6 Minute Read + Scripture readings
Today’s Bible Reading:
Today’s Bible Verse(s):
Psalm 85:6 (CSB): “Will you not revive us again so that your people may rejoice in you?”
Reflections on Today’s Bible Verse(s):
At our core, all of us essentially want to be happy. A desire for inner joy drives every choice we make. Whether we are determining what to eat, what or wear, or who to marry, each desire is made against the backdrop of wanting to be happy.
However, there are often things that come into our lives that try to squelch our happiness. Sometimes, it’s stress. Sometimes, it’s loneliness. Sometimes, it’s conflict.
One thing that will rob us of happiness as quickly as anything else is sin. When we violate God’s laws and determine to do what we want to do, we might get a temporary happiness but it works against the inner joy that we could have.
Why? Because we have lost the fellowship with our God that is the primary source of our happiness. We were made to enjoy our God and sin robs us of that happiness.
So, the Psalmist was asking God to restore his happiness. He was asking to be “revived.” That essentially means that he wanted to wake up from his spiritual slumber.
While we can ask God to revive us, there are things that we must do for ourselves.
2 Chronicles 7:14–15 (CSB): “and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.”
We must:
- Humble ourselves before the Lord, acknowledging and submitting to His rule over our life.
- Pray and seek His face which means we hunger to know and experience Him. We won’t have happiness in our relationship with Him if we aren’t passionately, wholeheartedly pursuing Him.
- Turn from our wicked ways. We acknowledge sin, even the smallest acts of disobedience, as wickedness. We abhor it, agree with the Lord that it is wrong, ask for His forgiveness, and turn from it with the passionate desire never to do it again.
We were made to enjoy our God. We crave to be happy. Ultimately, that happiness is met in relationship with God when we have a clear conscience.
Are you enjoying that happiness right now? If not, you may need to join the Psalmist in praying for personal revival and then working toward it.
If you are sincere in your desire to get spiritually cleaned so that you can be happy in the Lord, the greatest biblical resource that I have found is Nancy Leigh DeMoss’ workbook, “Seeking Him.” I am convinced that if you purchased the resource and then prayerfully, reflectively worked through it, you may experience a joy in the Lord that you didn’t even know was possible.
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Lord Jesus, when I read Your Word, I realize that You were never pleased with people simply going about doing religious stuff. You wanted people’s hearts. You loved them and You desired for them to experience the joy of feeling that love and loving You back. That being said, there are things that I have allowed in my life that have robbed me of that joy. I am tired of enjoying less than what You have for me. I want the joy of my salvation back. Help me as I take intentional steps to get it back. Amen.
Matt’s Musings 