By Glenn Lorenz
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:12).
In Philippians 3 and 4, the Apostle Paul commands his readers to “Rejoice in the Lord!” The expectation is that believers in Jesus rejoice when faced with all of life’s events, both good and bad. We choose joy.
That’s tough sometimes. When we face disappointment or heartbreak, it’s hard to choose joy. When we betray our own beliefs or sin publicly, we can be tempted to wallow in self-pity and sorrow for a while.
That’s why I like David’s approach in this Psalm. He gives us permission to ask for God’s help when it’s hard to choose joy. David may have written this Psalm after he caused a huge public scandal. The embarrassment and temptation toward self-loathing alone could overwhelm a lesser person.
Repentance and Renewal
David must have had some days when it was really tough to choose joy. Instead, he models repentance.
In Psalm 51, David pleads with God to do what David cannot do for himself. Using more than 10 verbs that refer to cleansing and renewal, he models complete repentance (v.7–12). Finally, as his culminating request, he cries, “Restore to me the joy of my salvation.”
In other words, beyond the foundational elements of repentance — confession and cleansing — our repentance remains incomplete until we let Jesus restore our joy. God wants you to have joy.
Returning and Restoring
Maybe you feel that you have been disqualified from experiencing the joy of Jesus because of something that you have done, or something that has been done to you. David’s example of repentance suggests that we too can wholly repent — confessing, and receiving wholeness and cleansing — and ask God to return the joy that He desires you to have.
Living in joy restores the soul, and the joy of the Lord can be your strength. Ask God for joy today.
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Glenn Lorenz, D.Min., is the Africa Area associate director for Free Methodist World Missions. He and his wife, Wendy Lorenz, both ordained elders in the Free Methodist Church, were appointed career missionaries in April 2015. In January 2017, the Lorenz family moved to Costa Rica to work with FMWM, where Glenn coordinated the development of healthy leaders for FMWM Latin America. In October 2022, Glenn began serving the Africa Area. His work focuses on recruiting, onboarding, training, and coaching missionary teams to live in West Africa. He also assists in supporting and developing Free Methodist leaders in West Africa. He previously served as a pastor and as the chair of the Ministry and Theology Department at Central Christian College of Kansas.
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