“Create in me a clean heart O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
As is the case with all that God commands us to be and to do, so the matter of one’s soul being restored is only possible by the direct intervention of God. Often this does not appear to be the case, because we major on “more important” things, and do not see the importance, nor the impossibility, of it in and of ourselves. Just as God moves mountains in His will, or sends fire to fall upon a sacrifice as we see in the life and experience of Elijah, so in the matter of the restoring of the soul, it is God’s work from beginning to end. It is for this reason that we can can have hope, not a whimsical possibility of a work accomplished in the heart, mind, and soul, but an experience of the blessed God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the Spirit of God accomplishes the anticipated end, the very will of God. In other words, it is not only possible to have one’s soul restored, but a certainty, when the appeal is to God alone, according to His way. “Faithful is He who calls us who also WILL do it.” (1 Thess. 5:24)
Let’s begin our consideration of this subject by asking, “What does it mean to have our souls restored?” In Psalm 51, that great confessional psalm of David, we discover that the need of the restoration is born out of something having to do with sin, either by the committing of sin, or being brought under its crushing influence. In the case of David, if ever there was a need to be “restored,” he is a perfect example. The first thing we discover about David in this psalm, is that his sin put him in a position where the MERCY of God alone could reach him. So grievous were his sins, so wicked were his transgressions and iniquities, that his first, and great appeal was to God’s mercy, His “lovingkindness,” and His “tender mercies.” How could David, with the guilt, remorse, and crushing weight of conviction, even come to God, with the hope of His intervention, and remedy? It is because of his knowledge of God, of His character, His nature. Here is a little, sinful man, who is before his Maker, and Redeemer. Nothing is hidden from Him. David’s only recourse is an approach to Him, that God will accept. David must come God’s way, and he does.
The beginning point of the restoration of the soul begins with the honest, defenseless, approach to God, accompanied by the appeal for the THOROUGH washing, and cleansing, from iniquity, sin, and transgression. David believes God wills, and can, cleanse him thoroughly, and that nothing else is acceptable. Secondly, he is open, and receptive, to God’s reproof, and the realization that God’s judgement is just, and acceptable. He pursues the matter of being absolutely truthful with God, by not seeking to hide anything from Him. His appeal is for cleanness, to become, divinely “whiter than snow.” Perhaps the greatest summation of the “way back to God,” and God’s restoring of his soul, is found in his words: “Create in me a clean heart O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Ps. 51:10) He even goes so far as to pray, “Restore unto me the JOY of Thy salvation.” (v.12) Restoration of the soul is a restoration of heart, mind, soul, spirit and body, to God, according to his truth, ways, and person. To be rightly related with God, by the cleansing power of the blood of Christ, and be re-oriented, and realigned with the mind of Christ, is to be in a position to know again, that joy of the Lord, the peace that passes understanding, and the realization of the hope, the certainty, of God’s work to bring us certainly again into fellowship with Him.
God’s means of bringing us to this restoration of soul begins in the stillness, the quietness. It is there that He leads and teaches us, causing our cup to run over.
Dear Lord, Restore our souls today, filling us with Thy overflowing joy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.