Restoring My Joy

There is this verse in the Psalms where David cries out to God for a restoration of joy in his life.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psa 51:12 NIV)

The Psalm is written when David’s sin and adultery with Bathsheba was confronted by the prophet Nathan.  Having your sin exposed is humiliating because sin is inherently shameful.  All of us experience and participate in sin.  We often don’t feel the shame associated with it because we have justified or reasoned the deed to be “normal” (or whatever we tell ourselves).

But what that has left us with is a life without joy.  A life without joy doesn’t have to be gloomy and depressing.  It could be a steady, emotionless, almost “adult-like” living.  We could even be more focused at business because there are going to be less and less things that grab our attention for excitement. It’s as though nothing really matters anymore.  It’s the pessimistic outlook on life that Solomon writes about in Ecclesiastes.

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun. (Ecc 8:15 NIV)

David writes in Psalm 32, that this living with sin (and therefore without joy) is actually slowly destroying his body (Ps. 32:3-4).  The solution, as outlined in both of these Psalms, is to confess our sins to God and begin reflecting and sharing how good God has been, is and will be in our lives. Having someone speak into our lives, besides ourselves and including the Holy Spirit and the Bible, is key to experiencing joy in our lives.

As I’ve transitioned from Fellowship Church and learning more about following the Holy Spirit’s lead in my life, the more and more I realize how sinful I am, yet how much God loves me and how much God desires for me to live with joy in light of that love.  For too long I’ve lived as most “older” Christians have lived: a steady, repetitive, yet emotionless, unmotivated life of “enjoying” God’s blessings on my life. Living in this mysterious middle has been confusing and discouraging in certain aspects.  But it has also been enlightening, a going “back-to-the-basics” time, and holding onto the things that really matter.  I highly encourage you to simplify your life a little and leave plenty of room for God to work in your life as you reflect on the joy of HIS salvation.  His salvation on your life (if you’ve accepted Jesus Christ as the Savior of your sins and the Master of your life) leads to joy and lets your own spirit be willing and motivated to live a life of excitement for God, a life that can really sustain you in the long haul.