The Joy Of Your Salvation

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.
Psalm 51:12

A sister shared this verse last week as one that God was impressing upon her heart and mind. Well, I’m sure glad she did because it’s stuck with me as well! I can relate to the psalmist as he cries out to God for a restoring of the joy of being saved in his heart. He is mourning the loss of closeness with His God that he knows is his own fault. This verse is written by David following his sin with Bathsheba. Don’t you hate sin! I hate it not only for what it cost my Lord on the cross but also, like David, what it costs me in fellowship with my Savior.

There’s a moving passage in Song of Solomon 5 that breaks my heart as I read it. Here the husband, a picture of the Lord Jesus, calls out to His bride. As the wife relates the account, we read in v. 2:

“I sleep, but my heart is awake; it is the voice of my beloved! He knocks, saying, ‘Open for me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one; for my head is covered with dew, my locks with the drops of the night.'”

How sweetly He addresses His spouse! He comes to her desiring intimate fellowship, yet she cannot stir her heart and shake her sleepiness. She replies in v. 3:

“I have taken off my robe; how can I put it on again? I have washed my feet; how can I defile them?”

Knowing what our Savior has done on our behalf, knowing the great love He has displayed, can we not lay aside our distractions and trouble ourselves for His sake?! Is He not worthy of our time even when we’re busy or tired? I’m reminded of the disciples when Jesus returned from prayer in the garden just before He going to the cross. He asked them to wait, watch, and pray, yet He finds them asleep. How it must have hurt Him knowing the sacrifice He was making for them. He exclaims, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?” (Mat 26:40) How sad to think I would injure my loving Lord so! He is worthy of an eternity of our time, and can we not give Him one hour? The bride continues in v. 4-6:

“My beloved put his hand by the latch of the door, and my heart yearned for him. I arose to open for my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the lock. I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart leaped up when he spoke. I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.”

Her unwillingness to yield when He first approached had cost her this special moment. We should bend to the Lord’s timing not try to force Him to fit our schedules. If we will not put aside all else when He calls, we should not be surprised if He’s no longer there when we finally decide to give Him a few minutes! What or who is more important than He is? Do you hear that gentle voice? Do you sense the Spirit tugging at your heart to seek Him in prayer NOW or immerse yourself in His word NOW? Then don’t delay! The bride’s missed opportunity of fellowship came at a great price in v. 7.

“The watchmen who went about the city found me. They struck me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took my veil away from me. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I am lovesick!”

How sad that we’ve ever had to endure painful experiences like this one simply because we didn’t rush into our heavenly Husband’s protecting arms when He called us! We must respond immediately when we sense the Lord drawing us near. Do what it takes to be alone with Him! May Christ be our example as He made communion with the Father His priority. He had been up late into the evening healing the multitudes that came to Him in their need, and yet we read that after a little sleep, “in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” (Mar 1:32-35)

Jamie