Revived!

'a' jIH yIt Daq the midst vo' Seng, SoH DichDaq yInmoHqa' jIH

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me. Psalm 138:7a

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Travel to the stars involves tremendous distances - so vast that without FTL drives, like the warp drive of the Enterprise, it would take centuries to reach the nearest star. Since we know of no science (yet) to achieve warp speeds, we have to consider other ways to get to the stars.

One solution is the sleeper ship - described in the Star Trek Encyclopedia as:

"a relatively slow interstellar spacecraft that used suspended animation to allow passengers and crew to hibernate during the flight."

In such a ship, the travellers would travel in cold sleep for years - to be awakened - REVIVED at journey's end.

'a' jIH yIt Daq the midst vo' Seng, SoH DichDaq yInmoHqa' jIH

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me. Psalm 138:7a

Revival - a rekindling of life, is something we too need - not just for traveling to another star, but as we, day by day face the troubles of life. We need for God to RETURN us to life.

In Psalm 138:7 the word here for "revive" is the Hebrew chayah meaning

"to live," "cause to live," used of restoration to life (Ge 45:27; Jg 15:19, etc.); of rebuilding (Ne 4:2); of restoration to well-being (Ps 85:6 (the Revised Version (British and American) "quicken"); Ps 138:7; Isa 57:15; Ho 6:2; 14:7); of the LORD's gracious work for His people (ISBE)

It's a word that appears over 200 times in the Bible. As translated in the KJV, it's the only word for "revive" or "revived." The Latin translation of this psalm uses "vivificábis" - to bring back to life. How would we put that in Klingon?

For the idea of "life" expressed by chayah we could map to the Klingon "yIn" - "life," or "to live." To carry the idea of "revive" I've added the suffix -moH (cause) and -qa' (again) for yInmoHqa', cause again to live, that is, revive.

We journey together through a world filled with problems - and David doesn't suggest God will evacuate us FROM these troubles - no, we'll walk "in the midst of trouble." But we can count on God for new life - revival - life to renew us when we are faint.

"Revive" occurs in the Greek scriptures as the translation of anazao, "to live again," but the ISBE notes another Greek word, in 1 Macc 13:7 we have "And the spirit of the people revived,"

anazopureo, "to stir or kindle up as a fire." The same word for revival is used in 2Ti 1:6:

This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. (2 Tim 1:6 NLT).

Now, this is the kind of revival we need - I need. We must listen to Paul's reminder to Timothy to stir up, to REVIVE, the faith we have, and renew the gifts God has given us. For this we need to turn to God in trust and hope.

You see - while it isn't likely that we're going to get on board a sleeper ship en route to Alpha Centauri anytime soon - we may very well be sleeping within the ship of faith, and from THAT we need to be awakened. I like what the ISBE notes about such things:

In view of the frequent modern use of "revive" and "revival," it is worthy of notice that it is to Timothy himself the exhortation is addressed. We too often merely pray for "revivals," forgetting that it is for us to "stir into flame" the gift of the Spirit which we have already received of God. It is ours from Him, but we let it lie dormant, as a slumbering ember merely.

'a' jIH yIt Daq the midst vo' Seng, SoH DichDaq yInmoHqa' jIH

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you will revive me. Psalm 138:7a