Restore Us, O God!

RESTORE US, O GOD!

Text: Psalm 51:12 (from Responsive Reading)

I want to talk to us about something some of us may never want to talk about. That is, our mistakes. Each of us has made plenty of mistakes with our families, friends and co-workers. This is important because

Mistakes can cause feelings of –

· Regrets – “Oh I wish I had never done that…”

· Embarrassment – “Oops…that was dumb...”

· Shame and remorse – “I should’ve known better.”

· Guilt – “”It’s all my fault.”

Anyone of us can make all kinds of mistakes, but none of our mistakes are as critical as those we have made with our Lord. The fact is (if you are human) you will make more mistakes with the Lord than you can ever imagine making with anyone else you know, or love.

Our mistakes are the reason why the Bible says the Lord makes “His mercy new every morning.”

God loves us and He forgives us of all of our mistakes.

Regardless of what we have done wrong, we can always call out to our loving God,

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit!”

Illustration: “A Second Chance” from Psalm 80.

Foolish mistakes can make history, but only be harmless. But, the mistakes we make with the Lord can be costly.

Text: Matthew 19:16 thru 22

In reading this story we can see that this man was:

· A rich man – probably had worked very hard.

· A prosperous ruler – a man who was accustomed to being in charge of his own life, and perhaps the lives of many other people.

· A real go-getter – young and ambitious

· Someone who was sincere about always doing what was right

· Willing to listen to good advice

· Wanting to learn from great teachers

· Someone you would be proud to know

With all of these great characters, with everything obviously going right in his life, this young man would surely succeed in anything he would set his mind to. Regardless, this young man made some critical mistakes that we all can learn from.

The 1st mistake: He did not recognize Jesus as Lord.

His desire was to have “eternal life”, so he asked Jesus what he needed to do. He seemed very sincere, but he made the same mistake so many people make.

Many people –

· Desire “eternal life”.

· Admire Jesus, and how He lived His life.

· Recognize that Jesus was a very wise teacher about how life and how to live.

· MAKE HUGE COSTLY MISTAKES with their lives/

To each of us today I would again say:

“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit!”

At the time this story took place, it was often customary for a student to kneel or sit at the feet of the one who was teaching. It was a sign of respect.

Many Bible scholars (of our time) believe the rich young ruler knelt before Christ as he asked Him to teach.

I am certain this rich young ruler respected Jesus.

Respect is a good thing, but reverence is what is required of us. Respect will perhaps give to you a “Thank You”, but true reverence for Christ will teach and lead you to His “eternal life”.

Respect (we have for God) has to do with how we act. Reverence has to do with how we live for our Master.

I would suggest that the mistake made by the rich young ruler is that he did not come to the Savior as so many others had. He respected Jesus but he only came to be educated and inspired with His teachings.

There were so many others that had come to Christ desperate to be delivered from their sickness, and/or to be saved from their sins.

Thus the question for each of us is this:

How and why have we come to Christ today?

Do we fully understand that Jesus is Lord?

Or are we like the rich young ruler? That is,

Do we just want to find the answers to our questions?

Are we looking for an education of the scriptures?

Or are we longing for a life of complete submission?

What is your posture when you come to Christ?

Will you sit attentively and listen? Or will you bow in worship, and adoration, and humility before the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords?

Like the rich young ruler, do we come to church each Sunday just to ask Jesus more of our questions?

Or do we come out of reverence, and awe, as a servant would come to His Master?

Do we come to Christ today just as the Psalmist said in our opening scripture, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.”