We are not told to rejoice in our circumstances or in our prospects. These things vary; sometimes they are favorable, and sometimes they are not. Rather, we are told to “rejoice in the Lord always.” We are calmly to delight ourselves in Him, irrespective of our circumstances. We are to cheer our hearts by our contemplation of the Lord and His grace, to “worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Many are the blessings that are ours because we know Him as Savior, “but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” As our Lord prayed for His own on the night before the cross, so now He prays for us in heaven, “that they might have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” That joy must be nurtured and maintained by feeding on His Word, for He said, “These things have I spoken unto you, that My joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” “Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” Thus “with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” Never forget, dear Christian, that “the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
He fills the trusting heart with joy,
Though gloomy may be our days;
The soul that leans upon His grace
Will find calm in all his ways.
Phil. 3:3; Rom. 5:11; John 17:13; 15:11; Jer. 15:16; Isa. 12:3; Neh. 8:10.