Introduction
1. Friends, you and me have reasons to rejoice. As believers, we are people who have reason to have joy.
* - we have a heavenly father who created us and gave us this rich and bounteous earth to live in
* - He has provided all that we need for life and for the enjoyment of life
* - and He cares for us
* - He watches over us and makes sure that everything works out for our good
* - He talks to us and we are able to talk to Him as well
* - He has sent His Son to earth to tell us about Him
* - and to die for us so that we might have our sins forgiven
* - He chose us to be His children
* - He made us part of His church
* - and He rules all creation for our sake, the sake of His church
* - He creates within us a desire to worship and praise Him
* - and to experience His presence in that worship
* - he has promised us that one day we will live in a new heaven and a new earth
* - where there will be no pain or suffering or tears or death
* - where we will live forever in perfect fellowship with God and with each other
2. Friends God has given us and provided for us more than we could ever ask for or could ever imagine. We do have reason for joy. As believers we should be the most joyful of all people on this earth.
3. And yet I ask you this morning. "Do you have this joy? If I were to ask a neighbour, a co-worker, a friend to describe you, would one of the first things they say is that you are a person who is filled with joy?"
4. One criticism of the church or Christians that I often hear from those outside the church is that we do not have much joy . And some of us may even consider it a sin to be joyful.
5. But I say to you that God wants us to be people filled with joy. Jesus says that is why He came to us.
John 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
He wants our joy to be complete.
John 17:13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.
6. This morning I offer to you the way to become people who are filled with joy. How you have the joy of God’s salvation restored within you.
Teaching
1. David had lost His joy. He longed to again experience the joy he had once known. And as we look at his words in our passage, we see how we can have this joy and how this joy will affect our lives.
2. Tto have true joy we need two things, according to David.
3. The first thing is pardon.One thing that takes away from many Christians is the sense of guilt and failure. We can feel overcome by our past sins. And Satan loves to accuse us to discourage us.
4. David shows us how we can receive pardon in verses 1-9. He does not hide his sin or justify it. He does not even just see sin as something wrong he does. He says that he is sinful from birth and in his innermost being. Hhe knows his sin and it is ever before him.
5. And the reason he sees his sin is because God brought him low. In vs. 8 he says that God had crushed his bones. David had felt defeated - either by God’s judgement on sin or because of his own awareness of sin. I am reminded of how Wilma shared with us at New Years how God had broken her in order that she would turn to Him and learn to obey Him.
6. The first step to receiving pardon is a brokeness, a broken spirit. An acknowledgement on our part that we are trapped in our own sin. Not a half-heartened "Sorry, God, I’ll try better next time."
7. To have joy we must first have sorrow. To be lifted up we need to come to God and admit that we need His mercy. That is why David begins this psalm with the words "Have mercy on me, O God."
8. The good news is when we take this step - of coming to God, he takes the next step. Hear how James explains this.
James 4:6-10 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
9. Turn your joy to gloom and He will turn our gloom to joy. Confess your sins but then also accept God’s forgiveness
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.
Receive the pardon earned for you at the cross and which God desires to give you freely. We no longer need bear the guilt and the shame.
10. To have joy we must deal with our past sins. But that is only the start. For we still struggle with sin. And each time we sin we no longer have the joy of the fellowship with God we need.
11. When we sin against someone or they sin against us there is a barrier between us. Sin separates us from God. And so we need be deal with the sin that continues in us.
12. And we can try as hard as we may, but the result is that we will fail. That is what David knew. And so he asks God to create within Him a pure heart and a steadfast spirit. The heart was thought to be the mind in Hebrew culture. The heart is the place in which sin is born. And David knows that only God can change His heart. And his spirit needs to remain steadfast - firm and fixed in its resolve to obey God’s word and walk in His ways.
13. As believers we must not think that the burden for our holy living falls completely on us. We need to strive to be holy but we know we will fall short. It is humbling for lifelong Christians to admit they struggle with sin. We feel like hypocrites. And so we may pretend those sins are not there. The problem is that by doing so, we do the very opposite of what we need to do to overcome our sins. For only a continual humbling and confession of our continuing (not past) sins will bring God to cleanse us from those sins.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
14. David asks God not to cast His presence from Him. True joy to a believer is being in God’s presence. That is why heaven will be such a joyous place - God will be fully with us. But David knows that God’s presence can only be experienced when sin does not separate us from God. In heaven there will be no sin - that is why we will experience God fully. And so David, to have the joy of God’s salvation must be pardoned from His sin and have a heart that is becoming more pure and holy.
15. How about you? Are you hiding or denying past or present sins? Do you feel as a Christian it is a sign of failure to admit you still struggle with sin? If you do, you will feel no joy. Instead, humble yourself before God. "I need you God, for I cannot overcome my sin." And when you do, you will have joy.
16. David shares with us the fruit of that joy. In fact the things that joy leads us to, become signs or confirmation or proof that we do have joy. As we list these things, do they describe your life? If not, do we really have joy?
17. The firsrt fruit or result of his joy is found in vs. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you. When we have experienced the grace and joy of God’s salvation, we want to tell others what God has done for us. We want to teach and share the good news so that they also can share in our joy.
18. Second, David has confidence in God’s salvation.
Psa 51:14 Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
David asks God to save Him but he claims that salvation. "You are the God who saves." I have confidence that my salvation is sure. Not because of what I have done. For I have bloodguilt. For David that meant the blood of Uriah whom he had killed. For us it means the blood of the sins we have committed. But despite that we can have joy, for God has saved us. Do you have confidence that God has saved you? If not, that is why you may lack joy.
19. Third, joy leads us to praise God. Not just to open our hymn books and sing along with the others. Not just to go through the motions of outer worship or sacrifice
Psa 51:15-16 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
But to praise God with a broken and contrite heart.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
20. To worship God is to be overcome with His worth and His majesty. And to realize how small and sinful we are. And then to praise and worship Him in gratitude and awe.
21. And finally joy leads to corporate worship that delights God.
Psa 51:18-19 In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.
Zion is the people of God. Today we could say the church. We will prosper in what we do. The walls will be built, which we saw in Revelation last week, signifies the completeness of the church. We will together in joy serve the Lord and worship Him in unity. No divisions will hamper our worship
22. In 1 Cor. 7 the people did not come in a proper way to the Lrd’s Supper. Why, because their fellowship was divided. I believe when each of us is filled with joy, when we experience the joy of salvation, we are strengthened as a church and able more to serve our calling.
23. God wants us to have joy. He wants us to experience the fruit of joy. But to have that joy we need to ask God to give us a pure heart and a contrite spirit. To tell Him we need Him.
(SONG - CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART)
