Psalm 51:12

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me ~ Psalm 51:12


Yesterday I talked about a dry season before I knew the Lord as my Saviour. I also talked about how drastically my life changed when the Lord came into my heart and gave me new life. This may be the joy the psalmist is talking about here, for I do think that sometimes our joy and hope can change into a sad and cheerless living the longer we are Christians. Sometimes it is due to our own doing. We have walked away from the Lord, or we have sinned in some way and have not repented. When sin enters our life, we are separated from God. There is another reason for the joy of our salvation to be lost to us: that we live and go through different seasons. Mark Buchanan wrote a marvelous book called “Spiritual Rhythm: Being With Jesus Every Season of Your Soul”. I have it in my library and though it has been awhile since I read it, it is full of insight on how we can survive the seasons of our soul. We go through winter seasons, where the fruit of our life seems to have dried up, the leaves have dropped, and it seems that all is cold. It sounds like our psalmist may be there too. He has formerly known the happiness of being God’s friend, but that joy has been taken away by a reason we do not know. Perhaps you are there too. I know I have found myself there, and I wondered why. It was not that I had sinned. I had been following what I believed the Lord had called me to, it was just that I had lost my joy. That, my friends, is a time for resting and growing. It is a time of faith building. Just as nature rests in the winter season, so if we can find rest in our time, the season will eventually change. Our psalmist prays for grace to uphold him, a willing spirit so that he would be ready to obey and serve God faithfully. It is our prayer too when winter suddenly happens upon us. Keep us in your grace, Lord, help us be at the ready when your word comes to us. Grant us spring and your joy!

Pastor Julia

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