Psalm 51

Psalm 51 is David's prayer to God after he has sinned with Bathsheba, caused the death of Uriah, and been rebuked by Nathan. Of course, what is always highlighted is his repentance and request for forgiveness. What doesn’t get emphasized nearly as often is that he also asks for two other things. He asks for renewal of joy:

Psalms 51:12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,

And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

 This makes perfect sense once you think about it. What do we lose when we have offended God or even a fellow human? Joy. The EBC commentary explains joy in psalm 51:12 this way:

“The joy is more than an emotional expression; it is a contented resting in God. The security of having been reconciled with the Lord and of having peace with Him is of the greatest import. This joy is hence known as “the joy of your salvation””(EBC 5; ed. Frank E. Gaebelein and J. D. Douglas; Accordance electronic ed. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1991). 

What often pushes me to apologize to people I have hurt, even if I don’t care all that much about what they think, is that, when I am around them when our conflict remains unresolved, it drains my joy. Sometimes --even if I have acknowledged that I was wrong and asked for forgiveness-- relationships are still strained, and maintaining “contented resting in God” is uphill work. God, of course, is omnipresent, I care about what He thinks, not to mention the fact that He is the source of joy. Plenty of times when we are at odds with people we lose our joy; how much more when we are at odds with God!

The other request David makes is for wisdom (verse 6). There are many reasons we should ask for wisdom (which I won’t list here), but after you have done wrong the most obvious prayer for wisdom is that you won’t do it again. What is wisdom? The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 9:10). If we feared God more wouldn’t we sin less? I don't know about you, but I would!

Christ has died for our sins so that we can be forgiven forever. Be joyful!

But also pray for wisdom. 

Romans 6:12 ¶ Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 

Romans 6:13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.