“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.”
Psalm 51:11-12 (NIV)
Forgiveness is mercy in action
washing, cleansing, hiding, blotting, creating, renewing, delivering, restoring, prospering
What a beautiful psalm for a sinner like me.
I read it and think I should read this every day at the kitchen table.
I want to draw our attention to the connection between the Presence of the Holy Spirit and joy and a willing spirit within me.
Someone told me several years back that they skip this part of the psalm because they don’t have to pray it. Don’t you know John that in Christ I don’t have to worry about the Holy Spirit being taken from me? Oh friend I said, it is true that in Christ I have an eternal deposit, the Holy Spirit Himself who will never leave me- but it is also true that what David describes here is what is described in 1 John 1:9 as a restoration of righteousness for a Christian, and it is true that I need the Holy Spirit in every part of my life, and I don’t want to grieve Him, I don’t want the Spirit to withdraw from my family life, nor my work life, I want more of Him! And so I never skip this part of psalm, I bear down and make sure I have integrity in my heart when I say these words.
Could failure on our part to seek forgiveness and the Spirit’s wonderful filling Presence be the reason we lack joy in our lives and are not willing to lift a finger to help build up the church of Christ?
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