UNBLOCKING THE WELL OF THE LIVING WORD

Each daily devotional below begins with an excerpt from a transcript of Duncan Campbell telling the story of how the 1949 Hebridean revival began. (1)

Duncan Campbell said:-

“I went round to the end of the house and there they were… the men that old Peggy saw… men who would become pillars in the church of their fathers and today those men are pillars in the church. My dear people, that’s the revival I believe in… But in the midst of those crying to God for mercy, there were two pipers… I think most of you know that I was a piper. I was playing the bagpipes at a concert and dance when God met with me, spoke to me and saved me… Miracle working God… Well, two of them were there… Now those two pipers were advertised to play at a concert and dance in a neighbouring parish… The minister of that parish was there… He was the one who had spoken to me. He and his wife looking at the two pipers… Oh, they were there, crying to God for mercy. He turned to his wife and he said, “Look here… we will go back to the parish and we’ll go to the dance and we will tell them there what is happening in Barvas”. So, off they went, 15 miles… They arrived and the dance was in progress… went to the door and were met by the son of a schoolmaster… “What do you want Mr McLennan?”… “Oh I’ve just come to the dance”… “Oh, but we know you have not come to the dance to dance”. But, as parish minister, he claimed the right and went in… They were dancing and he stepped onto the floor, “Young men and young women, I have an interesting story to tell you… The pipers are not with you; they’re crying to God for mercy in Barvas”… A stillness… Oh, the stillness of eternity… (in the words of the minister) came over the dance and then he said, “Young folk listen; I would like you to sing a Psalm with me. I think we ought to sing psalm 50, where God is depicted as a flame of fire… He began to sing and he is leading it himself… When they came to the second verse, suddenly, there was a cry… A young man fell on the floor and began to cry to God for mercy… In five minutes, the hall was empty and they’re now in three buses… coaches that brought young people from other parishes, and they are in the coaches on their knees, crying to God for mercy… The young man who fell on his knees that night, was inducted to a parish church just before I came across to Canada… That is God… The Spirit of God so moved… The conviction was so terrible, that we could only leave them there.”

Just as Brokenness and yieldedness to wait on God were the characteristics of the Lewis revival of 1949, so too, were these the features of the Welsh revival of 1904. The result of the Welsh revival was drunkards and party-goers being transformed as well. The Welsh revival of 1904 began with Evan Roberts, a young Welsh miner, crying, with a passionate prayer and burdened heart, “ Bend the church and save the world..” For two glorious years the Welsh churches were crowded out. A hundred thousand outsiders were converted and added to the churches. The vast majority remaining true to the end, says Edwin Orr in “The Re-study of Revival and revivalism.(2)” ‘The whole of Wales was now affected. Hardened unbelievers were gloriously converted. Drunkards, thieves, gamblers were transformed. Confessions of awful sins were heard on every side. Old debts were paid. Miners prayed together before commencing their shifts in the coal-mines. Pit ponies, unused to the new kindness and clean language, without the usual kicks and curses, almost stopped work until they got adjusted. Courts had few cases to try. Whole football and rugby teams got converted and fixtures were abandoned. The young men were more concerned with praying than playing! Dance halls were deserted, the pubs were empty and not a few went out of business, but the prayer meetings were crowded.’(3)

Dance Halls were emptied in Lewis and pubs in Wales. The times of waiting on the Lord by Evan Roberts were not in vain. For many years revival had been the passion of Evan Roberts’ heart. He said, “I could sit up all night to read or talk about revivals”. At times he was overwhelmed by the presence of God… For weeks, he enjoyed times of rare and intimate communion with God in the night watches. Similarly in Lewis, Peggy Smith and her sister communed with the Lord until 4am on Tuesdays and Fridays. It was not in vain. Yieldedness to God bore fruit. Wales was transformed in 1904, and Lewis was transformed in 1949

Create in me a clean heart, O God; renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, O Lord, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Psalm 51:11

References

(1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXIZOSWvXaE

(2) Orr, E. The Re-study of Revival and Revivalism, p 95.

(3) Whittaker,C Great Revivals, Marshall Morgan and Scott, 1984, p96.