The joy of My salvation. Psalm 51:12
Do you remember these humble and penitent words of David, “God, return to me the joy of my salvation”? I have discovered that one’s Christian joy is often assailed by two common failures: (1) unconfessed and harbored sin; (2) busyness and complacency. Today, I focus with you on the first of these failures.
David once prayed, “return to me the joy of my salvation.” In this contrition, he was referencing his affair with Bathsheba and his murderous plot against her husband (2 Samuel 11). Such examples of sin may seem extreme to most, but one of the most genuinely sincere figures in Biblical history concerning a desire to honor and please God was David. He knew the love of God, and the powerful presence of peace when having been set apart unto God (both in His faith as a member of God’s covenant people and in His role as King of Israel.). From these perspectives, He knew the saving hand of God very well. He knew God’s salvation personally, militarily, and experientially in worship. But David had lost the joy of God’s salvation in which he had once thrived.
On the backdrop of failure, how desperately and urgently David longed for restoration. How passionately he desired that his joy of salvation return. And so David cried out – he desired to abandon all his self-efforts at peace of mind and heart and return once again to a deep and abiding dependence upon the Spirit of God to uphold him. David sought divine uprightness, which can only come from seeking God’s gracious upholding. David sought that the joy of His right standing with God would return, but quickly learned that such joy only follows the pardon and forgiveness through God’s great mercy.
Have you considered that if joy came before the pardon, then the joy would only be a pretense – a form of happiness defined only as a manufactured attempt for joy? David understood this; he sought the restoration of joy, indicating the restoration of the soul before God which comes directly from the immense and overwhelming flood of God’s grace and mercy. God’s pardon always precedes joy – true spiritual joy. So for this, David earnestly prayed.
Today is a great day to follow the example of this fallible but genuine and notable leader in Biblical history. Today, perhaps you need a moment to discern if the joy of your salvation is as vibrant as the day you received God’s grace and mercy through Jesus. I understand the ebb and flow of life that can often affect us, but at times Christians assume that having no real joy of faith is normal in a fallen world. I remind you that the loss of your joy in Christ is not normal, not intended, and not designed by God.
If your joy of salvation is lost, seek God. Cry out to Him. Perhaps He will place His unseen hand on some unconfronted sin in your life (some grudge or bitterness, or some habit, attitude, or action that does not honor Him). If so, confess that sin. If necessary, seek counsel from a trusted Christian source to help. But do not become okay with the fact that you are not living in the joy of your salvation.
Return to the joy of your faith in our blessed Savior by seeking God’s restoration of that joy. Allow Him to do a deep work in your soul. Keep your heart open to Him, open to the penetrating power of His Word, and open to the influence of His Holy Spirit. And when God points out sin, confess that sin and repent, returning your whole devotion to Him. In this way, the return of supernatural joy is most certain.
Blessings.
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Read Psalm 51:1-19.
