“A SONG OF JOY”
BY
RANDALL J. BREWER
Do you know what a trial is? It’s a distraction. That’s all it is, plain and simple. A trial is the devil’s attempt to distract you from doing what God has called you to do. How can a person focus on fulfilling their dreams if all they do is sit around all the time and worry about their problems?
The answer is they can’t. This is why many are called but few are chosen. The hardest part of faith is the final half hour and the closer a person gets to the fulfillment of their dream the bigger and more consistent the distractions will be. This is why the servants of God so desperately need to learn to cast all their care onto the Lord.
It is so easy to get distracted. You’re trying so hard to serve the Lord when you hear that a major layoff is about to happen at your job. Your children get sick, your spouse is mad at you, the in-laws come for a visit, your car breaks down. These are all distractions. Nothing more, nothing less.
What should you do? Press on! Remain focused on the call. Do what you can in the natural and leave the rest in God’s very capable hands. Let Him lead you beside the still waters. As you rest and lay down in green pastures you’ll sense a song rising up from the inside of you. It’s a song of praise and worship and thanksgiving. It’s a new song. It’s a song of joy.
All during David’s reign over Israel the Philistines were continually a thorn in his flesh. 2 Sam. 21:15 says, “When the Philistines were at war again with Israel, David and his servants with him went down and fought against the Philistines; and David grew faint.”
David is now old and he had been a man of war for his entire life. Almost non-stop he had been in battle after battle after battle. At this time in his life his nation was in famine, his son had been killed, and once again he was at war with the Philistines. The Bible says David grew faint. He became weary and exhausted. Does this passage describe you? Do you need a miracle right now?
If so, then consider what David did in 2 Sam. 22:1a, “Then David spoke to the Lord the words of this song…” David sang a new song to the Lord and when you read and study the entire chapter you will see that it is indeed a song of joy. It was a psalm of thanksgiving.
Vs. 2-4 says, “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer; The God of my strength, in Him I will trust, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My Savior, You save me from violence. I will call upon the Lord, Who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.” When you sing a new song to the Lord, a song of joy, you also shall be saved from your enemies.
In Ps. 144:9,10 David wrote, “I will sing a new song to You, O God; on a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You, the One Who gives salvation to kings, Who delivers David His servant from the deadly sword.”
David was a man after God’s own heart and often he labeled himself the Lord’s servant. He knew that his God was a covenant-keeping God and this is why he was able to rise up and sing a song of joy during times of peril.
Ps. 89:34,37 says, “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David; His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me; It shall be established forever like the moon, even like the faithful witness in the sky.”
David knew that God is not a man that He should lie (Num. 23:19) so he was able to stand firm on what Gos had said to him. Over and over again God had delivered David from his enemies and he remembered these victories often. Before he faced Goliath he told Saul how the Lord had delivered him from the lion and the bear (1 Sam. 17:34-37). He was saying that he had seen God work before. If he delivered him once, He can do it again. And again. And again.
The devil wants us to have tunnel vision and see only the problem but like David we need to broaden the horizon of our vision and see the God Who is more than enough. Habakkuk put his trust in the same God David served when he wrote, “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vine; Though the labor of the olive may fail, and the fields yield no food; Though the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls - Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills” (Hab. 3:17-19).
This was Habakkuk’s song of joy. We need to sing a song of joy during times of trial and not only when things are going good. We can have the confidence that God will never leave us or forsake us. He is always there. He is the great “I AM”! He does not take His children out on a limb and leave them there. No, He is an ever-present help in time of need.
David wrote in Ps. 27:9,10, “Do not hide Your face from me; Do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; Do not leave me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me.” This was why David was always singing songs of joy unto His Lord. We ought to also do the same.
Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). James said, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials…” (James 1:2). Even Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you will have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Do you think God is trying to tell us something here? He is! He is saying that your breakthrough doesn’t come when the storm clouds pass from over your head. No, it comes when you learn to sing and dance in the rain. During times of trial we need to lie down beside the still waters and sing unto the Lord a song of joy.
In other words, calm down and cheer up! Rest assured, it is not the will of God for His servants to suffer defeat. Just as He leads us beside the still waters, we can sing a song of joy because He “always leads us in triumph in Christ” (2 Cor. 2:14).
Ps. 23:3 says, “He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.” Yes, David grew faint but he was able to sing a song of joy because the words he wrote in Ps. 37:23,24 were burning in his heart, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand.”
This is why David could write in Ps. 40:1-3, “I waited patiently for the Lord; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and sit my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth - Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.”
Never forget that Satan is a thief and like a roaring lion he roams about seeking whom he may devour. He’s after the Word in your heart, your joy and power, your peace, courage, and comfort, your physical belongings and, more than anything else, the call of God that is on your life. This is why when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over all Israel they rose up in battle against him (1 Chron. 14:8).
The devil is trying to discourage you and if he can’t defeat you in the spiritual realm he’ll attack you in the natural realm. Read what the writer of Hebrews says in Heb. 10:32-35, “But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven.”
The Message Bible bears even more light on what the writer is saying, “Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse - some days it was you, other days your friends. If some friends went to prison you stuck by them. If some enemies broke in and seized your goods, you let them go with a smile, knowing they couldn’t touch your real treasure. Nothing they did bothered you, nothing set you back. So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion.”
In the midst of this long passage of scriptures is the key to having victory in your life. Vs. 34 says they “joyfully accepted the plundering” of their goods. When the enemy broke into their homes and took everything they had a song of joy rose up on the inside of them. The only way Satan can defeat you and stop you from going forward is to prevent you from singing your song of joy.
Neh. 8:10b says, “Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” The devil can’t beat a believer who is joyful. He wants you weak and powerless so he attacks your joy because there is no power without it. Jesus spoke to the Heavenly Father in John 17:13,14a, “But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your Word..”
Jesus also said in John 15:11, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” The Word of God produces joy. His Word is good news and good news produces joy. When you’ve been robbed of your joy you’ve been robbed of the Word because it’s the Word that produces joy. So be of good cheer. The Word of God and the joy of the Lord gives you the strength to secure for yourself victory every time the devil attacks you.
Jesus came from the tribe of Judah and this word means “praise.” We are joint-heirs with Jesus so all of us should shout praises unto our God and sing to Him a song of joy. For sure, God can work in the lives of those who praise Him. The game’s not over as long as you’re still praising Him.
The Message Bible says in 1 Thess. 1:5,6, “When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn’t just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions. You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit! - taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.”
Paul went on to say in 2:1,2, “So, friends, it’s obvious that our visit to you was no waste of time. We had just been given rough treatment in Philippi, as you know, but that didn’t slow us down. We were sure of ourselves in God, and went right ahead and said our piece, presenting God’s message to you, defiant of the opposition.”
How is it that Paul was able to write these words? Because he continually had a song of joy in his heart. Acts 16:25 says, “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”
Joy has a voice. It can’t be kept quiet.
Jer.33:11 talks about “the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: ‘Praise the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for His mercy endures forever’ - and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.”
David wrote in Ps. 16:11, “In Your presence is fullness of joy.” Joy must be expressed! Paul and Silas sang praises at the midnight hour.
In 2 Sam. 6 David brought the ark to Jerusalem and vs. 14,15 says, “Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.” Vs. 16 says David was “leaping and whirling before the Lord.”
Ps. 33:1-3 says, “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the Lord with the harp; Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.”
A crippled man received a healing miracle and Acts 3:8,9 says, “So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them - walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God.” These are all expressions of joy.
Even Jesus said in the Beatitudes, “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven…” (Luke 6:21b-23a). If you will follow these examples and give expressions to your joy, there is no way the devil or anybody else can defeat you. That is good news.
Ps. 2:11 says, “Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.” The Amplified Bible adds, “lest you displease Him.” God doesn’t want you down and depressed. He’s the glory and the lifter of your head and it displeases Him when you don’t give expression to joy. So be happy on purpose because you can’t have strength without rejoicing.
Joy has nothing to do with how you feel so don’t wait for some emotion to bring you goosebumps. Paul said in Rom. 5:3 that we are to “glory in tribulations” and the Amplified Bible says to do it “NOW!” The Message Bible says, “We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles.”
Be joyful at all times! From a jail cell filled with raw sewage Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say rejoice!” (Phil. 4:4). You must keep your joy or you won’t win your battle. You don’t win being depressed or negative-minded. No, you win by being filled with the joy of the Lord. Job 5:22 says, “You shall laugh at destruction and famine, and you shall not be afraid of the beasts of the earth.”
You laugh so you don’t lose your joy. Laughter releases joy and joy is a spiritual force that makes you unafraid of what the enemy can do to you. It gives you the courage to run through a troop and leap over a wall. God shows up with power and might when you give expression to joy. And when God shows up, problems leave.
Is. 64:5 says, “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard or perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him. You meet him who rejoices and does righteousness.” God will meet you where you’re at when you rejoice and sing unto Him a song of joy.
1 Cor. 4:20 says “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” Joy is a major spiritual force and the joy of the Lord is your strength. Joy causes you to be “strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16) and this translates into having the ability to do anything.
Phil. 1:25 talks about the “joy of faith.” Trusting God should make you happy and full of good cheer. Faith is the dynamite that defeats the enemy but joy is the fuse. Joy comes from having the confidence that your faith is working and this confidence comes from knowing God.
Paul wrote in 2 Tim. 1:12, “…for I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day.” Paul was fully persuaded because he knew God. Knowing God comes from fellowship with Him on a daily basis and fellowship in turn produces fullness of joy.
A wealth of spiritual might and power to overcome the enemy is available to you through the joy of the Lord. Understand that joy is not the same thing as happiness. Happiness is a state of well-being and contentment. It is dependent upon the condition of the circumstances that surround you. If things are going good for you, you’re happy. If they’re not, you’re not happy.
Joy, on the other hand, has very little to do with how happy you are. You can be joyful in the midst of the most adverse circumstances. The joy of the Lord is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22,23) and is the one fruit from which we get our strength. Joy is not a state of mind. It is a force that gives strength to all the other fruit. It is the strength of peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and of temperance.
Joy will cause you to have a proper attitude when trials come your way. It will keep you out of self-pity so you can be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. Whatever circumstances you face you can always be full of the joy of the Lord. Be confident knowing that the devil can’t oppose you with anything powerful enough to defeat you when you are walking in the joy of the Lord.
Remember always that Jesus is everything! He’s the origin of life, the essence of life, the aim of life, and the reward of life. In His presence is fullness of joy. And it is Jesus Who will bless you every day of the week. In Him you’ll have a happy Monday, a blessed Tuesday, a joyful Wednesday, a delightful Thursday, a good Friday, a glorious Saturday, and a heavenly Sunday. This is what your life will be like when you sing to the Lord a new song, a song of joy.
BY RANDALL J. BREWER
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