I have been such a mess, Lord, and you know it … ”Yet… I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:23-26).
Lord Jesus, thank you for the gift of Gospel-renewal—your commitment to meet us where we are, welcome us into your presence, and restore us to the joy of our salvation. And thank you for those, like Asaph, who share their story of Gospel-renewal with us. Like Asaph, the writer of Psalm 73, we own our weakness, our Gospel-amnesia, and heart drift. And, like Asaph, we celebrate that as prone as we are to wander, you are 10,000 times more prone to find us, embrace us, and lavish fresh grace on us. Hallelujah, and thank you.
Jesus, until you return and glorify us, the most spiritually mature among us sing without reservation, “Oh, to grace how great a debtor, daily I’m constrained to be. Let Thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above.”
This isn’t a picture of backsliding, but front-sliding right back into vital communion and robust fellowship with you. In our most sane moments, that’s what we want, Jesus. We want to be able to say with Asaph—all over again, with first-love joy…
“You are heaven to us, Jesus. Nothing compares to the excellency of knowing you, the wonder of being loved by you, the freedom you have given us in the Gospel. You are our treasure, our portion, and our inheritance. Hallelujah what a salvation. Hallelujah what a Savior. Restore. Refuel. Renew us, Jesus.” So Very Amen.