Why Is It So?

Song of Solomon 2:2-14

THE Beloved

2 Like a lily among thorns, So is my love among the daughters.

THE Shulamite

3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, So is my beloved among the sons.
I sat down in his shade with great delight, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.

THE Shulamite to the Daughters of Jerusalem

4 He brought me to the banqueting house, And his banner over me was love.
5 Sustain me with cakes of raisins, Refresh me with apples,For I am lovesick.
6 His left hand is under my head, And his right hand embraces me.
7 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, By the gazelles or by the does of the field, Do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.

THE Shulamite

8 The voice of my beloved!Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains,Skipping upon the hills.
9 My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag.Behold, he stands behind our wall;He is looking through the windows,Gazing through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke, and said to me:
“ Rise up, my love, my fair one,And come away.
11 For lo, the winter is past,The rain is over and gone.
12 The flowers appear on the earth;The time of singing has come,And the voice of the turtledoveIs heard in our land.
13 The fig tree puts forth her green figs,And the vines with the tender grapes Give a good smell.Rise up, my love, my fair one,And come away!
14 “ O my dove, in the clefts of the rock,In the secret places of the cliff,Let me see your face,Let me hear your voice;For your voice is sweet,And your face is lovely.”

You probably will not know who this is. This is Professor Julius Sumner Miller was the enigmatic, brilliant and wonderfully mad American television professor who tried very hard in the 1970s to introduce us young Australians to science, with his television programme “Why is it so?”. He was deep, forthright, aggressive, brusque, and looked more than a little bit scary.

His main question was always – “Why is it so?” Of course being a young whippersnapper, that question came to mind for all sorts of things, not just my limited interest in science. I am sure you have all heard kids in the supermarket yelling out “Why?” to their mum.

We all have, I am sure, questions we want to know the answer to. For me its usually asking it of my computer when its failing or of other drivers who either fail to indicate when driving or cut me off on the highway. The question I am often asked about is “You are a Christian. Why is it so?” My father, was and remained throughout his life a convinced agnostic and in the few conversations we had about religion and Christianity, he could never understand why it was, that I couldn’t just admit that I would never know if God existed or not, far less a God who was personally interested in me. My reply as ever, was that the very question “Why is it so?” needed to be answered, in order for me to be satisfied.

And that is what I want to share with you today. Why I am a christian. Now I could say that at the age of 12, we moved to a town on the coast of Australia, and was invited along to a local youth group and several weeks later, gave my life to Christ and became a Christian. Of course that is partly true. I can’t even claim to be a Christian because I was raised in a Christian country. Australia was and is probably the second most secular or nonreligious country on this planet, after France. Sure Australia has its moral base grounded in historic Christianity, but for the latter part of its history, Australia has been thoroughly secular and non-religious. Even if I had been raised in a country such as England, with Christian parents, that would also, only be partly true and I could have rejected Christianity as many people do. The reason that I am a Christian is not because I chased God, but rather He chased me. Unknown to me at the time, He was chasing me and following my every path. This was despite my unknowingly pushing Him away.

God had been pursuing me, with the urgency of a lover after the beloved, just as we had in our reading from the Song of Songs. (SoS 2:2-14).

In this passage the woman describes her lover as

• Running over the mountains to meet me
• Racing across the hills to me
• He looks in through the window at me
• My lover speaks to me

And the man constantly beckons her “Come” he says. “Come my darling, with me. So I can see your face and listen to the sweetness of your voice”. And this piece of poetic Scripture speaks about the love that God has for his people, and the energy He puts in to calling his people to Himself. He is always reaching out, for all to return to His arms. The language of this book puts metaphor upon anecdote through out. Some of it is a bit racy and I didn’t want to be embarrassed by having those bits read out!!

As for me, it wasn’t until I was a 12 year old that I heard that I needed to accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. Before that I didn’t know I had to do anything with this Jesus. Jesus was only a curse word for me at the time. That or was just someone or something that the RE teachers bored me with at school.

We are primarily Christians, not because we come to church services or just happened to have been born in a supposedly Christian country. We are primarily Christians, because God first chased and harried us into His arms. We are Christians, if you are one, because God first loved you. And as a tremendous lover, He beckons and calls people all the time to respond to His call, and back to Him.

How does He chase us with His love? He chases each person differently, just as each Christian testimony is different. Take for instance the Apostle Paul. God chased him through Paul’s mind and his religious upbringing and education. Paul had known about God from his childhood. Paul was a righteous Pharisee who saw persecuting these ‘Christians’ as his religious duty, so that he may somehow find favour with God. As Paul was gloating over the death of the martyr Stephen, God was pursuing Him, probably raising doubts in Paul’s mind as to why Stephen would say at the point of death “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and forgive them for what they do”. Surely doubts must have been raised in Paul’s mind as he approved of this death. Paul was also wrestling with his conscience. Externally he was a righteous man, a Pharisee of Pharisees. Yet when he internally examined himself and his heart, he found himself failing regarding covetousness, which is the last of the ten commandments. Then finally, Jesus himself makes a sudden and dramatic appearance before Paul and confronts him directly, “Why are you kicking against me? Why are you rejecting my advances?” Paul’s conversion to Christianity is often described as being sudden. But the only thing sudden about his conversion was this climatic appearance of Jesus.

Lets see what some christian writers say about their own conversion.

Malcolm Muggeridge: He was, as I am sure you know better than I do, somebody who for years was anti-religious and cynical of church and about God. Yet in the story of his coming to faith and belief he could identify steps that he had taken and how God had been pursuing him.

In 1925, he wrote to his father: “I want God to play tunes through me. He plays, but I am out of tune.”
In 1958, he wrote in his diary: “Christianity, to me, is like a hopeless love affair. It is infinitely dear and infinitely unattainable. I . . . look at it constantly with sick longing.”
In 1966, he wrote in his diary: “I am a religious maniac without a religion. I don’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God in a christian sense. Yet I am enchanted by a religion I cannot believe in”.

He describes God as the Hound of Heaven and himself as the quarry. God was so close to him that he could hear the padding of footsteps chasing him.God was so close to Muggeridge, that he could feel God breathing down his neck. Then sometime between 1966 and 1969, Malcolm Muggeridge finally became a Christian.

Or take CS Lewis: In his earlier years, CS Lewis wrote “I maintained that God did not exist. I was also very angry with God for not existing. I was equally angry with Him for creating a world. Why should creatures have the burden of existence forced on them without their consent?”… “Christians are wrong, but all the rest are bores”… “The young Atheist cannot guard his faith too carefully. Dangers lie in wait for him on every side.”

Then some years later, he gives with hindsight, startling metaphors for how God had been chased him. CS Lewis was the fish and God was the fisherman. God had Lewis caught. God had his hook through Lewis’ tongue.Then God was a pack of hounds, and CS Lewis as the fox, and God pursuing him and chasing him through the woods.Or finally, God outplaying CS Lewis at chess. Lewis was backed into a corner with no escape, and God had Lewis checkmate.

It was then that Lewis at first dejectly admitted that there was a God and then shortly after, he became a christian. He writes “You must picture me alone in that room at Magdalen College Oxford, night after night, feeling, whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet.”

Both Muggeridge and Lewis describe being pursued. Just as Francis Thomson so eloquently wrote in his poem the Hound of Heaven.

I fled Him, down the nights and down the days;
I fled Him, down the arches of the years;
I fled Him, down the labyrinthine ways
Of my own mind; and in the mist of tears
I hid from Him, and under running laughter
Up vistaed hopes I sped;
And shot, precipitated, adown titanic glooms of chasmed fears,
From those strong Feet that followed…
followed after.

But with unhurrying chase,
And unperturbed pace,
Deliberate speed, majestic instancy,
They beat – and a voice beat
More instant than the Feet -
“All things betray thee, who betrays Me.”

Lo, all things fly thee, for you flee Me!
Strange, piteous, futile thing,
Wherefore should any set thee love apart ?
Seeing none but I makes much of naught” (He said),
“And human love needs human meriting:
How have you merited -
Of all man’s clotted clay the dingiest clot?

Alas, thou know not
How little worthy of any love thou art!
Whom will thou find to love ignoble thee,
Save Me, save only Me ?
All which I took from thee I did but take -
Not for thy harms,
But just that thou might seek it in My arms.

All which the child’s mistake
Fancies as lost, I have stored for thee at home:
Rise, clasp My hand, and come!”
Halts by me that footfall:
Is my gloom, after all,
Shade of His hand, outstretched caressingly?
“Ah, fondest, blindest, weakest,
I am He Whom thou seek!”

Just as that was true of Francis Thomson, Muggeridge and Lewis, it is true of me! Just as it is true of all those who profess to call themselves Christian. I am a Christian not because of anything I have done, but rather because He first chased me. Because He first loved me. Jesus himself said “I came to seek and to save the lost” (Lk 19:10).

If you are a Christian today, it is not because of anything you have done. It is because of the events at Christmas and Easter that you are a Christian, when God took the necessary steps so that all people could have the choice to be His people or not. In my more smug moments I used to congratulate myself for being a Christian. How proud I was that I, Dave Roberts, was a Christian and that God was a jolly lucky God that I had decided to follow Him. It was during one of my less self-deluded moments, that I examined myself and I found God pricking my conscience and correcting me, and I read the New Testament “For the Son of Man came, not to serve but to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mk10:45).

If you are not a Christian here today, then God is actively pursuing you. I of course don’t know the circumstances in which He is, but I do know that He is. He wants all people to be followers of Him. Hear some of the final words in the Song of Solomon. It is God speaking: “Let me hear your voice from the garden, my love; I am waiting to hear you speak”(SoS 8:13).

Originally preached by D Roberts at Balham Baptist Church 9^th March 2006

Issues – Guidance

Guidance

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G’day and welcome to Partake and our continuing series “Issues”. Today we are going to look together at the issue of guidance.

Solomon writing in Proverbs 3v5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.“

The Prophet Isaiah speaking in Isaiah 6v8: “Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

When Jesus Christ called you personally and said: “Follow Me!” and you responded “YES, Lord!” that was the start of a beautiful relationship between the Living God and yourself. Perhaps the most common question all Christian Disciples ask is “How can I know God’s will and His guidance?” Now of course, being active in prayer and studying the Bible play major roles, in this and they are assured ways of building the relationship between God and yourself. But for this Podcast we will discover that are other aspects to be considered about being guided, and discerning what is God’s will for you and I. These involve being controlled by the Holy Spirit, through counsel and circumstances and through making wise decisions.

1. Controlled by the Holy Spirit

So firstly, the Christian Disciple is guided by being controlled by the Holy Spirit. Another way to say this is by submitting to the Spirit’s leading. Fundamental to being guided by the Spirit, is for you and I to be filled with the Spirit and to keep on being filled with the Spirit, or controlled by the Spirit. When the Spirit is quenched (1 Thessalonians 5v19) or grieved (Ephesians 4v30), then the Spirit no long has control of you and I. In order to allow the Spirit control of us, we need to resubmit ourselves to God!

It is a good daily practice for you and I to do the following on a daily basis.

• Confess all known sin (1 John 1v9) and accept unreservedly the certain assurance of being forgiven for your sins including the sin of quenching or grieving the Holy Spirit. Sin is sin and there are no degrees of sin, big or small, it just is… Any sin creates a barrier whether (in our earthly terminology) it is a big sin like murder or a small sin like lying… Homosexuality and pornography are just as bad as lusting after that girl who just walked by – all are adultery…. That’s one of the reasons the Pharisees got it so mixed up and why Jesus Christ was indignant with scorn towards them misleading people.
• Devote to being a living sacrifice for Jesus Christ (Romans 12v1-2)
• Enable the Holy Spirit to convict you of anything wrong and sinful in your life (Psalm 139v23-24)
• Seeks the Holy Spirit’s divine power in order to serve Jesus Christ (Galatians 5v16; Ephesians 3v16) and to do all things for glory of Jesus Christ, for this is one of the prime roles of the Holy Spirit, and sadly, often a neglected part of the Holy Spirit’s role in the life of the believer.

Additionally, part of being controlled by the Holy Spirit, the Christian Disciple is to yield to Him. Romans 6v13 and James 4v7 command this. In yielding to the Holy Spirit, the body (1 Corinthians 6v20) and mind (Romans 12v1-2) are given to Him sacrificially for the glory of Jesus Christ. Both the body and the mind are yielded, because the body activates what is conceived in the mind. It is a total dedication of all thoughts, plans and actions into God’s hands and the seeking of His divine wisdom.

Being guided by the Holy Spirit is illustrated in Acts 16v6-10 where Paul and his group of people acted quickly! “Paul and his companions went to Phrygia, and then on through the region of Galatia. Their plan was to turn west into Asia province, but the Holy Spirit blocked that route. So they went to Mysia and tried to go north to Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus woul…dn’t let them go there either. Proceeding on through Mysia, they went down to the seaport Troas. That night Paul had a dream: A Macedonian stood on the far shore and called across the sea, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” The dream gave Paul his map. We went to work at once getting things ready to cross over to Macedonia. All the pieces had come together. We knew now for sure that God had called us to preach the good news to the Europeans.”

2. Counsel and Circumstances

Additionally to submitting to the Holy Spirit, other people and circumstances are also great helps in regards to guidance. Proverbs 24 reminds us that: “The wise are mightier than the strong,and those with knowledge grow stronger and stronger. So don’t go to war without wise guidance; victory depends on having many advisers. Wisdom is too lofty for fools. Among leaders at the city gate, they have nothing to say.”

We may not be going into physical war, but seeking the advice of others in trying to understand God’s guidance, plays an important role in deciding God’s will in the life of the Christian Disciple. When seeking the advice of others, we should bear in mind that the person should be a reliable, godly and faithful servant of God – and know us well. As Proverbs 25v19 says “Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot”. However, as Christian s we must also be aware that even the godliest of people make mistakes, such as Nathan the prophet when he exhorted David to build the temple in 2 Samuel 7. In the end, each of us alone, is responsible for our own actions and for discerning God’s guidance for themselves.

Then we also have circumstances, which are a great learning tool. Circumstances surround us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. However, as Christians we are to live above all circumstances, while being mindful of them. Through circumstances, God often disclosed his perfect will. As Paul writes in Romans 8v28: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

Some examples of where God’s will was discovered through circumstances include:

• Abraham being asked to substitute a ram caught in a thicket for his son, Isaac (Genesis 22).
• God arranging for Pharaoh’s daughter to be bathing in the River Nile as the baby Moses floated by (Exodus 2).
• Paul’s nephew over hearing a plot to murder Paul, and then reporting it to the authorities and therefore saving Paul’s life (Acts 23).

Now some may sceptically claim that these are purely coincidental, but if they are, and all others like these are, its an awful lot of coincidence!

3. Wise Decisions:

Now, its all very well to say that we are to make wise decisions. That would seem obvious! But how do we go about it? A great way is by endeavouring to maintain a right attitude, and asking ourselves the following questions:

• Have I prayed and meditated on God’s Word regarding the decision?
• Have I given every area of my life to Jesus Christ?
• Am I prepared to be obedient to God? (Proverbs 3v5-7)
• Am I willing to sacrifice my desires for God’s Will?
• Do I truly love and acting lovingly towards other people?
• It should not control me habitually (1 Corinthians 6v12)
• Will it cause another person to sin/stumble? (1 Corinthians 8v9-13)
• Does it build Christian character? (1 Corinthians 10v23)
• Does it bring glory to God? (1 Corinthians 10v31)
• Can I thank God for this activity – could Jesus accompany me?
• If in doubt, throw it out! (Romans 14v22-23)
• Abstain from all appearance of evil (1 Thessalonians 5v22)

For more to think about please do read Isaiah 6. Ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.

Q1. Am I willing to do whatever God commands me to do?

Q2. Am I willing to be humble enough to ask other people’s advice?

Q3. Am I willing to sacrifice my desires so that God’s Will is achieved and His glory acclaimed?

Thank you

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Larry Norman – Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus

Why Don’t You Look Into Jesus by Larry Norman

Sipping whiskey from a paper cup,
You drown your sorrows till you can’t get up,
Take a look at what you’ve done to yourself,
Why don’t you put the bottle back on the shelf,
Yellow fingers from your cigarettes,
Your hands are shaking while your body sweats,
Why don’t you look into Jesus, He’s got the answer.

Gonorrhea on Valentines Day,
And you’re still looking for the perfect lay,
You think rock and roll will set you free,
Honey, You’ll be dead before your thirty three,
Shooting junk till your half insane,
Broken needle in your purple vein,
Why don’t you look into Jesus, he’s got the answer.

You work all night, sleep all day,
You take your money, throw it all away,
You say you’re going to be a superstar,
But you’ve never hung around enough to find out who you really are.

Think back to when you were a child,
Your soul was free, your heart ran wild,
Each day was different, and life was a thrill,
You knew tomorrow would be better still,
Things have changed you’re much older now,
If you’re unhappy and you don’t know how,
Why don’t you look into Jesus, He’s got the answer.

Why I am a Christian

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The Apostle John, writing in 1 John 5:9-12 – “We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Why Is It So?

I am sure you have all heard kids in the supermarket yelling out “Why?” to their parents. We all have, I am sure, questions we want to know the answer to. Why? The question I am often asked is “You are a Christian. Why is it so?” My father, was and remained throughout his life a convinced agnostic and in the few conversations we had about religion and Christianity, he could never understand why it was, that I could not just admit that I would never know if God existed or not, far less a God who was personally interested in me. My reply as ever, was that the very question “Why is it so?” needed to be answered, in order for me to be satisfied.

Why I am a Christian?

Now I could say that at the age of 12, we moved to a town on the coast of Australia, and was invited along to a local youth group and several weeks later, gave my life to Christ and became a Christian. Of course that is partly true. I can’t even claim to be a Christian because I was raised in a Christian country. Australia was and is probably the second most secular country on this planet. Sure Australia has its moral base grounded in historic Christianity, but for the latter part of its history, Australia has been thoroughly secular and non-religious. Even if I had been raised in a country such as England, with Christian parents, that would also, only be partly true and I could have rejected Christianity as many people do. The reason that I am a Christian is not because I chased God, but rather He chased me. Unknown to me at the time, God was chasing me and following my every path with the urgency of a lover after the beloved, just as described in the Song of Songs (Song of Songs 2:2-14).

God had been pursuing me

This piece of poetic Scripture speaks about the love that God has for his people, and the energy He puts in to calling his people to Himself. He is always reaching out, for all to return to His arms. As for me, it wasn’t until I was a 12 year old that I heard that I needed to accept Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. Before that I didn’t know I had to do anything with this Jesus. Jesus was only a curse word for me at the time. That or was just someone or something that the RE teachers bored me with at school.

We are primarily Christians, not because we come to church services or just happened to have been born in a supposedly Christian country. We are primarily Christians, because God first chased and harried us into His arms. We are Christians, if you are one, because God first loved you. And as a tremendous lover, He beckons and calls people all the time to respond to His call, and back to Him. How does He chase us with His love? He chases each person differently, just as each Christian testimony is different.

Take for instance the Apostle Paul in Acts 8 & 9. God chased him through Paul’s mind and his religious upbringing and education. Paul had known about God from his childhood. Paul was a righteous Pharisee who saw persecuting these ‘Christians’ as his religious duty, so that he may somehow find favour with God. As Paul was gloating over the death of the martyr Stephen, God was pursuing Him, probably raising doubts in Paul’s mind as to why Stephen would say at the point of death “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit and forgive them for what they do” (Acts 7:54-60). Surely doubts must have been raised in Paul’s mind as he approved of this death (Acts 8:1). Paul was also wrestling with his conscience. Externally he was a righteous man, a Pharisee of Pharisees. Yet when he internally examined himself and his heart, he found himself failing regarding covetousness, which is the last of the Ten Commandments. Then finally, Jesus himself makes a sudden and dramatic appearance before Paul and confronts him directly, “Why are you kicking against me? Why are you rejecting my advances?” (Acts 9) Paul’s conversion to Christianity is often described as being sudden. But the only thing sudden about his conversion was this climatic appearance of Jesus.

Just as that was true of Paul, it is true of me, just as it is true of all those who profess to call themselves a Christian Disciple. I am a Christian Disciple not because of anything I have done, but rather because He first chased me, and because He first loved me. Jesus himself said “I came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).

If you are a Christian today, it is not because of anything you have done. It is because of the events at Christmas and Easter that you are a Christian, when God entered this world as a human baby and took all the necessary steps so that all people could have the choice to be His people or not. In my more smug moments I used to congratulate myself for being a Christian. How proud I was that I, was a Christian and that God was a jolly lucky God that I had decided to follow Him. It was during one of my less self-deluded moments, that I examined myself and I found God pricking my conscience and correcting me, and I read the New Testament “For the Son of Man came, not to be served but to give His life as a ransom for many” (Mark10:45).

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Psalm 66

Psalm 66 – True Joy!

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Tonight we are to study Psalm 66, which is a prayer of joy. The reason for this is, because where ever hope can be found, there is always joy. This is particularly true of the Christian life. As christians, our great hope is knowing that through the Lord Jesus Christ we will have salvation. Salvation is freedom. Freedom from injustice, freedom from sin. It is freedom from our prison of looking after our self, to a new life of entrance into self-forgetful worship & service to God. It is freedom from the limits of pain, decay, death, and entrance into a new world of life, immortality, beauty and joy without end. That is the hope of the Christian, and that is why we can have joy as Christians. But joy, is not just for the future. Joy is also for the present, for the here and now. But, what is joy, and what place should joy take in our life today. But first we will look at Psalm 66, and see where joy fitted into the life of the Psalmist.

All together now-applause for God!

Sing songs to the tune of his glory,

set glory to the rhythms of his praise.

Say of God, “We’ve never seen anything like him!”

When your enemies see you in action,

they slink off like scolded dogs.

The whole earth falls to its knees-

it worships you, sings to you,

can’t stop enjoying your name and fame.

^5-6 Take a good look at God’s wonders-

they’ll take your breath away.

He converted sea to dry land;

travelers crossed the river on foot.

Now isn’t that cause for a song?

⁷ Ever sovereign in his high tower, he keeps

his eye on the godless nations.

Rebels don’t dare

raise a finger against him.

^8-12 Bless our God, O peoples!

Give him a thunderous welcome!

Didn’t he set us on the road to life?

Didn’t he keep us out of the ditch?

He trained us first,

passed us like silver through refining fires,

Brought us into hardscrabble country,

pushed us to our very limit,

Road-tested us inside and out,

took us to hell and back;

Finally he brought us

to this well-watered place.

^13-15 I’m bringing my prizes and presents to your house.

I’m doing what I said I’d do,

What I solemnly swore I’d do

that day when I was in so much trouble:

The choicest cuts of meat

for the sacrificial meal;

Even the fragrance

of roasted lamb is like a meal!

Or make it an ox

garnished with goat meat!

^16-20 All believers, come here and listen,

let me tell you what God did for me.

I called out to him with my mouth,

my tongue shaped the sounds of music.

If I had been cozy with evil,

the Lord would never have listened.

But he most surely did listen,

he came on the double when he heard my prayer.

Blessed be God: he didn’t turn a deaf ear,

he stayed with me, loyal in his love.

1. Psalm 66 and joy

a. Joy and the Earth (vs. 1-4) Listen again from another translation to that beginning! ” Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing to the glory of his name! Offer glory and praise! “. The majority of scribes and leaders of Israel normally only gave praise to God silently and in meditation. This was of course acceptable to God. But here among a great number of peoples the whole earth is encouraged to shout with great joy to God. This also was acceptable to God, and it is quite natural for great crowds of people to shout in harmony. If praise is to be widespread, it must be vocal; joyful sounds stir the soul and cause great thanksgiving spread throughout the people.

God is to be praised with both the voice and the heart. Oh, great joy when all the earth will worship God in joyful harmony. One day, all the earth will sing the praises of God, in every language. The whole earth, everyone, is encouraged to sing of the glory and power of God. The psalmist encourages the worshipers to turn their praises to God. The honour of God should be the focus of our praises. It is our glory to give God glory. We turn in joy and admiration to a God who one day will cause all the earth to fear and tremble before him. One day all the earth will bow down to worship God. For those who are enemies of God, who have never believed in him, they too will be forced into submitting worship to Him They are forced to worship Him out of His power and submission, not because they choose to. But their worship will not be like the saints. The worship of the saints, of those who truly believe in Him, will be of truth, love and pure joy and service. The joy of the earth will be to praise God.

b. Joy and the nation of Israel (vs. 5-12). After the selah, possibly a brief pause in the song, the psalmist now exhorts joy because of what God has done for Israel. He has done mighty works for his people the nation of Israel. Did not God start the nation from Genesis 12 and Abraham? Did not God lead His people out of the Egyptian exile by parting the Red Sea with His mighty hand so that his people could walk to freedom? Does not God rule forever by his mighty power? God watched over that nation of Israel, making covenants with Abraham, Moses and David promising that He will be their God and they will be His people.

The people of Israel were people of joy, because they could look and see what God had done for them, and have a sure hope of what He will do for them in the future. God took Israel through hard trials and exiles. The psalmist here continues to encourage the people to loud praise and joyful noise of God because silver and gold do not become pure without some refining, without being put through fire. God kept the feet of Israel from slipping, even though they turned their back on him. God always kept a remnant of believers for himself. In Israel, God sent them into exile to their enemies for punishment of their rebellion against him, but finally He led them into the promised land, flowing with milk and honey (v 12). That is why Israel could have joy, because of the hope they had in their God.

c. Joy and the psalmist (vs. 13 -20) The psalmist’s joy starts with a sacrifice. Something that cost him. A sacrifice of vows and burnt offerings. What he said he would do, he will do. He gave God promises, and he wants to fulfil his promises before God. Because of his great joy, the psalmist tells others of the source of his joy. He gives testimony to the love of God: how he confessed his sins to God, and how God had listened to him and answered his prayers. The Psalmist told the people to come and hear his story. Listen to what God has done for me. They had all seen God’s work, but they also needed to hear that He was a gracious god, So the joy of the psalmist involves sacrifice, testimony and praise,

2. Applying it to ourselves.

As we have just seen the psalmist’s joy involved sacrifice, testimony and praise, So how can we apply these things to ourselves,

a. Sacrifice – As christians we should always give our best to God. The psalmist never presents a starving goat to God as a sacrifice, but well fed animals (v 15) of the best fields, Of all we have, whether small or large, we are actively encouraged to give God the best of it. It was not a waste to burn the fat upon the altar of God, nor to pour out the precious ointment upon the head of Jesus. Sacrifices show our heart love to God. Making sacrifices, shows gratitude to God in action, Joy comes from giving to God.

b. Testimony, – Giving our testimony to people should cause us to have great joy. Telling people what God has done for us, should cause everyone of us to have even greater joy than we have already. Telling others of God’s mercy, grace and love is all part of our joy. When we lead someone to Jesus for the very first time, not only do they feel great joy and peace in their heart, but we feel great joy inside of us. The joy of God bubbles up inside of us and demands that we praise our God the Father.

c. Praise, – Praising God lifts our heart, soul and spirit when we are feeling down. The whole earth one day will praise Him and have great joy; the nation of Israel praised Him for the things He had done for them and had given them much joy, The psalmist praised God, and there was great joy in his heart. He had many reasons to praise God, God listened to His prayers, took his sacrifices and worship, forgave him when he had confessed his sins, God had not withheld his love from him. Surely the praise of God’s people causes great joy to be spread amongst them.

Now that is all very well you may be thinking, but just what is joy? Is joy happiness, or is it more? Here are what some people have said of joy. “We are all strings in the concert of God’s joy” – Leon Bloy. “The joy that Jesus gives is the result of our being at one with Him” – Oswald Chambers. Many people, including some Christians confuse joy with happiness, however there is a vast difference. As C.S. Lewis once wrote: “Joy is never in our power, and pleasure is. I doubt whether anyone who has tasted joy would ever, if both were in his power, exchange it for all the pleasure in the world.”

As humans we only feel happiness or pleasure depending on our circumstances, while joy is always separate from our circumstances. Happiness is a surface emotional response to good things; while joy is a deep-down heartfelt response that endures whether good or bad things happen to us. The world says happiness is looking out for number one and negotiating your personal good in all you do. The greatest good is their own happiness, however the happiness doesn’t last long so the search for happiness continues in its circle.

Joy however, is the result of sacrificial love. It is for the good of others, not for ourselves, which is to be our judge of joy. When we give away our will, for the sake of others, we receive the joy that Jesus desired for us. Happiness and joy are radically different. In his autobiography, Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis described his pursuit of joy. He tried to find it in humanism, communism, eroticism, and lots of other human philosophies and searches. But they only led him to places where joy had already been. He did not find joy for himself until he realised that joy would come only as a result of putting Christ first in his life. Joy, unlike happiness, is never an end in itself. It is only as we make Christ our overwhelming first priority that joy, almost without our knowing it, comes. If we seek joy, we will lose it, because it cannot be caught. People of the world seeks happiness not joy. Joy is given only by Christ and serving him. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus had the endurance to go through the pain and suffering because he had the end in view. He was affirming his purpose for the redemption of the world, and so he never lost sight of the joy that was set before him. Joy would come to him out of suffering because he gave himself for the redemption of mankind.

Jesus prayed that his disciples would have joy: “I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they (his disciples) may have the full measure of my joy within them.” (John 17:13). The joy of Christ is transferred to us as we go about the task of serving him in this world. Joy is the second fruit of the Spirit. Joy is to be a quality about us just as it was a quality of the Lord Jesus Christ.

However, sometimes we don’t feel as if joy is part of us. We begin to ask ourselves if we have lost the joy of our Christian lives. We look around at the world we live in and see all the misery and injustices; we see the waste of human life in cancer and HIV Aids, and we don’t feel very joyful. But when we do that, we are confusing happiness and joy. If we have lost the joy of our Christian life, we need to put back into perspective what God is calling us to do and consider if Christ is still truly first in our lives. Joy is Jesus Over Yourself. We can never truly lose joy, but we can misplace it if our priorities get out of line. Joy is not something to be worked at or toward. It is not a goal to be reached, nor is it an end in itself. Joy is the result of our relationship with Christ. A relationship of Jesus Over Yourself. Joy was sacrifice, testimony and praise to the Psalmist. It is for us too in the last days before His coming again.

As this is now the night before Easter week, let us end with that comment from the writer to the book of Hebrews in regards to Jesus and joy. “Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” As E. Underhill said: “This is the secret and meaning of joy, We shall no longer strive for our own way; but commit ourselves, to God’s way, submit to His will, and in doing so find joy and peace, -.

Go out with joy, today!

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