“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and renew a right spirit within me.”
Those were the words of broken-hearted David upon the heels of his lying, adulterous, murderous escapade with Bathsheba. He needed restoration and renewal of soul, and he knew the only place to go for it – His gracious, covenant-keeping God.
This petition of David has become particular precious to me in this past week. You see, it is not only in the wake of massive and shameful scandals like David’s that this prayer ought to be prayed, but in the mundane, day-to-day fight against the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is amazing how quickly the heart can lose sight of God or begin to harden against God and others.
There is no such thing as a static spiritual condition. We are either progressing or digressing. We are either on the incline or the decline. And the natural disposition of our hearts is spiritual decline. Coldness. Carelessness. Self-justification. If God is not continually at work to restore and renew us by His gospel then we can be certain this is the direction our hearts will go.
Personal revival by the sovereign Spirit is always the desperate need of the child of God in this present age. And I can’t think of a better prayer to pray toward that end than David’s. For what is revival but the Spirit’s exaltation of Christ clothed in all of His benefits in the human heart!
At Sean and Annah’s wedding last week, I encouraged both of them to pray for themselves and each other daily to be filled with the Spirit (the command of Eph. 5:18 is the key to carrying out God’s will for marriage in Eph. 5:22ff.). And I want to encourage you to pray for this everyday as well in whatever station you find yourself. Don’t allow your heart to grow cold and callous. Don’t justify your sin and spiritual indifference. Take your wayward heart to the God of grace and cry out to Him daily – even hourly – for heart restoration and renewal in the gospel! Make it your constant petition for personal and corporate revival. We have not, because we ask not, friends.
Let us pray! And let us see what our God will do!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Nick