O LORD, REVIVE THY WORK

In Habakkuk chapter 2, the Lord answers the prophet’s problem about His use of the Chaldeans. God tells Habakkuk that they will be judged, but at His appointed time. God’s people will be delivered. Until then, the godly must wait, trusting God every day.

The prophet pens a triumphant psalm, responding in awe to this revelation. He pleads that God will bring His work to life again. He asks that God will do what He has promised in destruction and deliverance. He prays that the Lord will shorten the waiting time. Habakkuk yearns that the Lord will do in the future what He has done in the past. Verses 3 to 6 call to mind the glorious manifestations of God’s presence. Habakkuk longs to experience that in his day.

We need to be aware of what God has done in scripture and in church history. Our spiritual heritage should lead us to pray that the Lord will be with us as He was with our forefathers, 1 Kgs. 8. 57. Times of spiritual renewal are a return, at least in part, to the freshness of apostolic Christianity. The desperate spiritual and moral needs of our society should cause us to cry, ‘Do it again, Lord!’.

Days of revival are days of divine visitation. God’s presence is felt in a very real way. His word is preached in power, 1 Thess. 1. 5. Thus He is revealed in grace and glory. Earthly things become unreal. Eternity becomes the great reality to men and women. The transforming touch of the Holy Spirit is felt on individuals and communities. The imprint remains for generations.

Such days cannot be worked up. They can be prayed down. That is the challenge of our text. The great revival of 1858-59 began in a lunch-time prayer meeting in New York. When it was advertized first of all, the man who had arranged it was the only one present. Numbers grew. From that meeting revival fires blazed across North America. A few young men in County Antrim heard of the New York meetings and they too met to pray. From their humble gathering revival came to Ulster and from there to the rest of the British Isles. Revivals are born in prayer. ‘Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?’, Ps. 85. 6.