REVIVAL STARTS WITH PRAISE

Today's reading: 2 Chronicles 29-32

"King Hezekiah then stationed the Levites at the Temple of the Lord..." 2 Chronicles 29:25 NLT

Think you can finish the above verse?

No, this is not a matter of testing your Scripture memorization skills--it's a question about what you believe would happen next.

King Hezekiah had just had his priests and Levites restore the Temple. It had been years since it had been used, years since the commands of the Lord had been followed, years since the people gathered in the name of the Lord.

So he 'cleaned house'. He set things to right. He offered the right sacrifices. And then he stationed the Levites at the Temple.

For what?

To shout condemnation upon all who passed?

To belittle and bemoan those who had sinned against God?

To debate other religions?

To hit the passers-by over the heads with their Torahs?

We're wrong.

Here is what happened...

"King Hezekiah then stationed the Levites at the Temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres." 2 Chronicles 29:25 NLT

He had the Levites in place so that praise could begin!

Any national revival...

Any city-wide revival...

Any church-wide revival...

Any personal revival...starts with praise!

Until we celebrate who God is, the immensity, scope, depths and heights, of who our Lord is--we cannot truly grasp our desperate need to repent before Him or our emptiness that can only be filled by Him.

Praise places us in the proper position.

Are you in position?