Mar 30 Dancing in the rain

Mar 30

Dancing in the Rain

Ps 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation

 That which should have brought joy was the cause of disappointment. It had been that way for weeks and there was no sign of relief, but we looked daily with anticipation for some rain. Normally a blue sky sunny day is a pleasant day, but without any rain for several weeks we were hoping for a day of rain. The day had started the same sunny, dry way every day started, until sometime in the afternoon huge drops of rain began to fall.

My wife and I noticed the rain at about the same time and without a word, or any planning we both hurried outside, grabbed each other’s hands and began to dance around on the driveway as rain fell on us. We were so filled with joy for the rain we could not contain it all. We were far beyond happy; we were so joyful and delighted we just had to dance in the rain.

In our verse for today David is writing after his great sin of adultery, murder, deceit and ungodliness had been exposed. The full weight of his multitude of sins had driven him to his knees. His joy was gone! It had been replaced by guilt, shame, failure, and a broken spirit. Read psalm 51 to appreciate just how dejected David felt because of his sins. 

Where had his joy gone and how could he get it back. The 51^st psalm gives the steps needed. It is noteworthy that an otherwise obedient life can be so badly wrecked with a single season of sin. David was otherwise an obedient servant to the Lord.

1Ki 15:5 Because David did that which was right in

the eyes of the LORD, and turned not aside from

any thing that he commanded him all the days

of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

He had known the joy of the Lord, but now all that had changed. He lost some things he would never regain. But he did not lose his faith. He knew the God of forgiveness, mercy and grace, and appealed to Him for restoration. He pleads for mercy and cleansing. (Vrs 1-2) He confessed his sins. (vrs 3-4)  The remaining verses talk of his unworthiness, and Gods righteousness. This is the place we all need to come when our conscience roars against us, deprives us of sleep and breaks our spiritual bones.

But our verse for today is about our joy. We may not have followed David’s sinful path but may have still lost our joy. Where did it go? Did we use it up? Did it wander away when we were preoccupied? The Book of Philippians talks of giving away our happiness to things, people and circumstances. But our joy is still there. It has not wandered off. We did not forget and leave it somewhere. We still have the joy of our salvation.  But it is sometimes neglected, unused, or disabled by sin as in David’s case. Assuming you do not have a roaring guilty conscience due to murdering someone, what prevents us from the kind of joy that makes us dance in the rain?

The burdens of life sometimes bury our joy so it is not bubbling over. We are all busy, and claim there is not enough time to stop and smell the roses. But we all are given the same amount of time. Claiming we do not have time is not an excuse. It is an admission that we did not choose to take time. We spent our time on something else. Even the busiest of us can choose to take a few minutes to think of how blessed we are and all the reasons for us to be filled with joy.

Other times we pass right by joyful things with no notice. I recently read that if the stars only came out once a year we would all stay up to look at them. Perhaps we should stop some starry evening and look at the stars and feel the joy of knowing the God of creation.

Regaining our joy may require us to repeat David’s prayer for restored joy after acknowledging our failings (sins), and drawing on both the mercy of God and the grace of God.

When you finish reading this, may I encourage you to get up from your computer and take a deep breath and ponder the great things in life that God has given you to bring you great happiness and joy in the Lord. We do not do that often enough, and thus our joy becomes covered with dust from just sitting there unused.

If something is repeated two or three times in our Bible we should pay special attention to it. The word “joy” appears 60 times in just the New Testament. Here are some verses to aid you in becoming exuberantly joyful today!

 

Mt 2:10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

1Jo 1:4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

Ga 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

 

1Pe 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 

Joy Unspeakable and full of Glory!  Hallelujah what a Savior.

May God bless you today and fill you with His joy. 

 Now go find a reason to “dance in the rain”.