Verse of the Day for December 6

David does not ask for his salvation back. He asks for the joy of thy salvation. He knew the difference. You can belong to God and still lose the gladness of it.

The psalm was written after Bathsheba and Uriah, after a plan that went terribly wrong because David made it go wrong. His life had changed shape, and not in the way he would have chosen.

Look at his first fear in verse eleven: Cast me not away from thy presence. Not cast me out of the palace. His deepest fear was distance from God, and his deepest want was the joy that comes from nearness.

Then something unexpected. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways. The man who failed becomes the man who teaches failures. The broken plan is not wasted. It becomes the very thing he has to offer.

When plans change, whether a job ends or a relationship closes or you are the one who broke something, the first prayer is not for the old plan back. It is for the joy. Pray it on the bus home. Then watch who God sends you to help.

Losing the gladness is not the same as losing God.

Your worst chapter may be what equips you to help someone else.