restore and sustain

Restore to me the joy of your salvation,

and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Psalm 51:12

God restores what sin destroys. And that grace is known fully in Christ when by faith in Christ’s death and resurrection a new life is reborn (John 3:3). God is so committed to restoring sinners that a kind of personal realized eschatology takes place spiritually… belief in Christ makes a person a new creation… a precursor to the day when God remakes the universe in a new heavens  and a new earth. The old has gone. The new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

And with the rebirth and rebuilding comes joy. God brings joy when He restores. This is what David prays for in repentance in Psalm 51:12. David knows God‘s saving forgiveness will restore the joy that his sin had stolen away. Sinners need restoration. God, in Christ, gives it to us! And we can rejoice in that work.

When God restores He also sustains… with the joy of God‘s salvation comes the sustaining work of God as we are willing to obey Him. This is true in salvation in Christ to the greatest degree. God’s Holy Spirit comes to indwell, empower, and ensure our salvation. So what God restores He also carefully keeps. May the joy of my salvation and the sustaining presence of God‘s Spirit be known in me today!