Psalm 51:10 (Spiritual Revival)

HOW TO FIND REST FOR A WEARY SOUL (Part 3/4)

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

How many of us desperately need spiritual revival?

Granted, no matter where we are in our personal journey of faith, we could all benefit from a healthy dose of spiritual awakening to refocus our time and attention on the Gospel of Jesus Christ rather than the things of this world.

The problem is we’re typically too busy to make time for God yet wonder, “Why do I feel so tired and empty?” Keep in mind, revival is all about breathing new life into dead places and our personal faith is one area we need reignition and renewal more than ever.

Now we may not care to think of ourselves as spiritually dead, but if we stop and evaluate what monopolizes our time and attention, we’ll quickly find God on the outside looking in regarding our daily schedules which are typically overrun with functional busyness.

That’s not to say everything we spend our time on outside of God is futile. It simply means we’re often so distracted by the things of this world that we forget to prioritize God first and foremost when we plan our personal agenda for the day.

If only we would refocus our efforts on quenching our spiritual appetite, perhaps we would find rest for our weary souls and discover the peace of God we desperately crave which transcends all understanding.

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4–7).

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HUNGER & THIRST:

Spiritual revival originates from a genuine hunger and thirst for the Lord to stir our hearts, awaken our minds, and ignite the Spirit’s fire within our souls. It signifies our earnest desire for God to start a holy fire within us once again.

“As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:1–2a).

Our souls crave deeper intimacy with the Lord, but unfortunately, we often don’t know where to begin. We’re pulled in countless directions with busyness to the point where we assume we don’t have any time available to invest into our spiritual growth, but is that entirely true?

Does our greatest problem simply boil down to a lack of time or could it actually be a priority issue instead? Do we not have the ability to think creatively and carve out time for God in our daily schedules even if we only have a few minutes?

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15–16).

If we’re honest, our struggle is NOT time. Rather, our problem begins and ends with treating our spiritual well-being as a chore. It all comes down to perspective, but our attitude determines our spiritual growth or starvation based on how we view quality time with God.

In other words, do we treat spiritual disciplines as burdens we’re expected to do or privileges we get to do? Whether we realize it or not, our souls are crying out for life-giving truth from God’s Word on a daily basis, yet we ignore our hungers pangs and choose to starve instead. Why?

We would never dream of physically starving ourselves for anymore than a few days. However, we foolishly assume we can indefinitely survive on no spiritual food whatsoever. If only we’d open our eyes and look in the mirror, perhaps we’d finally recognize how close we are to death itself.

“Sanctification doesn’t happen by osmosis. We can’t starve ourselves spiritually and still expect to grow in the likeness of Christ. All the facets of Scripture – all its rich benefits and blessings – are not available to those who fail or refuse to open it and study.”

— John MacArthur

REGENERATION:

Once we’ve established a genuine hunger and thirst for revival, our focus must shift to the work of regeneration which transforms us from death to new life in Christ by washing our minds with the absolute truth of Scripture.

Regeneration represents a radical shift in our personal character from love of self to serving God, and Psalm 51:10 paints a picture of what that looks like by depicting a heart stained by sin being cleansed by the power of Jesus’ blood.

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11).

When King David penned the words to Psalm 51:10, he recognized the reality of his sins and how far he had fallen from grace. He knew his fleshly heart was wretched and that only regeneration from the Lord alone could save him from destruction.

We can all empathize with David’s honest admission because his personal failures echo our own. We’ve all done things in our past we regret, but the promise of Scripture is that if we repent of our sins, God will not only forgive us but cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

What we must understand about regeneration is the Lord will make all things new to those who wish to be cleansed and reborn, but our desire must be pure and repentant. For if we long for spiritual renewal more passionately than anything we have ever desired in our lives, He will restore the years the swarming locust has eaten (Joel 2:25) and renew the joy of our salvation.

“In regeneration, nature is not ruined, but rectified. The convert is the same man, but new made. The faculties of his soul are not destroyed, but they are refined; the same violin, but newly tuned. Christ gave not the blind man new eyes, but a new sight to the old ones. Christ did not give Lazarus a new body, but enlivened his old body. So God in conversion doth not bestow a new understanding, but a new light to the old; not a new soul, but a new life to the old one.”

— George Swinnock

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STEADFASTNESS:

When we hunger for the Lord and He quenches our thirst with the power of His Word, we are transformed from the inside out and regenerated from death to new life in Christ. At that moment, our lives are no longer enslaved to the flesh but born-again (John 3:1-15).

However, what keeps the fire of revival alive in our hearts for years to come is determined by how steadfast we are in our commitment to the Lord and how firmly we hold to His Gospel message of salvation as the source of our strength.

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

David prayed to the Lord in Psalm 51:10 to renew a right spirit within his heart to keep him intentionally determined to always honor the Lord. He had tasted the filth of his sin and wept in the sorrows of conviction. Therefore, he resolved to never return to the depths of his depravity by remaining steadfast (or resolute) to his faith commitment to the Lord.

Our response should be the same. Like Simon Peter jumping out of the boat when Jesus called him to come, we must keep our eyes fixed upon Him and not concern ourselves with countless, worldly distractions which seek to drown us emotionally and psychologically.

“And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’ He said, ‘Come.’ So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me.’ Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matthew 14:28–31).

When we are laser focused on Christ and committed in all we say and do to glorify His Name, no matter what wind and waves attempt to destroy us, we will not be moved because our hearts are united with Him. In turn, our personal will aligns with His sovereign will and we begin to filter everything we say and do through the truth of Scripture for wisdom and discernment.

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4–5).

The key is not wavering from our commitment to honor the Lord, because His Gospel is a hill worth dying on. Therefore, we must be resolute and determined to not allow the Spirit’s fire to be extinguished in our souls, for He has regenerated our hearts and made us alive once again to pursue humility and godliness with reckless abandon.

“Urgently we do need a revival of personal godliness. This is, indeed; the secret of church prosperity. When individuals fall from their steadfastness, the church is tossed to and fro; when personal faith is steadfast, the church abides true to her Lord.”

— Charles Spurgeon

BOTTOM-LINE:

The beauty of Psalm 51:10 is that revival must take place in our hearts and minds to find rest for our weary souls. We simply cannot expect God to do a miracle in our lives if we are not drawn to the Lord like a moth to a flame.

However, the flame of sanctification is an invitation for the refiner’s fire to burn away all impurities of sin in our lives. For no man can stand before the eternal judgment seat of God without being purified, which is why the blood of Jesus must be our saving grace.

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:6–7).

Therefore, rather than succumb to our weariness, may we live from this day forward with fresh perspective and allow the Holy Spirit to lift scales from our eyes like Paul on the Damascus road, so that we may clearly see our Savior face to face and receive renewed passion and divine purpose for our lives till the day we breathe our last.

“Oh! Men and brethren, what would this heart feel if I could but believe that there were some among you who would go home and pray for a revival – men whose faith is large enough, and their love fiery enough to lead them from this moment to exercise unceasing intercessions that God would appear among us and do wondrous things here, as in the times of former generations.”

— Charles Spurgeon