When we are first born again, we begin the Christian life with an explosion of joy. Ah, what peace we experience when we truly grasp the reality of salvation—that our sins are forgiven through the precious blood of Christ and that our eternal life is secure. But our enemy does not want our joy to last, and his attacks begin immediately to distract us and defeat our joy.
My friend, when I’m not experiencing the joy of my salvation, it’s typically for only one reason: My choices have distanced me from the presence of God.
This is when it’s important to get on my knees and repent!
Repentance, which enables us to return to the joy of our salvation, is not about piling on guilt. Rather, it’s about getting rid of the weight that gives us guilt. King David pleaded with the Lord in Psalm 51:12: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” He was sorely missing the deep delight and confident hope of God’s abiding presence that he had known. And David knew God’s presence well and wrote of his experiences. For example, in Psalm 16:11, he wrote:
“You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”
David knew exactly what he was missing!
David’s desperate cry followed his grievous sin with Bathsheba and against her husband Uriah. (2 Samuel 11-12) His unconfessed sin ruptured his fellowship with God. We don’t have to commit murder or adultery to experience our joy diminishing. It happens when we commit any sin. Soon we remember and long for the soul-nourishing joy we experienced as newly born again believers.
The joy of our salvation is our strength because it springs directly from intimate fellowship with God.
“The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10
The joy only God gives fortifies us against life’s hardships. Jesus promised us:
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” John 15:1
This is Christ-centered joy, rooted in our union with Him and sustained by abiding in His presence through loving obedience. Renowned author and apologist C.S. Lewis, who was raised in a Christian home, identified an early spiritual wonder he called “Joy” as a poignant, longing delight that hinted at something beyond this world. Tragedy struck when his mother died at age nine, plunging him into grief. By his teens, he had drifted, becoming an angry atheist who viewed religion as empty and burdensome. In his memoir, Surprised by Joy, Lewis describes how he lost that transcendent joy, replacing it with cynicism, intellectual pride, and a sense of cosmic disappointment. Faith in God was irrelevant to his life of rationalism and materialism. Then, in 1931, he fully embraced Christ and realized that true joy was not found in fleeting experiences or self-reliance—but in God’s presence.
David’s story in Psalm 51 points to the chief culprit that robs our joy: unconfessed sin.
After his adultery and murder, David lived in misery until he repented because sin grieves the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) and obscures our sense of God’s presence. Sin comes in many forms, including unbelief and doubt (focusing on problems over promises), worldly distractions, which crowd out intimacy with God, and even the overt choices we make to violate God’s Word, like David did. That’s why David’s prayer in Psalm 51, which models honest confession, is so incredibly useful for us today:
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; according to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” Psalms 51:1-12
My friend, the pure joy of our salvation CAN be restored! First John 1:9 promises:
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Salvation is a magnificent gift! Don’t spend one more day without experiencing the great joy of God’s presence!
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for the gift of salvation and the joy that floods our hearts when we first become Your child. Forgive us for _________ (confess any sin—doubt, distraction, gossip, theft, neglect of prayer, or whatever sin has stolen your joy.) Reveal any sin I cannot see. Restore me to the joy of Your salvation, O God. Cleanse me afresh, renew a right spirit within me, and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Help me walk in obedience, abide in Your presence, and experience the fullness of joy that only You can give. May Your joy be my strength today and always, sustaining me until I see You face to face. In Your precious name I pray, Amen.
