PSALM 51:1-19

David was the best of the best AND the worst of the worst. In a stolen moment of lust with Bathsheba he endangered his kingdom, his family and the family of Uriah the Hittite. Sin always brings us to a crossroads and people easily recognize this. David chose to double down and attempt to hide his sin. The end result of this effort was murder.

Now David came to a place to make a U-turn

Repentance cannot undo the evil things we do. In David’s case, the pleasure of sin for a moment resulted in the death of a faithful soldier and husband as well as the death of an innocent child. When we place ourselves in his shoes we recognize that his joy was gone. His options were to allow the root of bitterness to feed the unholy fruit of his sin or to kill the root. He could simply turn around.

David needed to identify the most important thing

The steadfast love of Yahweh and the ever-increasing fountain of mercy remain David’s only hope. His joy was gone because he separated himself from his passion. Instead of pursuing the lust of his heart, he turned back to pursuing the heart of Almighty God.

His evil could not be undone, but it could be cleansed

In repentance his sorrow (re)turned to joy. It is not a plea to God for happiness. Rather it is the fundamental plea for grace … a longing for divine restoration to the JOY of GOD’s salvation.

God uses our failings to build renewed JOY

Listen carefully to David’s plea, “Let me hear joy and gladness, let the bones you have broken rejoice.” A healed break in a bone is stronger than the bone around it. A penitent sinner who turns back to God (repentance) is actually strengthened by God through the process. Like a broken bone there is pain, but the healing brings joy because the healing IS salvation.

Restoring sinners brings JOY to our God

Whether the physical sacrifice of the Hebrew (prior to Jesus) or the spiritual, living sacrifice of the Christian now that the once for all sacrifice is complete, Yahweh takes “delight” ONLY when we are cleansed and right in His eyes. Stopping a sin is not enough. A U-turn is the only pathway to the Joy of the LORD.

Discover … His Joy

Access … His Joy

Share … His Joy