Revive Me!
My soul clings to the dust; revive me according to Your word.
Psalm 119:25
TAKING IT IN
I lie defeated in the dust…
I am laid low in the dust…
I lie in the dust, completely discouraged…
I am about to die…
I am at the point of death…
Statements of utter despair; these are just a few of the translations that help us to better grasp, embrace and understand the Psalmist when he cries out, my soul clings to the dust!
It’s vital to our journey this week to dig deeper into what the writer really means when he confesses that his soul clings to the dust.
The Hebrew word dabaq translated cling means to stick fast or adhere. Picture glue!
The Psalmist is confessing that he is STUCK to the dust. What does he mean by dust? The Bible teaches us that our fleshly bodies are material in nature, made of the dust of the earth. Genesis 3:19 enlightens us:
In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”
We all know very well the battle waged for our souls! As believers our souls are saved for eternity, but 1 Peter 2:11 commands us as strangers and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against our soul.
The daily battle can be wearying us our fleshly desires seek to influence us. Trying to rise above the pull of the flesh at times can be like trying to get “unstuck” from super glue! Oswald Chambers paints an accurate picture:
Watch some of the things that strike despair. There is despair in which there is no delight, no horizon, no hope of anything brighter; but the delight of despair comes when I know that “in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing.” I delight to know that there is that in me which must fall prostrate before God when He manifests Himself, and if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. God can do nothing for me until I get to the limit of the possible.
MAKING IT MEANINGFUL
Scripture also describes a state of affliction and oppression as a lowly experience with the dust. Psalm 44:24-25 provides us with a good illustration:
Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and our oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our body clings to the ground.
Are you beginning to relate to the author’s condition? Have you ever been so low that you felt like you were groveling in the dirt? Our afflictions sometimes drag our souls “down” into the depths of discouragement, disappointment and depression. So “low” do we go that our faith falters, our love grows weak, and our hope becomes dim.
A soul clinging to the dust is a soul bowed down with sin and sorrow. Even though we are growing in the Lord, experiencing victory over sin, we witness the days growing rapidly darker, and the world’s sins weigh heavy upon us. Great difficulties, trials, death and tragedy invade our lives and our bodies can cling to the ground.
WORKING IT INTO MY HEART
So what is the answer for a soul that is clinging to the dust?
REVIVAL!
And how are we revived —
According to His Word!
This word “revive” is rich with layers of valuable truths for our Christian life. The Hebrew word “chayah” translated “revive” means “to live”
To keep (leave, make) alive, certainly, give (promise) life, (let, suffer to) live, nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair, restore (to life)
Yet greater treasure is discovered in the King James Version usage of the word “quicken” which means to reinvigorate; to refresh by new supplies of comfort or grace.
When our soul is clinging to the dust, we need a revival. We need to be given vigor, renewed strength to rise above the power of the dust which holds us down. The good news is that God has promised in His word to give precisely this to those who humbly seek His help and His promised relief in the Word of God.
Maybe your soul is clinging to the dust today, or it may be tomorrow that you are laid low, or possibly you are still trying to get up out of the dust from something in your past —-
It’s time to be revived!
Take seriously and meditate upon the following truths:
God knows and sympathizes with the fact that we are dust!
Psalm 103:14
For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
God is ready and willing to revive the humble heart.
Isaiah 57:15
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
God will raise us out of the dust!
Psalm 113:7-8
He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes — with the princes of His people.
It has been said that we cannot will ourselves to think beyond our despair because there is no hope in our thoughts that focus on “good possibilities”. Rather, the only way we can move beyond despair and into a life of hope is to concentrate on the Giver of all hope who wants us to draw closer to Him through His word. It is in these times we need to purpose to seek God in His Word and the revival that He promises to bring.
Sisters, we were made to LIVE ABOVE THIS WORLD and NOT IN IT!
DIGGING DEEPER
Do we find the word “revive” in the New Testament? The answer to that question is no — but we find the implications of revival everywhere. Ready to go on a treasure hunt? Look up the following verses and journal what you discover! Be sure to look them up and identify the Greek Word — www.blueletterbible.org is a great study resource.
- Matthew 4:4
- Luke 15:24, 32
- John 6:63
- John 10:10
- Acts 3:19
- 2 Corinthians 3:6