In verse 8a David prayed, "Let me hear gladness and joy," and in verse 12 he asked, "Restore to me the gladness of Your salvation,/And sustain me with a willing spirit." Here we see a connection between gladness and willingness of spirit. When we are happy, we also have a willing spirit. This is the overcoming life. A defeated person, on the contrary, is unhappy and does not have a willing spirit. If such a defeated one confesses his sin and asks God for His forgiveness, he will have the gladness of God's salvation and will also have a willing spirit. It is by the gladness of God's salvation that a willing spirit is sustained within us.
Finally, in verses 14 and 15 David begged God to deliver him from the guilt of bloodshed that his tongue may ring forth His righteousness and his mouth may declare His praise.
"Do good in Your good pleasure unto Zion;/Build the walls of Jerusalem./Then You will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,/In burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; /Then they will offer sacrifices of bullocks upon Your altar" (vv. 18-19). This signifies the participation in the enjoyment of God in the local church as God's house and in the church as God's city through the all-inclusive Christ as the offerings. If we are those who repent, confess our sins, and ask God for His purging, we will have the enjoyment of God in Christ in His house, the local church, and in His city, the universal church. This is related to God's favoring of the local churches and the building up of the universal church. May this be our practical experience day by day.