Restore Unto Me the Joy of My Salvation
Today I read of heartbreaking news. One of my favorite worship leaders and his wife has gotten a divorce after 20 years of marriage and a moral sin. While I, a single/divorced woman who aspires to be remarried to the one the Lord has for me, this news shakes me a little. Here goes another notable couple that has surrendered to divorce. I hate divorce, but that’s another story…
What surrounds me though is the idea of his public confession. His ownership of the failure, the admitted attempts to make it right and the ownership of the loss.
I am reminded that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, or as it is written in Romans 3:23 (NLT), For everyone has sinned; we ALL (emphasis added) fall short of God’s glorious standard. We let God down in the struggle of our humanity and our divinity; and in the constant warring of our flesh and our spirit (Galatians 5:17).
While there are many verses that remind us of our victory in Christ, our defeat of our flesh and our regard of the law, repeatedly verses remind us to “Keep his commandments”(1 Jn 5:3, Ecc 12:13, Jn 14:15, 1 Jn 2:3, more).
The real truth is that Christ has been the only person of record without a spot or a blemish. He successfully, albeit not without his own struggles or dark night of the soul, accepted his fate and walked victoriously. There is question of all the others – dead and alive…
As I am reading tonight and repenting of my own failures I find comfort in David’s confession in Psalms 51. Most evident for me is David’s acknowledgement in verse 6 (kjv), “Beloved, thou desireth truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom”.
When David was confronted by the Prophet Nathan with his own sin (2 Sam 12:1-25) he was in denial until the prophet revealed its’ truth and he was forced to acknowledge his own sin (v.13). Often times we look at the lives of others with judgment until God reveals His truth… its’ truth… our heart’s truth…the truth that we really did not do what was right by God’s word and we knew it in the moment. We saw the bright red stop signs and the bright yellow yield signs and the many other opportunities and moments of clarity where God tried to intervene and to dissuade. If we are honest with ourselves and with the Holy Spirit, who is our version of Nathan the prophet, we can hear Donnie McClurkin serenading us with …
”we fall down but we get up
…for a saint is just a sinner who fell down
…and got up”
What we “fell to” may not have been sexual immorality as with this worship leader or King David…it could be as mundane as taking (stealing) paper clips from your job, but it’s still stealing
…and a sin.
So while our serenade is playing…let’s reflect on our own journey to see how and where we can start anew.
How can we own what we have done and or who we have become that God can replace our sin with wisdom – the ability to learn from what we did…and receive His forgiveness so we can continue on the journey?
After David acknowledged his sin he received the forgiveness of the Lord for his life in exchange for that of his son. David prayed, fasted and most likely wept, but let me share the rest of David’s story with you…
“Then David got up from the floor, washed himself, put lotions on, and changed his clothes. Then he went into the Lord’s house to worship. After that he went home and asked for something to eat. His servants gave him food, and he ate.” (v.20) That passage of Scripture goes on to tell us that David went home, slept with his wife and had another son whom the Lord loved, Solomon.
There is life after our failures.
This beloved worship leader will go on with his life and in the things God has called him to.
So will his wife.
So will you.
God’s love awaits…
