Restored to Gladness

“Restore me to the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” Psalm 51:12

When a believer sins, God doesn’t rob him of his salvation. You never lose your salvation, but you can lose the joy of your salvation. The saddest, most miserable people I have ever met in my life are followers of Jesus who are living in unconfessed, unforgiven sin. I can say this with complete confidence: If you can live in sin and be happy, you are not a true follower of Jesus. But, if you are a follower of Jesus you cannot live in sin and be happy.

When King David wrote Psalm 51, he had spent the past year miserably living in the filth of sin and guilt. Have you ever noticed the natural tendency that people have to try and hide their faces if they are ashamed or embarrassed? For example, you will see people arrested on television trying to hide their faces or turn away from the cameras. You can’t see it, but figuratively speaking there is an invisible ghost of guilt walking right behind them.

That is why we must say goodbye to guilt through the power of God. Sin beats you up and leaves you for dead, but forgiveness picks you up and restores you to health. Sin sinks you into guilt, but forgiveness showers you with grace. Sin puts a frown on your heart, but forgiveness puts a smile in your soul. Sin puts God on the outside, but forgiveness brings God on the inside. Sin will cost you everything and give you a guilty conscience, but forgiveness costs God everything and gives you a clean heart.

Do you know what happens when you are restored to God’s gladness? You will become a witness of Jesus again. Sin not only soils the soul, it seals the lips. You will also become a worshipper again. When you are living in sin and swallowed by guilt, your heart is not in worship. When you say goodbye to guilt, every time you open your lips you will want to declare God’s praise.

Are you feeling guilty because of unconfessed sin in your life? Please know that Jesus didn’t come to reject us. He came to release us, renew us, revive us, and restore us.

Dear Lord, I want to take the time right now to confess my sin to You so that You can restore me to gladness in Your Son. Help me to release any guilt I've been carrying and instead help me to walk in the freedom I have in Jesus. In His name I pray, amen.