Revival may come through weeping and wailing, tears and praying, sackcloth and ashes, but the ultimate result is joy. “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?” (Psalm 85:6). When revival has come, the people of God rejoice in their God and there is renewed joy in worship, work, and witnessing.

Revival produces joy in worship—a burning, blazing, radiant, and enthusiastic love for the Lord Jesus Christ. When revival comes, religion is no longer a dull habit but an acute fever. Worship is not a duty but a delight. When revival comes, the church experiences God’s power, hungers for his presence, bathes in his praise, and focuses on his person.

Revival produces new joy in work. When revival comes, you are so full of God that you want to use your gifts for him. People who can sing join the choir. People who can teach enter the classroom. People who can encourage get down with the destitute. People who can give offer their resources. Everybody does something and nobody does nothing. When revival comes, you work in the power of the Spirit, and you learn that the yoke of Jesus is easy and his burden is light.

There is also a new joy in witnessing. Revival is for the church, but when revival comes, the world is affected. Sinners get saved, baptisms surge, and disciples are made. Because a revived church is so on fire for God, it cannot help but teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Charles G. Finney said, “The fact is, Christians are more to blame for not being revived than sinners are for not being converted.” He was so right. It is not the lost who care nothing for the church that need revival, but it is the church that cares nothing for the lost.

When it comes down to it, revival is what will make all of us thrive. But it doesn’t start outside of ourselves or outside of our churches. It starts within with people who are seeking it, seeing it, and singing it. Let’s let it in!

Merritt, James. 2017. 52 Weeks through the Psalms: A One-Year Journey of Prayer and Praise. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers.

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