The Joy of Salvation

Scripture — Psalm 51:10-13 (NRSV)

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.

Devotion

In verse 12 of Psalm 51, David prays, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” When we read this, we sense that David is asking God to give him, not some new experience of joy, but rather joy he once knew but lost along the way. The Hebrew verb translated as “restore” has a basic meaning of “return” or “turn back” (shub). The particular form of the verb in verse 12 means “to cause to turn back” or “to bring back.” So, David is not praying for a new kind of joy. Rather, he wants the Lord to bring back the joy he has known before.

Why? Why is David praying this way?

The context of our passage answers this question. The introduction to the psalm says that David wrote it after the prophet Nathan rebuked him for his affair with Bathsheba. The opening verses reveal the heart of David as a broken man who agonizes over his sin. He cries out for mercy (v. 1), mentioning his “transgressions,” “iniquity,” and “sin” (vv. 1-2). Though David certainly sinned against Bathsheba (whom he sexually violated) and her husband (whom David had killed), David acknowledges that, most of all, he sinned against God and did “what is evil in [God’s] sight” (v. 4). He admits that he is guilty and worthy of God’s judgment (v. 4).

David asks the Lord, “Hide your face from my sins, and blot out my iniquities” (v. 9). Yet he seeks more than forgiveness. Rather, he seeks deep, inner cleansing: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me” (v. 10). Scholars debate whether the spirit mentioned in this verse is David’s own spirit or the Holy Spirit of God, which is mentioned in the following verse. I’m not sure this distinction is necessary, however, because there is no question that David needs the renewal of his human spirit as well as the presence of God’s Spirit, by which his human spirit is renewed.

In verse 11, David prays, “Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.” Then he adds, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (v. 12). The combination of ideas here reminds me of what we saw previously in Psalm 16:11, “You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The joy of which David speaks in Psalm 51 has two primary features. First, it is a result of being in God’s presence, which comes through the agency of the Holy Spirit. Second, the joy to which David refers is “the joy of your salvation.” It’s the joy we experience when God saves us.

By praying as he does, David reveals that he lost that particular joy somewhere along the way. Whereas he once rejoiced over ways that God had saved him, in time the memory of those events faded. Taking for granted all that God had done to save him in the past, David lost touch with the joy that comes in response to God’s saving grace, mercy, and love. Of course, his sin against Bathsheba, Uriah, and God contributed to his loss of joy. When we turn away from God, we lose the joy of God’s presence.

Reading David’s prayer, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation,” I can relate. It’s easy for me to miss this kind of joy. Perhaps you can also relate. For one thing, I experienced eternal salvation by grace through faith more than 62 years ago. When I was six years old, I went forward at a Billy Graham Crusade in the Los Angeles Coliseum to “receive Christ as my Lord and Savior.” I did feel a special kind of joy at that time and joyfully shared my newfound faith with many of my friends. Today, I can take my eternal salvation for granted.

At times, however, God does indeed restore in me the joy of salvation. This happens regularly when I celebrate communion with my church. The elements of bread and juice represent the body and blood of Jesus, both given for me. The words of institution remind me of what Jesus said and did. The Holy Spirit stirs within me, perhaps because I am more available. But there is also something wonderful about sharing in communion with my sisters and brothers in Christ. Together we experience the joy of God’s presence in communion.

Sometimes I find it easier to get in touch with the joy that comes from recent experiences of God’s salvation. I’m referring not to the once-for-all salvation that I received as a 6-year-old, but rather to many other instances in which God has saved me from various dangers and disasters (some of my own making!). I’m talking about things like being saved from a riptide that was sweeping out into the ocean. Or I think of being saved from cancer that might well have spread throughout my body. I’m also thinking of mistakes I have made in life, work, and relationships, which could have been devastating had it not been for God’s mercy. When I reflect on the ways I have experienced God’s salvation throughout my life, I am filled with gratitude, gratitude that leads to joy.

That joy, as it turns out, leads to something else. I’ll explore this with you in next Monday’s devotion. For now, let me encourage you to reflect on the following questions.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Yearning to Be Created Anew.