from your commandments (Vs 10)
I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you (vs 11)
Teach me your statutes! (vs 12)
With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth (vs 13)
In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways (vs 15)
I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word (vs 16)
In other words, he made time to actually be in and soak in God’s Word. It was a choice he made every day. God’s Word is what he chose to turn to, cling to, and delight in.
I don’t know about you, but I havnt been making that choice lately. My eyes have been clinging on Netflix and the news. But after spending much needed time in the Word today, I have been revived and refocused. And instead of clinging to dust and surface level, I am clinging to the eternal depths and riches of God’s word. I am finding constant cleansing as I return to the Word of God each day.
Here are a few simple ways to cling to the Word and fight for revival
1. Print out our Psalm 119 workbook and make time each day to write out the scriptures, pray, and reflect/meditate (available in our shop)
2. Every morning this week, before you reach for your phone, turn on your computer, or flip on the news, commit to opening your Bible very first thing to refresh your soul with the truth of God’s Word.
3. Write out verses on post its and put them near places you are the most
4. Put on an audio Bible while working out, folding laundry, or doing dishes
5. Join our online group here https://www.facebook.com/groups/401432240398403/
How are you fighting for revival? What have you been clinging to?
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