To rejoice means to be glad, to take delight in, and to take pleasure in. Clearly God’s desire for us is to be always rejoicing in him and to be filled with joy. This is not meant to be something that happens sometimes, but something that happens all the time.
As we are now in the midst of the holiday season, we know that for many this can be a sad time of year. There are issues of loneliness, or thoughts of lost loved ones with whom you will no longer be able to share this season. What feels joyous for some can become sad for others. Yet in the middle of this season, as Christians we see these two commands in Scripture.
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4).
To rejoice means to be glad, to take delight in, and to take pleasure in. Clearly God’s desire for us is to be always rejoicing in him and to be filled with joy. This is not meant to be something that happens sometimes, but something that happens all the time. The question is how do you do this now, and how do you continue in this going forward? Thankfully we can learn from the scriptures how to reset our joy in this season and all year round.
One of the great places to turn to understand rejoicing is the Psalms. One Psalm to turn your attention to is Psalm 100. In these verses, you will discover five keys that can help you reset your joy.
1. Shout for Joy
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth” (Psalm 100:1).
If you are going to restore your joy, the first thing you must do is open your mouth. The last time I checked, you cannot shout to the Lord with a closed mouth. You can’t shout at all with a closed mouth.
Why a shout? Sometimes you must let what is bottled up inside you out and shouting is a form of praise unto God. Offering praise and adoration to God was never meant to be a silent exercise. Yes, there may be moments you may have to praise God silently, but those should be the exceptions. We should get into the habit of offering vocal praise to God. When you do, you are preparing for heaven, because heaven is a place that is loud and there is vocal praise going on all the time. If you don’t believe me, go read Isaiah 6, or just consider this passage from Revelation 19:6:
“Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns.”
You can go and read the rest, but notice they were shouting praises unto the Lord. There used to be an old commercial for Shout detergent, “want a tough stain out, shout it out.” Sometimes when life gets challenging, we need to shout out praises to our God and allow him to reset our joy.
2. Sing to the Lord
“Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs” (Psalm 100:2).
I don’t know if you realize it, but there is a connection between joy and singing. I am not sure how this works with you, but I know when my heart is joyful, songs of praise and worship flow out of it. I don’t know if the joy produces the song or if the song produces the joy but regardless, when there is joy there is a song of praise flowing.
It is important to note again that this requires you to open your mouth. Who sings with their mouth closed anyway? There is something that releases in your heart when you begin to sing songs of praise and worship to God.
Let me explain why this happens. When you are worshipping God, you are focusing on who he is and when you do, he gets bigger, situations get smaller, and joy is birthed in your heart. When joy is birthed, singing starts. I encourage you to see if there is a song in your heart; if not then something is wrong. You can correct that by singing songs of praise and worship to the Lord and watch how he begins to restore your joy.
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3. See God for Who He Is
“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3).
You might be wondering why you can shout and why you can sing? You might be feeling that with what you are facing, this is just not possible. I don’t want to make light of that, but the reason you can sing is not because of your situation, but because you know who your God is. When you understand that he is God, you recognize some other truths that come along with that. Let me list a few.
When you understand he is God:
- You know he has the first word and the last word on every situation
- You know you are safe and protected in his arms
- You know you are provided for and cared for because you are his
- You know there is nothing too big for him and he is never caught off guard and never unprepared
I could continue, but I think you understand the point. Seeing and knowing who God is allows you to sing songs of worship and praise, in spite of everything going on around you or in you. When you lift him up, then he lifts you up and your increase in joy is not too far behind.
4. Shift Your Position
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name” (Psalm 100:4).
If you are going to restore and reset joy, then it requires you to go to the place where joy resides. That place is in the presence of the Lord. Why are you shouting? Why are you singing? Why are you entering his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise? Because you are desiring to enter his presence. In an earlier Psalm we are reminded about the wonder of God’s presence.
“You will make known to me the way of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever” (Psalm 16:11).
If you are going to reset your joy, it won’t happen apart from God’s presence. God’s presence can eliminate fears, worries, doubts, troubles – everything you could ever concern yourself with are dealt with when you sit in God’s presence. It is for this reason that you shout, sing, worship, and lift up praise. By doing these things, you are shifting the position of your heart and your mind from the things around you to the wonder of God’s presence. In this place you will find the fullness of joy.
5. Stay
“For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalm 100:5).
Perhaps the hardest thing to do is to simply stay and rest in God’s presence. So often we are quick to want to get back to the realities of life. I would encourage you to stay in God’s presence a little longer. It is easy to falsely think this is not time well spent because there is so much to do. But honestly this is the reason you are there, to find strength, healing, and joy.
Don’t just fight to get into his presence, stay a while and allow God to renew every part of you. When you are there, spend time thinking about his goodness, embracing his love, and remembering his faithfulness. I promise you as you stay focused on him, he will completely renew your heart and fill you with his joy.
What’s Next?
Without a doubt God wants to restart joy in your life because that will give you strength, focus and will help you endure whatever situation you are in. You might be wondering what to do now. Here is the answer, begin with a shout of praise. Start singing and lifting songs to the Lord remembering who he is. Enter his presence and wait there. This will encourage you and lift your heart and before you know it your joy will be restored.
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