Have you ever found yourself weighted down from something you have done? You know it was wrong, but you made the decision to do it anyway.
You may feel dirty, sad, mad or some other emotion, but mostly you feel guilt, that heavy weight around your neck that steals your joy. In (Psalm 51) we read about King David. He had committed adultery and had someone killed. He knew it was wrong and the weight of his sin was robbing him of his joy.

Psalm 5:1-13

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts, you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. 7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. 10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then will I teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.

David recognized that his sin was not just against people, his sin was against God. David wanted what he wanted and set aside what he knew was right to have what he desired. That was Bathsheba. He went as far as making sure her husband died. He chose to rebel against God’s ways. He lusted in his heart and ultimately carried out that lust in the flesh.

He was ashamed of his behavior, his failure weighed heavy on his heart and mind. He knew that he had been a sinner since he was conceived in the womb. Our natural sinful nature is always wanting what it wants and as believers, the old nature is always rearing his or her head to have what it wants. David sought forgiveness from the very one he had offended. There was no other way to rid himself of the weight of his sin. He fell on the mercy of God asking for forgiveness and knowing that God is faithful to forgive us when we truly repent. The natural consequences of our sin do not go away, we usually have to live that out, but God can change us, cleanse us and help us to have new thoughts and new behaviors when we surrender our will to his.

David wanted his joy restored and the only one who could restore it was the same one he sinned against (God), the same one who forgave him (God). Only God can change our behavior, only God can cleanse us from our sins, only God can give us the joy back that our sin and this world try to steal.
David believed God would forgive him and had forgiven him. It is only when we truly believe that God forgives us that joy can be found. We must accept the forgiveness of God. We cannot fully enjoy Jesus until we understand that Jesus enjoys and loves us. He wants to forgive you. David understood that, do you?

If you are living under the weight of sin, there is forgiveness. Jesus dies for those sins, all that is required is true repentance. Go to him as David did, ask him to forgive you, to restore you and to fill you once again. He can and He will; then let joy start filling you up again from the inside out. There is nothing more beautiful or handsome on someone than a person who is at peace with God, it radiates from deep within and you cannot miss it!