Today's Bible Reading:1 KINGS 2:1-12, 2 SAMUEL 23:1-7, 1 CHRONICLES 29:26-30, PSALM 4-6; 8-9;11
Psalm 4:7
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
Joy can be elusive. It is a stranger to many of us. Distress, depression, disillusionment and difficulty can distance us from joy. We can seek it and not find it. We can strive for it and never attain it. It evades us. It escapes our grasp. It is unreachable. But David found it and shares great insight on how we too can find it in spite of our struggles.
Many seek joy in their surroundings or situations. They are jubilant when things are good, but when things turn, they crash. For these, joy is contingent on circumstances. Their happiness depends on what happens. Joy is turned on and off like a facet. It is here today and gone tomorrow. If we find our joy when “grain abounds”, it will disappear when the “grain is gone”. Flickering finances, fickle friendships and fluctuating feelings can never bring lasting joy.
Others seek joy through a stimulus. They crave a catalyst. They seek for something that will stimulate them. They want anything that can change their demeanor. They look for something that will adjust their attitude. They are happy when high. They are delightful when they drink. The bottle brings them bliss. But if we find joy when the “wine abounds”, it will subside when the “wine is gone”. It may change how we feel, but it doesn’t change what we face. When the party is over, the problem remains.
But these forms of coping are only temporal. They fluctuate. They shift with the situation. They don’t last. When the situation changes or the stimulus wears off, joy dissipates. Like a mist in the morning, it’s gone. Sadness sets in, depression returns, and the despair remains. They are only a momentary fix for what you face.
Terrorized by Saul, tracked by enemies, talked about by friends, turned on by family, and tormented by thoughts, if anyone lacked joy, it was David. Yet he speaks of having “more joy” then he could find through any other means. His joy was not based on his situation or bolstered by a stimulus. It was joy in the Lord. He says of God, “You have put”. He possessed an internal joy that was sustained through any situation and that superseded any stimulus. He had a heartfelt joy. He says joy is, “in my heart”. It was an eternal everlasting enduring joy. It was a joy that remained regardless.
This lasting joy of the Lord is implanted in the soul of every saint. It is an accessible joy drawn from and supplied by the indwelling Spirit. Paul tells us that joy is an aspect of the fruit of the Spirit found within every believer (Gal 5:22). This Spirit induced joy is obtained by submission and surrender to the Spirit. This Spirit born joy is sufficient joy. It is satisfying joy. It is sustained joy. We don’t need to seek for it or strive to attain it from external means. Whether the grain or wine abounds or it is absent this joy remains.
This is David’s divine joy, spiritual joy that can only be accessed by the Spirit. So, stop seeking joy in surroundings or through a stimulus and find your joy in the fruit that the Spirit provides. Perhaps we need to daily sing to ourselves the children’s song that says, “I’ve got joy down in my heart, deep deep down in my heart, spell it, J-O Y down in my heart deep deep down in my heart! Jesus put it there and nothing can destroy it, destroy it, destroy it.” So, sing it and believe it.
Today let the words of this children’s song set the course for your day. Don’t let the dilemmas of the day destroy your joy. Thank God for the fruit of the Spirit that sustains your joy even in your darkest days and most despairing moments. Ask the Lord to help you to trust Him to bring forth the Spirit’s fruit of joy into your situation. Ask Him to help you, like David, to find “more joy” in every moment of every day in every way.
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