Supernatural Joy

Psalm 51:12-13

We just saw how David was reliant on grace. We saw earlier that he was also reliant on mercy, how he was open and honest with God, how he requested to be cleansed, and how he was genuine. In these verses we see something David really missed, something he likely didn’t even know he had until it was gone.

That something is what we read about in verse twelve. David asks God to, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit.” What does David mean by the joy of His salvation? This joy is an ever-present, potentially forgotten about gift of salvation. It is not the joyful feeling that the world preaches; it is not a feeling at all.

Joy is a fruit of the spirit. Much like love and peace, the world tends to think we possess these fruits based on what we feel. Do we always feel love for our spouse? Do we always feel at peace when looking at our finances? No, we do not, but that does not mean we do not possess these fruits. We can still love our spouse even when they seem unlovable. We can still be at peace when we get an unexpected bill in the mail. The key to maintaining this love and peace is God. It is supernatural because, as we have seen, we are a sinful, wicked people, in need of daily grace.

Joy is similar. We can have supernatural joy even in the most trying circumstances; however, this is not possible when we are backsliding. When we have stopped walking with God and are unrepentant over our sins, that is when we can no longer feel supernatural joy.

To go even further, because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, I believe that we cannot have the "joy" that even the world can possess. The Holy Spirit works tirelessly, poking and prodding at our hearts in hopes that we will repent and be restored. He is not trying to guilt us into repentance, but He is lovingly trying to bring us back to where we can be most joyful, most loving, and most peaceful. David even calls Him “generous” in this verse.

I believe there is an underlying joy when we are obedient. As I have mentioned earlier, it may be something we forget about or don’t even notice. When it becomes evident is when we begin to fall away. I can remember just a few months ago when I was growing in my walk with God and then suddenly I began to slip. About a week later it became evident to me that I was getting more easily agitated and more selfish than usual. As I was walking and praying this verse popped up in my head and I realized that I had lost my joy. My disobedience had caused me to lose my joy and I needed to repent of my sins, turn back to Him, and obey if I wanted it to be restored. I am thankful that He, in His grace, is always ready to forgive and restore that joy for us.

David also recognizes that he could lose this supernatural joy if he falls again and so he asks that the Holy Spirit hold him and help him up when he falls. As mentioned earlier, the Holy Spirit is our great Helper. He is always working in our hearts trying to make us more like Him. He is there to warn us when we are putting ourselves in harms way. That is why David requests that He hold him up and keep him from falling again.

We must be careful not to quench the Spirit (something Paul specifically warns against in 1 Thessalonians 5:19). We quench the Spirit when we ignore his warnings and give into sin. The more we do this the more we are putting out the flame that is the Holy Spirit. I recall an analogy given during a sermon when the pastor said that the Holy Spirit is a fire. When we ignore His warnings it is like we are spraying Him with a spray bottle. The more we ignore Him the smaller the flame and the easier it gets to sin. Quenching the Spirit will open us up to more frequent sins and more severe sins and will destroy our walk with Him and our example of what a Christian should be.

In verse twelve we see how this supernatural joy will help glorify God. David writes, “Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You.” By having this supernatural joy we can stand out. Unbelievers will see something different in us. We do not have temporary happiness but a lasting joy, something every person desires. By others seeing our supernatural joy we glorify God’s Name because other’s will want to know the God Who gives incredible gifts and because we will (or should) attribute all praise to Him for this joy since we know all our good deeds are filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

God gives the best gifts to His children. We just need to be obedient to Him, heeding the warnings of the Holy Spirit when we are tempted to fall into temptations. Let us not forget the supernatural joy that we attained the day we were saved. Let us remain obedient so as to keep it. And let us use it to be a witness to others and glorify our Father in heaven Who is worthy of all our praise!

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