Better than ever

Better than ever

Bible: Psalm 51:9-13

Reading

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me (V.12).

A group of fishermen met in a Scottish pub after a long day of fishing. As one was talking about a catch to his friends, his arm swept across the table and knocked a glass against the wall, shattering it and leaving a stain on the white plaster. The guy said sorry to the barman and offered to pay for the damage, but there was nothing he could do; the wall was marked. Another man seated nearby said, “Don’t worry.” He took a pencil and brush from his pocket and began to sketch around the ugly stain. Slowly it turned into the head of a magnificent stag. The man was Sir E. H. Landseer, Scotland’s most famous animal artist. David, Israel’s most famous king and writer of Psalm 51, did some terrible and selfish things. He slept with the wife of one of his friends and then arranged the death of that friend to cover his tracks. By God’s law, David deserved to die. It would seem his life was ruined. But he said to God: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (PSALM 51:12). Like David we have done bad things and messed up in our past—or maybe even today. We may feel sick and worried about what we’ve done.

The thought of it all goes round our minds and stops us sleeping. There’s so much we wish we could undo or redo. Thanks be to God who, in His love, not only forgives all our wrongs but can even use them to teach us and make us better than before. God wastes nothing.

GOD HAS BOTH AN ALL-SEEING EYE

AND ALL-FORGIVING HEART.

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries