Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Psalm 51:8 ESV

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Psalm 51:8 NIV

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David expresses the depths of his anguish and conviction for his sin here. He attributes this brokenness of mind over his condition and deep-rooted conviction to the Holy Spirit. For the Christian, there are times in our sin or reflection of our sin that we too feel this way. The mental agony that is intermingled with deep conviction feels so painful as if our bones were crushed. To a certain extent, this is a good thing. We are reminded of our adulterous and rebellious nature toward God and are reminded of His Holiness which highlights the immense gap between us. We recognize the need for repentance and the depths of our sin. However, we aren’t meant to sit and wallow in our transgressions forever. Guilt, shame, and an unhealthy focus on oneself will follow closely behind. Satan wants to keep us in the second half of this verse–– broken. If he can get us to focus on ourselves and how we will never measure up to God’s standard, we might just forget Christ and the joy and gladness brought through Him. We might just forget that it was never about us working our way into reconciliation with God and trying to live an admirable life, but it has always been about us recognizing that we never can and are in desperate need of Someone to do it for us. 

So maybe as you are reading this right now, you are in the midst of anguish. You are battling deep-seated guilt and feel far from God. Take a moment to pray the words of this psalm out to God. Repent and ask Christ to allow you to feel joy and gladness once more. Key in on what David is asking to receive from God: mercy, compassion, cleansing, joy, purification, nearness, and restoration to name a few. David knows to ask for these things from God because he knows God. He is described as a man after God’s own heart.