Throughout the history of the church, revival & awakening movements have had a similar effect. What started in a specific place at a specific time & with a specific person seems to go viral as it spreads across a nation or even the globe. This dynamic should remind us of the important truth that even though God's work in us is intensely personal, it is not private. What God is doing in us is designed to spill out into the world around us.
"Revival Begins As God Moves Us To Look In,
But It Spreads As God Moves Us To Look Around."
As Psalm 51 begins to close, the work that God is doing in David's heart is beginning to move David to look around at others who need to experience the life changing, life giving hope that David had found in God's mercy & grace toward him. In Verse 13 David sees the need to teach people God's ways so that they might turn to God. In Verses 14-15 David is moved toward a lifestyle of gratitude for what God has done in his life. Finally, in Verse 16, David is reminded of an important truth about religion: God wants your heart before He gets your religion. Sacrifices & offerings mean nothing if you haven't first offered God your heart. Authentic religion, a life of thanksgiving, & a desire & burden to reach those far from God are all born out of the revival that was taking place in David's spirit. The work of God in David was moving David to let God work through him.
Revivals can't be confined to your own life or congregation. It is designed to ooze out of you so that the world around you is touched by the mercy & grace of God. Revival begins as God invades our lives & confronts us with our sin. When we're broken & repentant over our sin, God does a work of renewal & revival in us, but that work was never meant to be kept to ourselves. Yes, it's personal, but it should never be private.
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