It is quite surprising to think that joy is normal for the believer. It is not an add-on, an optional widget for the desktop of my soul. Joy is in the deeps of the gospel operating system.
I have been reading the life of David, the King. We know more about this man than almost any other ancient king. He led a colorful and robust life. He fought battles, engaged in real sword fights, used a slingshot to kill a bear, was the object of multiple assassination plots, was a scorned kid brother, committed premeditated adultery and murder, saw his family fall apart due to incest and revenge and bitterness. I am not sure I would want to have him over for dinner -- I am afraid I would not be up for the conversation.
But reading the psalms, the heart of David, I see that this life of suffering and sweat and blood and sin was alive to God. He saw God in everything. He saw God as the One who enabled him to leap over a wall. He saw God as the one who trained him as an archer. He knew the stinging rebuke of God for his sin, and the sweet grace of forgiveness.
But what strikes me in all the language of the psalms is the notion of joy. Call it gladness or singing, David was a man on a quest for God and joy in his God.
He says in Psalm 3 that he experienced such joy from God that it was greater than the joy of those who win the lottery or whose team wins the Super Bowl (he speaks of abounding grain and new wine, marks of abundance and prosperity).
It occurs to me that I think that the sort of life David lived, the difficulties he faced, the reasons he had for anxiety or guilt or anger -- these would be joy killers. But there I see David, fleeing for his life, hounded by his enemies, dancing with joy at the grace of God.
Joy is not an option. Circumstances do not kill joy. Unbelief does. Joy is the serious business of the Christian (thanks to CS Lewis for the idea on that one).
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