April 23, 2021
Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.— Psalm 51:10-13
The Importance of Joy*
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation” is a prayer we should pray frequently. The Bible commands us to rejoice in God (Philippians 4:4). This is a command not simply to have an emotion but to remind ourselves in such disciplined way about all we have in Christ that the greatness of it breaks in on our hearts. It is a sin to be less joyful at what God has done in our lives. Furthermore, we cannot minister to others except out of our own joy. Our words will be hard, harsh, indifferent or absent unless we are overflowing with the joy of knowing that we are God’s precious possession, bought at great cost.
Prayer: Lord, I don't want my heart to be too cast down today by my disappointments and losses— but it is so hard. Send your Spirit to speak to my heart of the astonishing goods and glories I have and will have in You. Amen.
* Taken from Tim Keller’s wonderful devotion in the Psalms, The Songs of Jesus.