We need to Have a Steadfast Spirit, a Willing Spirit, and a Repenting Spirit

After receiving the Lord Jesus into our heart as our Lord and Savior at the time of our regeneration, we believers became different. We are no longer merely men, we are God-men, Christ-men, and Spirit-men. Now we have the Triune God living in us, in our spirit, and in everything we learn to turn to Him and live by Him.

Whether we like it or not, we are no longer like the rest of the people on earth – we love the Lord, we love to touch Him, and we exercise our spirit. We are really spirit-men, men of spirit, spiritual men.

The people in the world may be angry from time to time, but when we are angry, our spirit comes out as a spirit of anger. When we love the saints with the Lord’s love, it is a real love because the spirit comes out as a loving spirit.

This is why we need to take care of our spirit and deal with the passages and issues of our spirit, so that when the spirit comes out in the things we do it would be pure and proper.

In Psalm 51 in particular we see that David prayed to the Lord concerning three kinds of spirit: a steadfast spirit, a willing spirit, and a broken spirit. We need the Lord to renew a steadfast spirit within us (v. 10), we need Him to sustain us with a willing spirit (v. 12), and we need to have a broken and repentant spirit (v. 17) so that God may be pleased with us.

Having a Steadfast and Upright Spirit

In Psa. 51:10 David prays, Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. In other versions we read, a right spirit – but the best way to translate this word is steadfast, upright, or firm.

Because David did not have a steadfast and firm spirit, he fell and committed the sin of adultery. We need to have an upright spirit, a steadfast spirit, a spirit that is immovable, unshakable, standing constantly firm and steady.

Just like David, we need to repent that we do NOT have such a spirit, and we need to ask the Lord to renew such a spirit within us. In order for us to never be tempted, seduced, or misled in our Christian life and walk, we always need an upright spirit, a spirit which is steadfast, firm, constant, immovable, and unshakable (see 1 Cor. 15:58).

This means that we are not fluctuating, not changing up and down, but regardless of the frustrations we are steadfast in spirit and immovable.

Lord Jesus, create in us a clean heart. Cleanse our heart, Lord, from any impurities and evil things. Renew a steadfast spirit within us. May we have a renewed spirit which is firm, steadfast, immovable, and unshakable! Lord, we repent for not having a steadfast spirit. Restore us, renew us, and grant us such a firm and steady spirit!

Having a Joyful and Willing Spirit

“Restore to me the gladness of Your salvation, And sustain me with a willing spirit” (Psa. 51:12). We all have to admit that, even though we may do things for the Lord in the church life here and there, we may not have a willing spirit.

But when we have the joy of salvation, we spontaneously will have a willing spirit to just go along with the Lord and do whatever He wants us to do. As believers, we should always have a willing spirit for the things of the Lord and for the things of the church.

When we sin or when we are away from the Lord during the day, we lose the joy of our salvation and we are not willing at all. The unbelievers are unwilling to do this or that, but we believers have an unwilling spirit – the spirit comes out through our will and is tainted with unwillingness.

We need to repent to the Lord and ask Him to restore to us the joy of our salvation, so that we may have a strengthened and willing spirit.

When we have joy in the Spirit (Rom. 14:17) we will have a willing spirit to fellowship with the Lord, worship Him, pray, meet with the saints, prophesy, serve in the church life, etc. Whatever pleases the Lord, we will be happy to do!

The Lord needs to recover the joy of our salvation – because of this joy, we will willingly bear the burden, take the responsibility, and put our shoulder to the bearing of the ark. Many times we are not so willing because we are not joyful.

Lord, restore to me the joy of my salvation! Give me a willing spirit to bear the yoke of the ark of the testimony. Lord, a renew a willing spirit within me! I want to serve You joyfully and not grudgingly!

Having a Broken and Repenting Spirit

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” (Psa. 51:17). God who created the heavens and the earth delights to look and be with a man with a broken and contrite spirit (Isa. 66:2). In God’s eyes, a broken spirit is more precious than sacrifices.

Having a broken spirit doesn’t mean that your spirit is broken in pieces – it means that your spirit is not whole, not complete, but is a repenting spirit. David had a big failure, and he had a broken and repentant spirit. We may not have such big failures and sins, but in the Lord’s light we see our sins, weaknesses, defects, and failures.

We shouldn’t consider ourselves as perfect and complete, but rather humble ourselves and have a repenting spirit, confessing to the Lord our weaknesses and failures. When we repent, our spirit is contrite, broken, and feeling sorrowful. The Lord needs to recover in us a repentant spirit.

We may not sin in a great way, but we are still so wrong in our words, our attitude, our desires, our feelings, our thoughts, our talking to others, our doing things, etc. Even unconsciously we are wrong.

We need to never consider ourselves as being complete, whole, or perfect. No one is perfect; we are still sinful, and we need to always repent and confess before the Lord. We are lacking; we are not perfect; we are not complete; we are contrite and ready to repent.

Lord Jesus, grant us a repenting spirit. Save us from thinking we are complete, whole, or perfect. O Lord, how much we need You! May we have a repenting spirit, a broken spirit, a spirit ready to repent and confess. Lord Jesus, we love You. We need You. We are nothing without You!

References and Further Reading

• This sharing is inspired from brother James Lee’s speaking in this message and portions in, Basic Lessons on Life (lsn. 19), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, ITERO spring 2013 “The Experience, Growth, and Ministry of Life for the Body“, week 4 entitled, Growing in Life by Dealing with the Spirit.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # Create in me a clean heart, O God, / And renew a right spirit within me. / Cast me not away from Your presence; / Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
  # Grant us, Lord, a willing spirit. / To build Your Body we would strive. / By our measure we would function, / Until full grown we’d all arrive.
  # Seeking of this age to taste, / And of it have a part. / If we only knew, dear Lord, / The ways we grieve Your heart. / We would come and turn to You / With a repenting heart, / And would give ourselves to be / With you, O Lord, inside the Ark.