When We Fall, God Restores Joy: The Power of a New Song in Our Hearts

Lee Young
Oct 22
2 min read

Psalm 51:12

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (NIV)

David wrote a lyric and sang a song.

When we read our passage for this week, it is important to note that it is a song of David at a very low point in his life. He was king, and God had blessed him tremendously. In fact, his blessings had kept Israel from losing a battle. As king, David would regularly go out as the general of the army to direct his troops, but God’s favor was so strong that the chances of losing were minimal. One day, David decided to stay home from battle. This is when he was tempted by a woman bathing. Though he knew she was married, he took her anyway, and she became pregnant. He brought her husband, a soldier, back from war hoping he would sleep with her and hide his sin. But her husband was loyal to his men, who were unable to enjoy their wives, so he never went to her. David sent him back with orders to place him on the front lines to ensure his death. David, a man after God’s own heart, had just committed adultery and murder. When conviction came, we can only imagine the depth of his guilt and shame. So what did David do? He wrote a song and sang to the Lord.

This verse is the point of the entire song. He desperately wanted to be restored to the Lord. We can imagine this as the highest point—the climax—of the song. It helped him move forward, knowing God’s forgiveness and grace. He did find his joy again soon.

We are often commanded by the Lord to sing. Scripture teaches that the Lord will often put a new song in our hearts. He wants us to sing.

Singing—when we truly sing—moves us. It is not merely the motion of our lips, but an act of passion and deep emotion. We use our voices and our bodies to move our hearts and spirits back toward the Lord.

We have sinned beyond what we sometimes think we are capable of doing. Through repentance, God appoints our songs and music as instruments of restoration and renewed joy. Sometimes, we just need to sing to the Lord from the depths of our souls. He will come to us and restore the joy of our salvation.

Prayer:

Lord, when we are overwhelmed with guilt and sorrow, teach us to sing to You in worship and praise as You bring joy back to our hearts.