1. “Restore the Joy” Psalm 51
1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Psalm 51

2. “JOY”
Today we are going to talk about Joy. The English Standard Bible list the words Joy, Rejoice and joyful about 430 and happy or happiness only about 10 times(ESV)et al Crosswalk.com. In the passage we just read about David desires to have the “Joy of his salvation restored. The world’s definition of joy is different from what we will talk about today Miram Webster

3. THE WORLD’S DEFINITION OF JOY(Miriam Webster)
1a : the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight
Defines joy as an emotion evoked by well being, success, or good fortune or the prospect of possessing what one desires. Joy goes deeper than that the world would tell you to have joy you would have to predicate it with materialism, possessions

4. The world’s viewpoint of Happiness is predicated on:
Materialism
Power
Prestige
Popularity
The world has a wrong view of happiness. Happiness is not joy. Joy is a physical and temporary response to an emotion that flutters the heart through temporary gratifications. Instead the bible says to, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy. Matter of fact, Joy is an emotion that is given by the Holy Spirit. Galations 5:22-23 Galatians 5:22-23 New International Version (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

5. TRUEJOY PRECEDES TRUE GLADNESS
The gladness that the world has for non-spiritual things is temporary. David had come to know this. In his endeavor to replace true Joy with his sin he found out how damaging it was to his real Joy in the Lord. There for Joy is Relational. It is relational to a day to day walk with the Lord.

6. TRUEJOY PRECEDES TRUE GLADNESS
New International Version Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,- James 1:2
If Joy and Happiness are truly the same thing as defined by the world then what is this verse truly about?

7. Joy of the Lord is Relational
David, in order to restore this relationship asked several things of the Lord.
First- He asks for the lord to be Gracious to Him. To show him favor with Love, Compassion and forgiveness Psalm 51:1
Secondly- He ask for full restoration. His guilt ate at David. His guilt for one sin led to covering it up and led to murder. It was so bad that the guilt was Ever Present

8. David’s sin was ever present
“3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.”
David also knew that His life was a call to faithfulness to God.

9. David knew he had not been faithful to God
“6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;”
Have you ever had a good friend? Then one day the friend just didn’t want to spend time with you? You go through different emotions and scenarios and your trying to find out exactly what it was that you did. David knew what he did. He knew he had been unfaithful to his relationship with the Lord. His sin had broken the ability to have that relationship, not only enheritantly but also because of David’s actions.

10. David reached to God for his reconciliation
“7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. “
Hyssop was a scrubby type bush in the mint family. In the Bible it was used in different ways. Some physical and some in a spiritual reference.
Leviticus 14 speaks to the plant being used in ceremonies for cleanliness of a leper, or a house that contained mold. In Exodus 12 it was used as a paint brush at the Passover. Jesus was offered wine vinegar on the end of a reed or stalk at his crucifixion. In this case it spoke of cleaning David’s life and his household. The Hyssop plant was used for scrubbing(scouring). The blotting of his iniquity pictured by the blood at the door post of Passover.

11. JOY of the Lord is Strength
In Times of Justice
-Proverbs 21:15
When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.

12. JOY of the Lord is Strength
When God Works through His Spirit & Through His Word
Nehemiah 8:11-12
After the Israelites returned from Exile they called on Ezra to bring the book of the law to read. And in front of the Water Gate he reads to the people from the light of day until mid day (basically from 6 AM to 12N. The people weeped for their condition spiritually yet Nehemiah says in verse 9 that the day is holy and not weep. In verse 10 it is said “Do not greive, because the JOY of the LORD is our strength. The word of God convicts us, just like David was convicted by the words of the prophet Nathan. But we also know that scripture is given to us to complete us.

13. Scripture assist in making the Joy of the Lord Complete 2 Timothy 3: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
The Bible it’s self says that the Word of God is

14. Scripture assist in making the Joy of the Lord Complete 1 John 1:3-4 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our[a] joy complete.
John also said this.

15. JOY is the product of salvation
Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. – 1 Peter 1:8-9

16. JOY is the response from being with the Lord
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Proverbs 16:11
These last few slides are pretty self explanatory. Is the Joy you felt when you were first a Christian now faded? This points the question of if you are living in a relationship that is real and personal with the Lord of All- Jesus Christ. Has sin and the world’s definition of JOY stolen your peace, perhaps your log suffering too. We all struggle but like David knew, God could mend the relationship. Because God is Love, he doesn’t force that relationship on us. He is willing to be with us if we just take the time to be with Him. 1 John 1:9 says He is Faithful He is Just to forgive us from all unrighteousness.(go to invitation, Ask someone to pray so I can get to piano)