Do you feel
depressed, frustrated, afraid, or lonely? Fear not, for joy comes in the
morning! Let’s continue today with our look at whether or not God wants us to
be happy and joyful.
First, we’ll head back to the Psalms
to looked at Psalm 30:5.
His favor is for
life;
Weeping may
endure for a night,
But joy comes in
the morning.
There it is again. Joy. In this
case, a shout of joy, cry, proclamation, rejoicing, singing, triumph. We can
see again how God gives us joy. And if He’s giving, He must want us to be
joyful!
Psalm 32:11,
35:27 and 42:4 shout joy, too.
Be glad in the
LORD and rejoice, you
righteous;
And shout for
joy, all you upright in
heart!
Let them shout
for joy and be glad,
Who favor my
righteous cause;
And let them say
continually,
Let the LORD be
magnified,
Who has pleasure
in the prosperity of
His servant.
When I
remembered these things,
I pour out my
soul within me.
For I used to go
with the multitude;
I went with them
to the house of
God,
With the voice
of joy and praise,
With a multitude
that kept a pilgrim
feast.
Again, these are shouting cries of
gladness and joy; proclamations. The psalmist remembers what used to bring him
joy. Read the last verse of Psalm 42 and you will find it identical to the next
Psalm passage.
Psalm 43:4 says:
Then I will go
to the altar of God,
To God my
exceeding joy;
And on the harp
I will praise You,
O God, my God.
This Psalm is an interesting one,
because the Psalmist prays this right after asking God to vindicate him, to
plead his case for him; to deliver him. He tells God that he feels cast off by
Him, as though God has forgotten him.
And then he asks himself a
rhetorical question: Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy? And he reminds himself that he can
get out of that mourning mode by asking God to send His light and truth to him,
and, probably, to others. And he expects that light and truth to lead him right
to God so that he can praise Him. The joy here is a great joy, gladness and
rejoicing.
And at the end of the Psalm is the
final reminder, the pep talk to himself:
Why are you cast
down, O my soul?
And why are you
disquieted within
me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet
praise Him,
The help of my
countenance and my
God.
He asks himself the question and
then tells his disquieted soul how to be happy, how to regain that joy. What’s
the answer he gives? Hope.
Specifically: hope in God. The hope that makes his face transform from slumping
to smiling! I can almost hear him say, “What’s the matter with me!? What am I
thinking? I know how to fix this and my downtrodden spirit! Hope! Hope in God
who restores joy!”
Then there is the well-known Psalm
126:5-6:
Those who sow in
tears
Shall reap in
joy.
He who
continually goes forth
weeping,
Bearing seed for
sowing,
Shall doubtless
come again with
rejoicing,
Bringing his
sheaves with him.
Another shout of joy, a triumphant
song! A reminder that this too shall pass, and there will again be cause for
celebration. Hope, trust and faith.
Are you not experiencing joy? Does
your morning just bring more heartache and frustration? Would you rather stay
in bed than get up and go about business with a smile on your face?
If you’re lacking joy and happiness,
pray for it. Fervently. Hope in the
One who can restore it to you. And expect great answers from God!
1) Remember (remind yourself frequently) that
joy comes after pain;
2) Give yourself
a pep talk, and HOPE! And if you’re lacking hope, pray for more!
3) Remember
those activities (and people) who gave you so much joy, and reunite with them.
4) Remind
yourself of God’s faithfulness to restore what you are lacking.
We’ll continue the discussion next
week with more Old Testament joy passages.
So until next
week,
Thanks for
joining me!
Blessings,
Andrea
photo
credit: <a
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/56380734@N05/5216016972">Celestial
joy</a> via <a
href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a
href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)</a>
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