Psalm 51, we're going to read verses 1 through
12, verses 1 through 12. Be gracious to me, O
God, according to your lovingkindness. According
to the greatness of your compassion, blot out
my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my
iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know
my transgressions. And my sin is ever before
me against you. You only I have sinned and done
what is evil in your sight so that you are justified
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 innermost being, and in the hidden
part you will make me know wisdom. Purify me
with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and
I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear
joy and gladness. Let the bones which you have
broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and
blot out 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 sustain me
with a willing spirit. In Psalm 51, our exposition
will focus in verse 12, which reads, Restore
to me the joy of your salvation. and sustain
me with a willing spirit. There's three things
that we must observe in this text, and we must
take time to consider. The first being the salvation
that David previously enjoyed. The second is
the discontinuity between God's salvation and
David's enjoyment of it. The third being the
way forward. to enjoying God's salvation now.
Starting with the salvation that David previously
enjoyed. We see in verse 12 that David is crying
out to experience the joy of God's salvation.
He's crying out to experience it, to enjoy God's
salvation, because he's not at the moment. He
does not have joy as a result of God's saving
work in his heart, in his mind, in his soul.
He is not rejoicing. He is not satisfied. He
is not fulfilled. He is not pleased and he is
not delighting in Christ at this moment. He has
before, but he's not now. We read in Psalm 16.
And listen for joy and delight and satisfaction
and pleasure and God and the saving realities
of God in Psalm 16. Preserve me, O God, for I
take refuge in you. I said to the Lord, You are
my Lord. I have no good besides you. As for the
saints who are on the earth, they are the majestic
ones in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of
those who have bartered for another God will
be multiplied. I shall not pour out their drink
offering of blood, nor will I take their names
upon my lips. The Lord. is the portion of my
inheritance in my cup. You support my lot. The
lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Indeed,
my heritage is beautiful to me. I will bless
the Lord who has counseled me. Indeed, my mind
instructs me in the night. I have set the Lord
continually before me. Because he is at my right
hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart
is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also
will dwell securely, for you will not abandon
my soul to Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy
One to undergo decay. You will make known to
me the path of life, and your presence is fullness
of joy. In your right hand, there are pleasures
forever. When we read Psalm 16, can you sense
the happiness in David's heart because of the
Lord and his work and his life? Can you take
away from Psalm 16 that David finds pleasure
and delight? in salvation and its redemptive
realities. He's missing that in Psalm 51. He's
not in possession of the enjoyment of God and
salvation, but he wants it back. He wants to
experience it again. We know that David is not
experiencing it at the moment. But that's not
because God and salvation has changed. That's
not because the saving realities are different
than they were before. It's because David himself
has changed. Why does David not experience joy
at this moment? Is it because God has changed?
Is it because God's grace and his mercy have
lessened in their character and their quality
and their supreme greatness? Or is it because
David himself has been altered? David himself
has changed. The saving realities of salvation,
the glorious and the supreme realities of redemption
which God has accomplished on behalf of his people,
Do not change. But his people change. His people's
hearts change. Their affections change. Their
minds change over time. We age. We become different
with age. We fluctuate. We go up and we go down
at times. Salvation does not change. And the
greatness of salvation does not change, brothers
and sisters. Consider the gloriousness, the supremacy
of Christ and the work which he has accomplished.
Consider the reality that the blessed Son of
God took on flesh. And entered into the very
creation which he spoke into existence. He took
on flesh and he was born of a woman. He became
a woman. He became a baby. Let's back up. Be
amazed. Stand in awe of the reality of what Christ
has done. Stand in awe of the reality that the
blessed son of God took on flesh and was born
of a woman and became a babe. We can talk about
that. We can say that all day long. But what
does that do to your hearts? What does that do
to your souls? What does that do to your feelings,
brothers and sisters? What does that stir up
inside of you? Because that is a grand and a
glorious reality. We should not allow that to
roll off our tongues lightly. The substance and
the reality of redemption, of God himself, his
grace, his mercy, what does it do to you? What
effect does it have on you? What does it produce
in you? Consider the reality. That Jesus Christ
lived a perfect life. The absolute impossibility
of that for you and me. It was such a difficult
task that even the Lord Jesus Christ in the days
of the flesh had to be filled with the Spirit
of God to accomplish it. He was filled as a baby.
He was filled when he was a young boy at 12.
He was filled in the desert when he went off
to be tempted. Why? Because of the ginormous
nature of the task. Because of the difficulty
of the work. Yet he accomplished it. He never
sinned. He lived in perfect, positive obedience
to the law, and he never transgressed it. He
obtained righteousness. Think about the beauty
of that reality and the fact that he did that
for people who have never lived a perfect life.
He did that for people who are sinners, who don't
deserve that perfection and that holiness and
that righteousness. His grace and His mercy on
display. Consider the grand reality of the cross.
Consider the supreme beauty of the Lord Jesus
Christ on the cross of Calvary. And what He accomplished.
He satisfied the wrath of God on behalf of God's
elect. He turned away the wrath of God and he
satisfied the payment that was required of sinners
who couldn't do it themselves? What does that
do to your heart? What does that stir inside
of you? Because that's not a concept. That's
not an idea, brothers and sisters. That is reality.
That is what God has done for sinners. And he
didn't stop there. He didn't simply take care
of their sin. Christ rose from the dead. He conquered
the grave of his own power and his own authority.
He ascended to the Father. And the Lord Jesus
Christ, the God -man, rules and reigns in heaven
right now. As we worship him, as his word is
preached, as you sit here worshiping, he is present
in heaven observing us. This is not a concept.
This is not an idea. This is reality. This is
truth. This is what is happening right now. What
does that do to your hearts? What does that produce
within you? we would think, considering the greatness
of these realities, that there's ample supply
and cause for joy. When we consider the grandness
of salvation, the abundant beauty of the work
of Christ, His mercy and His grace, we would
think that the people of God would always delight
in Christ. We would always rejoice in the Lord.
We would always be satisfied in reading the Word
of God as His revelation. You would think that
we would always enjoy and be pleased and delighted
in God, in Christ, and the work which He has
accomplished. Is there not ample supply and cause?
in the work of God and salvation, for the joy
of his people in every circumstance, in every
situation? Does Christ's death not provide ample
reason for you to rejoice in difficult times?
Does Christ's resurrection not provide ample
reason an abundant provision for you to enjoy
God throughout the day? It does. So why don't
the people of God constantly, always rejoice
in the Lord? We don't. We can't. There's a discontinuity.
Between the greatness and the supremacy of the
character of these redemptive realities and salvation
and what it does inside of us. This is the second
thing we have to look in this text. The discontinuity
between God's salvation and David's enjoyment
of it. David has experienced this salvation.
He's delighted and he's enjoyed this salvation.
but he's not now. There's a breach. There's a
break. There's a disruption between the greatness
of these realities and their character, their
value, their worth. And our experience of those
realities in our affections, in our hearts, in
our minds, in our desires, and in our wills.
Everybody knows what I'm talking about. You know
what I'm talking about. I know what you're talking
about. Every single person here knows this reality
because you know you don't love Christ as you
ought. You know you don't rejoice as you ought
to rejoice. It's because there's this discontinuity.
between the grandness of these realities and
how they work out in our hearts and how they
work out in our minds, how they work out in our
feelings, how they work out in our affections,
in our longings, in our satisfaction, in our
contentment, in our pleasure in Christ. There
is a disruption between the character of salvation
and God himself. And the experience of our hearts.
And we all know it. We're all familiar with it.
We know this disparity. Because we want to love
God more. We want to rejoice more. We want. To
delight in these realities to a greater degree.
But it's so difficult, it's so hard, it nearly
seems impossible at times. This is an ever relevant
issue that David is dealing with. He wants to
experience joy from salvation. He wants to enjoy
God in salvation and the things of God, but he
can't. Can you relate to that? We don't appreciate
them as we ought to. We're in possession, through
Christ, of the grandest, most supreme realities
that exist. Our fate is tied up with the fate
of the known world, of the universe. Yet we can't
be happy in these things. We're in possession
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet we don't delight
in him as we ought to. We don't show gratitude
to God for redemption as we ought to. Seemingly,
at times, these great realities of salvation
Don't even seem to make a difference in our lives.
They don't even seem to have an effect on us.
This is a universal Christian predicament. Every
single one of us has this issue. Every single
one of us deals with this. You, me. And every
other person who knows the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the reality is that this is a sad thing.
It's a sad thing. It's sad because of what we're
in possession of. And what we're satisfied with.
It's sad because of what we're in possession
of. and what makes us happy in life. It's sad
because of the glorious and the grand realities
we're in possession of through Jesus Christ and
what stirs our hearts. It's sad because of what
we do find enjoyment in. It's sad because we're
in possession of infinite, eternal, gems, infinite
diamonds of mercy, everlasting rubies that outshine
everything in this world. Yet what are we satisfied
with? What are we happy with? Fool's gold. We
settle for that which is meaningless. We settle
for that which has no eternal impact and significance
on our lives. When in reality we are in possession
of Christ who is of infinite good and infinite
worth and infinite value. Yet these things down
here tickle our minds and tickle our ears. They
stir our affections as he ought to. They stir
our affections in our hearts. As these grand
realities ought to. This was David's issue. This
was David's problem, wasn't it? He was in possession
of the same things we're in possession of in
Christ. Yet what did he take pleasure in more
than God and salvation? The flesh. He delighted.
In Bathsheba more than he delighted in Christ.
He enjoyed Bathsheba more than he enjoyed God
himself. It's a sad reality. But there's a reason
that this reality exists. There's a reason that
this discontinuity is present in our lives. The
cause of it. Is sin and corruption within us.
There's this disparity between God and the character
of salvation. And our affections. Because of
sin and corruption within us. Why is that? Because
when sin is prominent in our life. That means
corruption. Becomes more prominent. In our hearts.
Prominence of sin. Lead. To strengthened. And
intensified. Corruption. Within the soul. Thus.
Weakening. The desires and the will. For that
which is holy and righteous. And strengthening
the desires and the will. For that which is what?
Wicked. The prominent principle within our hearts
is that which exerts the most influence on our
desires, on our longings, on our will, on our
decisions, on our thinking. It's that which influences
whether or not we are rejoicing, whether or not
we are loving, whether or not we are... delighting
or being fulfilled in Christ. David gave prominence
to sin and corruption built and that influenced
his heart and stripped him of enjoyment of God
and strengthened his will and his desires and
his longings for that which is wicked. It dulled
him to holy and righteous things. And it enlivened
him to wicked things. So there's a cause for
this discontinuity. And the reality is this.
The truth of the matter is this. We cannot enjoy
God as we ought to in this life. We can't. It's
as though because of sin, And it's corruption.
For some, there are chains on their enjoyment
of God, on their affections, on their joy, on
their pleasure, on their delight, on their satisfaction.
There's chains restraining them and pulling them
down. For others, there's ropes. For others,
there's strings. There's a small line. But the
fact of the matter is, we cannot. Enjoy God as
we ought in this life because of our remaining
sin, because of our remaining corruption, and
also we will not in this life. Those chains,
those ropes, and those strings, they will stay
with us until the day we die and go to the grave.
In the days of your life in this world, you will
never love God as fully as you could. As fully
as you ought to because of the sin within you.
It's true of you. It's true of me. It's true
of every sinner in this life that has a sin nature.
But the day is coming when those strings will
be cut. The day is coming when the chains will
be stripped away. The day is coming when Christ
will call us forth from the grave. The day is
coming when we will enter into the fullness of
the joy. Unlike wicked men who don't know Christ,
who have the fullness of their joy in this life,
their glory in this life, and then they lose
it at the grave. Men who are believers in Jesus
Christ, those who know Christ, the people of
God, they may experience hardship and difficulty
in this life, but when they were raised, Brothers
and sisters, it is unto glory, it is unto life,
and it is unto the fullness of joy. Those chains
will be taken away. And you will love God as
you ought to. You will enjoy God in Christ. As
you can, as God intended, without the restraint
of sin in you. You will delight in the Lord Jesus
Christ and the saving realities which he has
accomplished in a way that you are incapable
of doing so in this life, in this world right
now. We will enter into the fullness of joy.
So we know the cause of this disruption or this
discontinuity. It's sin. Just as it was so for
David, it's sin and corruption within him. The
very presence of corruption within us hinders
us from loving God as we ought to. And willful.
Unrepentant sin greatly, greatly increases and
intensifies our inability to rejoice in the Lord.
It takes away our senses so that we love God
as we ought, so that we're satisfied and fulfilled
in Him. Don't we see that with David? discontinuity
is caused by sin, but it also affects the will.
Because David says in Psalm 51, in the second
half of the verse, verse 12, and sustain me with
a willing spirit. So David is paralleling the
absence of joy with unwillingness. That means
that if he were to have joy, he would be paralleling
it with A willing spirit. Saying there's a relationship
between enjoying God and willing obedience to
God. He's showing us the reality which we all
understand that if we enjoy something, we willingly
take part in that thing. So if we enjoy Christ,
if we delight in God, if our affections are stirred
for the Lord Jesus Christ and these infinite
gems, then that means we're more willing to walk
in a manner that's in step with salvation. We're
more willing to obey the commands of Christ.
We're more willing to walk in accordance with
the salvation of God. But this isn't absolute.
It's not an absolute relationship in that just
because I don't desire Christ doesn't mean I
can't will for obedience. Now, we know that's
present because David is not enjoying God at
the moment. David is not experiencing great joy
in his heart yet. He's exercising his will to
repent of sin and to seek. The face of God through
prayer. This leads us to the way forward to enjoying
God now. David's lost it. And it's important
for us to understand that he didn't lose salvation.
He's lost the enjoyment of that salvation. By
grace, he is in possession of all saving realities.
But that does not mean... That he's receiving,
he's experiencing joy as a result of all these
saving realities. So how do we, after we've lost
it, restore it if possible? We must place duty
before desire. We have to. You don't wait around
for enjoyment of God to obey God. Just because
we don't feel like reading our Bibles. Just because
we don't desire to pray to God. Just because...
I don't desire to go to church and worship. Just
because I don't desire to have an edifying conversation
does not mean that the duty does not still remain.
We can't wait around for desire to obey. The
greatness of God's salvation is unchanging. The
obligations and the commands. of that salvation
and the law of God are unchanging. We must place
duty before desire. That's what David is doing.
We must exercise the will in hopes of bringing
along the desire. So what do you do? when you
don't desire God? What do you do when you don't
enjoy the things of God and salvation? What do
you do when you don't enjoy worshiping God? You
use your will and you obey anyways. Surely, if
there's a relationship between enjoyment of God
and the will, as we see in the text, then there's
also a relationship between the will and our
enjoyment of God. There's times, brothers and
sisters, when you're just going to have to pick
up your desire and take it along for a trip,
whether it wants to go or not, because you have
to obey Christ because he's a good master and
he's a good Lord. Whether or not you feel like
it. Use your mind, use your will, and obey, even
if you don't desire it, even if you don't long
for it, even if you don't enjoy doing it. This
is why Paul exhorts Timothy to discipline yourself
for the purpose of godliness. Because discipline
is not dependent on desire. We have to discipline
ourselves for the purpose of godliness and holiness
in our lives so that we pursue Christ even when
we don't desire Christ. That's what you have
to do and that's what I have to do, brothers
and sisters. When you don't feel like it, will
it? When you don't want it, will it? Do it. And
hopefully, your desires will change gradually.
They will be morphed over time. After all, isn't
this part of sanctification? Isn't this part
of God's gracious work of sanctification in the
life of His people? Will He not graciously change
us and transform us over time? We must also recognize,
we must realize that change within us is never
an excuse to sin against God. Just because something
is going on in your heart does not give you cause
to transgress a holy and a righteous The changes
within us have to take a back seat from time
to time so that we're obedient to his holy and
his righteous requirements of us in this life.
We cannot excuse away our actions. We cannot
excuse away our transgressions, our iniquity,
our slanderous speech. We cannot excuse away
our evil tongue and its consequences. Just because
I'm going through something, just because I'm
dealing with something, the changes within us
are never an opportunity to excuse sin against
a great and a good and a holy God. He doesn't
change. Neither does his grace. But we do. We're
going to. You're going to. You're going to deal
with things in your heart, brothers and sisters.
You're going to go through difficult times. You're
going to have hardships. But don't use those
as opportunities. to sin against God. Use those
as opportunities to grow in godliness and holiness
and faithfulness, to see His faithfulness and
His goodness in your life. In those times, lean
into Christ. Don't pull away from Him. We must
recognize that true enjoyment of God must follow.
genuine repentance of sin. Take Psalm 51 .12
and insert it in the verse 1 of Psalm 51. Restore
to me the joy of your salvation and sustain me
with a willing spirit. What if that were the
first thing David asked in this psalm? What is
the first thing he sought out? The first thing
he pled for prior to repenting of his sin, confessing
his sin, asking for forgiveness, dealing with
his sin. It would be completely backwards. You
cannot enjoy God and salvation while you simultaneously
Revel and enjoy iniquity and sin. If you want
to enjoy God in Christ, if you want to enjoy
grace and mercy, if you want to enjoy those things
in your soul, in your heart, in your mind, you
must give up that sinful thing which you so truly
enjoy. You must forsake it. The reality is we
may have seasons and times in our lives because
of the fall and because of our fallenness and
the corruption within us that we just don't enjoy
God and Christ because of our fallenness. We
don't have to actively and willingly be in sin
to not enjoy God. But there's something broken
within us, brothers and sisters, because of sin.
Things are not what they ought to be all the
time. But the reality is, if you are actively
and willingly clinging to sin, you cannot enjoy
God with certainty. You will not have joy in
Christ. You will not be satisfied and you will
not be fulfilled in the Lord Jesus Christ if
you are actively living in sin and you are refusing
to repent of it. You should not expect to enjoy
him. You should not expect to delight in Christ
because you are delighting and you are being
pleased with sin. So give up that which you enjoy
for something that's so much better. Give up
and lay down the fool's gold. And lay hold of
true riches in the Lord Jesus Christ. It will
be worth it. You will be satisfied and you will
be joyful and you will be hopeful and you will
have an assurance and you will have a confidence
in Christ that fool's gold cannot give you. It's
a lie. It doesn't do anything for you, even though
it sparkles. It's not worth it, brothers and
sisters. We must trust in Christ, knowing that
we can only enjoy salvation by faith in Him.
We cannot feast on the things of God if we are
not feasting on Christ by faith. Are you trusting
him in your life? Are you dependent on him and
him alone for all the saving realities in your
life? Because it's through him and it's by faith
that we can truly enjoy God himself and the things
of salvation.