Isaiah 57:15 “ For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
In this verse we find that God dwells in the high and holy place along with he who is of a contrite and humble spirit. We ought to purpose that God dwell with us, but the reason the Lord does not is because few are humble and contrite in spirit. Humility is the knowledge of your faults and weaknesses and abiding therein. To be contrite means to have a bruised or worn heart caused by guilt for having offended God.
As we long to see revival in our land, and are praying accordingly, Isaiah provides the answer of how God will send revival. Here we have two promises that God will revive us so that we can dwell with him. The one named Holy will revive the spirit of the humble and the heart of the contrite.
Possessing a humble spirit is not an overly complicated matter. One will become humble and truly possess humility of spirit when we are always viewing ourselves according to how the Lord sees us. Through the mirror of the word of God, we gain humility of spirit. It is there where we discover our strengths in the spirit and our shortcomings. Humility cannot be attained unless you have a unbiased view of yourself; that view is not true until we separate our assessment from pride, arrogance and the narcissism of the flesh. Only the Word can definitively and wholly reveal our spirit’s current state. Only through the continual application and assessment f the Word can we remain humble in spirit.
Now, the second requirement to being revived is to be contrite. Many people do not feel guilt or shame for not being in a constant state of revival. We are not like the Psalmist who with a broken heart cried unto the Lord pleading to have the joy of the Lord’s salvation restored. Why is that the case? Because we regularly resist the conviction of the Holy Spirit, thereby grieving the Spirit, which ultimately leads us to become numb to the fact that we offend God every second of each day that we are not on fire for the cause of Christ. It should break our hearts if we are not as close to God as we should be. It should bruise our heart if we have unsettled business with our Heavenly Father. Sadly, rather than being miserable with guilt and being worn to our core with remorse, most Christians accept the void that separates them from God as the status quo and become used to the emptiness of a life outside the Lord’s favor.
If we want to be revived, we will crawl before God with a humble spirit knowing all our faults and with a contrite heart broken with the realization that we have offened the Almighty that gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. If we sincerely ask God to reveal our current state in the Word, then the revalation our dead spirit and cold hearts will break our hard hearts with such guilt that we must become penitent.
Your Fellow Servant in Christ,
Jordan Foster
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