The Joy of the Lord

I’ve been thinking of late about the “Joy of the Lord” and how it is our strength. And all the more, since it seems such a difficult concept to realize and practice, I am convinced that perhaps few issues are more vital to our Christian walk and right worship of God. If the joy of the Lord is [our] strength (Neh 8:10) then it would seem that where we lack this joy we can (to the same degree) only be described as weak Christians.

The word “rejoice” or “rejoiced” comes up 200 times in my ESV Bible. The word Joy comes up another 203 times. Joy is described as the second fruit of the Spirit. And all though-out the bible we see the children of God rejoicing with great joy because of God and his love for them. So it would seem this not a side issue. Indeed it appears to be a central theme. And to the extent that it doesn’t appear a central theme in our lives, can only mean we haven’t understood the gravity of the Gospel nor the weight of God’s glorious redemption.

In the Old Testament and in the Psalms we see this:

“Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! (Psalm 32:11)”

Indeed, we are enjoined by the Apostle Paul to “Rejoice in the Lord always” and then he says “again I will say, Rejoice.” It’s a double imperative. Imperative squared. REJOICE. No let me say it again, REJOICE. Would it be overstating things to say that maybe we have a hard time grasping this?

How come this goes over our heads so much of the time? How come, as Christians it’s sometimes, oftentimes, even most-times, so hard to be full of the joy of the Lord? How come, even thought we might want this, and talk about this, we can’t seem to do much about it? Forcing it never works. And thinking about it doesn’t seem to help either.

Well, the answer to this problem, I believe, comes down to a central major item: the miraculous power of God. Our joy is ultimately in God’s hands – as is everything else… The question is; do we, will we, believe this.

In the Gospel of Luke (Ch.1), we have the account of Mary, who would become the mother of the Christ. Upon hearing the proclamation by the angel about the coming Kingdom of Christ, she BELIEVED…

Let’s stop here for a second. What follows here is of immense importance in my mind.

It doesn’t say she believed and then went about business as usual. No, it changed her course of action. It altered her whole outlook on life. We find that she would become filled with joy. It says she “arose and went with haste into the hill country.” There she met her cousin (who was pregnant with John the Baptist). And here’s the account:

“And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit, and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:41-45)

What is this scene? These women are ecstatic! Even baby John the Baptist is thrilled. And this is real. This is by the Spirit, worshiping God, because of what He is doing.

Then Mary herself breaks into song, saying, “My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” (v 46b-47)

Oh that we would learn from these words. And even Zechariah (who at first didn’t really believe the angel and the word that was spoken and thus was dumb for 9 months) began to prophase and blessed God.

Now, what are we to make of this? Obviously, none of us (I don’t think) have had a visitation by an angel like Mary and Zechariah. So what do we know? One might ask, how we could ever be expected to be filled with joy like them? And to that we must always respond, “Ah but wait.” We have had the same good news, the proclamation of the gospel, preached to our hearts (if we’re a Christian). Like them, we’ve heard of the mighty works of God to bring salvation to the world, the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. And Christ has said, “Blessed are those who do not see and yet still believe.”

And yet, are we still unmoved? If this be so, friend, let us not look anywhere else but to Christ and pray, “Lord I believe, help me overcome my unbelief.” For, if and when we truly understand the gospel; if and when we really believe God and what he’s said (about us and about himself – that we are sinners and he has sent a savior – even Jusus Christ the Lord); if and when we, like Mary can say, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (v. 38), — then, and only then; then and irresistibly then, we will rejoice in God our Savior. For, we won’t be able to help ourselves. Amen.

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” (Rom 15:13)

“The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 29:19)