†

THE GREAT FEAST

(A Renewed Spirit)

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; And /renew/ a steadfast spirit within me."

Ps. 50:10

We may have prayed this Psalm many times without realizing that it has

the power of resurrection hidden within it. For when David prayed it,

there was much that had /died /in his life: his purity, his spiritual

strength, and his child. He found himself on his knees; he wept in agony

all that night over the devastation wrought in his life by one moment’s

sin. Psalm 50 was a heart-felt petition for God to lift him out of his

pit and grant him renewed life. It was a request for resurrection.

Everything had died, including his joy. But by God’s mercy, all was

brought back to life. His purity was replaced by a fervent holiness; his

lost strength was renewed into a healthy vitality; and in place of his

dead son arose the great Solomon.

Everything in human life that is sustained by itself, and is not

continually renewed by God’s grace, quickly dies. Every friendship,

every pursuit, every belief, everything that gives delight—including the

spiritual life—tends to fade away and die out in course of time. If any

of these is to have lasting significance, it must be /renewed /constantly.

We have all felt the bitter experience. Our best friendship suddenly

grows cold; our exciting new job becomes monotonous; our once warm and

exuberant faith is now stuck in the mud—all things meet their human end.

It is what happens when a person shifts the focus from God to the thing

itself. That relationship or job which was once a delight because it was

for God’s glory has now become a source of delight in itself; and so it

must naturally die. Resurrection is now needed. And only God’s blessing

can do this work. New life and meaning can be breathed into these dead

bones. But the breath must come from the nostrils of God.

If something precious has "died" in your life, do not worry excessively.

It may be an indication that you have let it run on its own fuel for too

long. You have come to admire it excessively on its own merits, and the

gift has become more important than the Giver. Our blessed Savior, in

His love, has let it die; but if you trust the entire situation to Him,

He always intends to raise in its place something very new, fresh, and

wonderful.

During this 50-day period of celebration, let us all beseech God for

renewal of every detail of our worn lives. Life should not be weary!

Christ did not come to die and rise in power to lead a troupe of weak,

disappointed Christians. But we will always be disappointed if we accept

life the way the world normally does. For to Christ, "normal" is far

below standard. "In Your presence is /fullness of joy/; At Your right

hand are pleasures forevermore" (Ps. 16:11). Nowhere, absolutely

nowhere, will we find this "fullness of joy" except in Christ. And He

grants it most fully to us by the power of resurrection working in our

lives.