(Psalm 51:12-15 NLT) Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.
This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.” Yesterday I told you that “Sin disrupts your intimacy with the Father” and that “While sin DOES NOT break your relationship with God, it does disrupt your fellowship with Him.” The passage we cover this morning helps to further elaborate on this point. So let’s dive straight into the “So what does this mean to you today?” portion of the message.
1. Wallowing in sin will strip you of your joy. David said to God, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” What David did not realize was that God never took his joy. God was not pleased with what David did and He required David to pay a price for it, but God never took his joy. David’s joy was stripped when he wallowed in the sin he committed. David lost his joy focusing on his sin. The same will happen to you if you become more sin-conscious than God-conscious. I told you yesterday that “God is not holding the sin over your head, you are. It’s not like God needed to wait until Thursday to find out what you were going to do on Thursday. He called you and blessed you before the foundations of the world, in spite of the many times he knew you were going to mess up. But if YOU focus on the sin, YOU will allow it to keep you from the intimacy Jesus died to give you.” When you put more emphasis on the sin you committed than on Jesus’ finished work, you become your own joy-thief. So the message is simple: receive forgiveness, FORGIVE YOURSELF (this is very important), and move on.
2. Wallowing in sin will make it hard for you to obey God. David said to God, “Make me willing to obey you.” If David was not willing to obey God, it had nothing to do with God. You and I both know that the measure of our willingness to obey God is based upon the condition of our heart and not God’s willingness. God was not the one making David feel unworthy, satan was, and he will do the same to you. Satan knows that if he can get you to wallow in your sin, then he does not have to defeat you, you defeat yourself. You won’t muster up the courage to attempt the SuperNatural for God while you are wallowing in sin, because being sin-conscious will make you feel unworthy and inadequate. Being Grace-conscious will make you realize that you are not worthy and that you will never be, but Jesus made you worthy and God wants to use you because He is good, not because you are. And when God uses people who are clearly not perfect, God gets the glory and not man!
3. Wallowing in sin will keep you from fulfilling your purpose. David said to God, “Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.” David was basically saying that if God would restore his joy, then he would evangelize the lost by sharing the good news of God’s goodness. This was part of David’s purpose in life and he was supposed to be doing it. God was not keeping him from it, David was keeping himself from his purpose by wallowing in sin. While David got past this point and he was able to move on in life, the point is that if while you are wallowing in sin you are never going to conjure up the confidence to do what God called you to do. So stop wallowing in sin! Receive the forgiveness Jesus died to give you and pursue your purpose with all your might.
4. Wallowing in sin will rob you of your praise. David said to God, “Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you.” David admitted that his praise was on delay. His lips were sealed while we was waiting on God’s forgiveness. God did not seal his lips and God did not delay his praise, David did that to himself while he was more focused on his sin than his God. And this will happen to you if you do the same. You are going to sin. I am not speaking negative over you and I am not operating outside of faith. John said, “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth” (1 John 1:8). If you say you don’t sin, you are basically lying. I did not call you a liar, the Bible did. So the issue is not whether or not you are going to sin. The issue is: how quickly will you recover from your sin? If you wallow in your sin, then we have learned today that it will strip you of your joy, praise, confidence and willingness to obey God. So don’t do it. Quickly repent, access the forgiveness Jesus died to give you, forgive yourself and move on by faith. You will not enjoy life wallowing in sin. God does not want to use you because you are sinless, He wants to use you because you are forgiven.
Closing Confession: Father, Your grace is amazing to me and I am extremely thankful that You extend grace and mercy towards me. Jesus died for my sin (all of them); past, present and future. When Jesus was on the cross all my sins were future to Him. He did not die for a portion of my sins, He died for them all. Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe, my sin had left a crimson stain, but He washed me white as snow. When I received Jesus as Lord I was forgiven of all my sin. I was washed by the Blood of Jesus and I am now clean by Your grace. I am not perfect, but I am forgiven. I know I will sin and I know I won’t be perfect, but I refuse to allow the mistakes I make to keep me from Your best. I will not lose the joy of my salvation by wallowing in sin and I refuse to lose my praise. I maintain Your joy in my heart. I rejoice in You, even when I know I have done wrong. I quickly repent, I receive forgiveness, I forgive myself, and I move on with Your joy in my heart, a smile on my face, praise on my lips and a spring in my step! I shall never lose my praise! I am focused on fulfilling Your divine purpose for my life. If I wallow in sin, I won’t have the confidence to pursue Your Kingdom plans and purposes for me, therefore, I refuse to wallow in sin. I quickly repent and I pursue my purpose with all my might. I am determined to arrive at Your desired destination for my life and I shall not allow the condemnation that comes from sin to keep me from Your best. Jesus died for my sin, sin has no power over me, and when I do sin I won’t allow it to keep me down. Your Grace picks me up, dusts me off, and tells me to keep going. I declare that I will! In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
