| May the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. |
| —Psalm 68:3 |
There is great value in allowing our relationship with God—through our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, as enabled by the Holy Spirit—to produce within us a great sense of overwhelming joy. Plese allow me to illustrate this point:
At summer camp in 1960 at Odosagih Bible Conference, in Machias, New York, when I was 13 years old, we had a very dynamic leader for our chapel services. Marlin “Butch” Hardman was a leader with Youth for Christ International, responsible for the Northern Virginia and Greater Washington, DC, area. He was what some might call a “firebrand.” He had unbounded enthusiasm and a boyish charm. He could say just three words and have the entire congregation of young people feeling excited and filled with anticipation. A popular chorus in those days included these words:
I’m so happy and here’s the reason why:
Jesus took my burdens all away.
Now I’m singing as the days go by:
Jesus took my burdens all away.
Once my heart was burdened
with a heavy load of sin.
Jesus took that load and
gave me peace within.
Now I’m singing as the days go by:
Jesus took my burdens all away.On one particular evening, this dynamic leader stopped the singing in the middle of the second line.
“What’s wrong with you people? Are you all a bunch of ‘Gloomy Guses’? You sing this song like you’re going to a funeral.He proceeded to demonstrate what he was hearing by singing the first couple of lines of the song with the most gloomy, dirge-like voice. Then, he continued:
“We’re singing about the wonder, amazement, joy, and happiness that comes to us because God loves us and sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sins. So, let’s start again and this time make your voice and your faces match the words. When we sing that we’re happy, let’s show that happiness with the sound of our voices and the smiles on our faces. Okay?”Of course, we teens responded with great enthusiasm to this admonition. The energy we poured into the singing of this song nearly knocked the walls of the Tabernacle down.
King David would agree very much with that Youth for Christ leader. Notice what David writes in Psalm 68:3:
May the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.
This day, and with the dawning of each new day, let’s begin with joy in our hearts and gladness in the very core of our beings. God loves us with His eternal love. He has saved us by the shedding of Christ’s precious blood. He has vouchsafed a place for us in heaven. We belong to Him. And, we have each other as fellow travelers along the pathway He has opened up before us. In short, we have every reason to knock down the walls around us with the joy we display and the happiness we feel. And, that’s something everyone around us needs to experience in and through us.
Based on a blog originally posted on Tuesday, November 27, 2018
