photo #4438117

"Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit." (Psalm 51:12)David's great prayer here, which is filled with confession, takes place about a year after his great sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11 which was full of consequences then later on. Imagine living 12 months, 365 days, in that kind of rut. There could be no deadly virus, disease, or disability that would be more crippling to a child of God than lost fellowship with their Redeemer. Every single day that year, God was patiently waiting for His erring child to remember what He inspired him to write in Psalm 23:3, "He restoreth my soul:"But David, acting like any prodigal son who was on the run from his daddy, while hanging on to his sin, thought he could make a go of it on his own. How foolish we often become to think for one moment we can have peace and joy aside from God. You may be in a wayward condition today. You may have sinned against God and then the devil comes skipping along like he usually does and lies his head off by suggesting to you that the Lord wants nothing more to do with you. He's only loves the faithful not the fallen. He has broken His promise. He did leave and forsake you. That's the devil for you and he's good at it.Well, you and I certainly don't have to fall for that nonsense from the father of all liars and take a year off like David did wallowing in worry and woe. Why you don't have to take another second off wondering about your Heavenly Father's forgiveness. For your Saviour stands ready to raise, renew and restore you. By the way, if you think you can find that much needed former joy, you couldn't be more wrong.Friends, you'll find your greatest need by burying your heart in Heaven's life lifting Grace of God and crying out to the Lord, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation."