“Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”
Psalm 85:6

“Revive us again, fill each heart with Thy love, may each soul be rekindled with fire from above! Hallelujah! Thine the glory. Hallelujah! Amen. Hallelujah! Thine the glory, Revive us again.” Many of you are familiar with the words to this old hymn based on Psalm 85:6. It is a cry for God to “do it again,” to come with power and revive his people from their moral and spiritual lethargy and renew them spiritually for His glory. The history of the church has, in fact, been marked by many such times of spiritual renewal like the First Great Awakening which began in the 1730s, followed by the Second Great Awakening in the early 1800s. But there have been many others. One such awakening as the Welsh Revival of 1904. It began, in part, when a young man named Evan Roberts went to a prayer meeting and heard someone praying, “Lord bend the church!” To which he responded with his own prayer, “Lord bend me!” That cry led to a series of extended prayer meetings marked by deep confession of sin and open repentance. God began to move across the whole nation. People were drawn to the churches to pray and, upon entering, would fall down under conviction of sin. Before long the whole nation seemed to filled with cries of repentance leading to songs of joy as people turned to Christ. History records that the whole of Welsh society was transformed over the next few months. Public drunkenness, which had been a huge issue, virtually disappeared! Judges were issued white gloves because they had no more cases to try. Petty theft ceased! Quarrels were set aside! Even the police began to attend the church services because that’s where the people were! Once there, they formed police choirs. Four calls stood at the heart of the Welsh Revival: (1) Put away all known sin; (2) Set aside any “doubtful habits”; (3) Obey the Spirit promptly as He calls you to Christ; (4) Confess Christ Boldly and Publicly! And God moved!

Do it again Lord, in our Day! “Lord, bend me!”

Pastor Scott Lee