Join in the Joy
Through the years, I have frequently preached about joy. It is more than an emotion (although it includes emotion); rather, it is a settled attitude, a stable and sturdy approach to life that focuses us on the things that matter now and forever. Joy is much greater and much more powerful than happiness, which is event or circumstance driven. There is nothing wrong with happiness. It is certainly better than unhappiness. Also, we have different personalities. For example, my wife is happy-go-lucky. Of course, she has every reason to be, being married to me. However, not everyone can be married to me. We need something more substantial than happiness; that something is joy. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Yesterday, we looked at Psalm 30, especially verse 5b: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” We should not interpret this passage to mean that morning is a magical, mystical moment. For example, Psalm 42:8b says, “In the night His song shall be with me,” and we can be certain that this is no melancholy melody. Rather, David is saying that there is something stronger than sadness – joy. He knew that joy is a blessed part of the nature of God. Nehemiah 8:10 is a fine Biblical example of this fact, especially the last sentence: “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” We know that our relationship with God brings joy, but the grammar of this verse is saying something very precise: “of” means that this joy belongs to God and is characteristic of Him. The context of Nehemiah is instructive: exile in Babylon (unhappiness) is followed by Israel’s partial return (happiness). However, Jerusalem was not rebuilt. Decade later, Nehemiah returns to build up the walls. Facing opposition within and without, with a sword in one hand and a trowel in the other, the people work hard to complete the task. When they do, the religious leader Ezra reads them the Law of Moses, and they know that they are guilty of great sin. It is then that Nehemiah speaks of the joy that is God’s abiding attribute. This joy brings “strength” or protection. In fact, it could be translated as “mountaintop.” The picture is of God lifting us upward from the hard, grinding work, up from our failures. Remember this, then: “The joy of the Lord is your mountaintop,” every morning, every moment.