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Psalm 51:12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.
11Don’t throw me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Uphold me with a willing spirit.
13Then I will teach transgressors your ways. Sinners will be converted to you.
14Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation. My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
Notice
“Restore” names a joy that has been lost, while “Uphold” expresses the need for God’s help to sustain a willing spirit.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What do you long to recover when you pray for the joy of God’s salvation?
Write on thisWhere do you need God’s help to become willing, rather than just determined?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Isaiah 41:10Don’t you be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. Yes, I will uphold you with the …The plea to be upheld in Psalm 51 shares its central word with God’s promise in Isaiah to uphold his people.
Psalm 23:3He restores my soul. He guides me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.Both psalms look to God for restoration: Psalm 51 asks for restored joy, and Psalm 23 speaks of a restored soul.
2 Corinthians 3:17Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.Both speak of spirit in relation to God, though Psalm 51 asks for willingness and Corinthians names the Lord’s Spirit and liberty.
Psalm 13:5But I trust in your loving kindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation.Joy in God’s salvation is the shared thread: Psalm 51 asks for its return, while Psalm 13 expresses it.
Psalm 37:17For the arms of the wicked shall be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.Psalm 51 asks God to uphold the speaker, and Psalm 37 declares that the Lord upholds the righteous.
Isaiah 61:10I will greatly rejoice in the LORD! My soul will be joyful in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of …Both passages connect joy with God’s salvation, one through a plea for restoration and the other through praise.
Jude 1:24Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy,Both connect joy with dependence on God’s sustaining help: Psalm 51 asks to be upheld, and Jude praises God’s ability to prevent stumbling.
Psalm 119:116–117Uphold me according to your word, that I may live. Let me not be ashamed of my hope.Both prayers ask God to uphold the speaker, linking continued life and willingness to his help.
Luke 1:47My spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,Both locate joy in God’s saving work: Psalm 51 seeks its restoration, while Luke expresses rejoicing in God the Savior.
Jeremiah 31:9–14They will come with weeping. I will lead them with petitions. I will cause them to walk by rivers of waters, in a straight way in which they won’t stumble; for …Both look to God for sustaining help: Psalm 51 asks to be upheld, and Jeremiah describes God leading Israel without stumbling.
Isaiah 57:17–18I was angry because of the iniquity of his covetousness and struck him. I hid myself and was angry; and he went on backsliding in the way of his heart.The connection is sin’s setting: Psalm 51 seeks renewal amid confession, while Isaiah describes God’s anger at a heart continuing in rebellion.
Romans 8:2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.Both look to God for saving help, though Romans speaks of freedom in Christ rather than the restoration of joy.
Where this verse fits
Guilt and confession. feeling distant from God.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
You do not have to manufacture joy before asking God to restore it. This prayer depends on him for joy in his salvation and help to remain willing.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).