Pslam 85 6


4 Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your anger toward us to cease.
5 Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
6 Will You not REVIVE us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
7 Show us Your mercy, Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.

It's a biblical word, that literally means to live or to revive.
There was a clear example of this on the day of Pentecost, types and shadows happened under the old covenant, when through repentance restoration, and blessing that was bestowed again on Israel.

psl 71 20Though You have shown me many troubles and misfortunes, You will REVIVE me once again. Even from the depths of the earth You will bring me back up.

Psalm 80:18
Then we will not turn away from You; REVIVE us, and we will call on Your name.

Psalm 119:25
My soul cleaves to the dust; REVIVE me according to Your word.

pslam 119 37 Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things,
And revive me in Your way.
38 Establish Your word to Your servant,
Who is devoted to fearing You.
39 Turn away my reproach which I dread,
For Your judgments are good.
40 Behold, I long for Your precepts;
Revive me in Your righteousness.

Hey Gary,

As you pointed out, the relevant Hebrew word for "revive" means "to live", "to restore to life".

And through the gospel of Christ, all Christians have already been restored to life. God has already "made us alive together with Christ" when we first received His grace for us (Ephesians 2:4-7).

Romans 6 tells us that once we accept Christ, we are united together with Christ in His death, and subsequently have also been revived with Him. This is a one-time thing, as we are only born again once - and we are now permanently united to the Author of Life (1 Cor 6:17, Gal 2:20).

What Christians need is not to be revived again, but to realize what Christ has *already* accomplished for them - to know that they are already alive with Christ. This is the gospel - and when we renew our minds accordingly, we will be transformed into His likeness (Romans 12:2).

If anything, we need a revival of understanding concerning these doctrines. The Farley video I had shared elaborates on this really well.

I like this blog post by Derek Levendusky too, on gospel-centric revival: https://web.archive.org/web/20120315131453/http://www.dereklevendusky.com/?p=1285

Brother when Christians are in a backslidden state, or lukewarm, or vexed from hard trials that have wounded them, revival comes as a grace from God to restore and refresh them back into a state where revelation, realization comes , and to give boldness, among other things, like restoring their conscience from a state of being [seared as tho with a hot iron].

You can't will yourself through efforts of the flesh nor through just meditation of scripture, To Gain {realization} of the finished work. That is the holy Spirit's job to remind, reveal , restore, refresh, and he does this during outpourings of the holy spirit, whether it be corporate or personal.

It's all grace.
Not of works, or religious efforts and ritual
that no man may find a reason to boast.

The problem here is that terms like "revival" and "backsliding" are not found in the New Testament. What do these words exactly mean? Biblically, do those concepts apply to Christians or non-Christians?

In my view (which is shared by other Christians), the popular usage of these words fails to acknowledge the marked difference between Christians and the Israelites of old, or between the New Covenant and the Old.

Isn't it wiser to use New Testament vocabulary and New Testament concepts when it comes to describing the Christian experience?

It's certainly a much safer option - after all, the Word of God is settled in heaven forever (Psalm 119:89), and that includes its vocabulary.