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Rejoice!
“Let Mount Zion rejoice!
Let the daughters of Judah shout in exultation!
Because of your judgments.”
(Psalm 48:12 {verse 11 in English})
What a contrast that we find here between the celebration of the daughters of Judah and the lamentation that Jesus speaks of in Luke 23:28 as he is being led up the hills of Golgatha. The language of the Daughters (whether Judah or Jerusalem) is figurative language that speaks of the women of the culture (who often bear the grief of the judgment on society as they lose their sons to war. Thus, they shout and sing in celebration in the promise of God’s protection from the wicked and while they should have shouted for joy in the Triumphal Entry of the Messiah into Jerusalem, on the day of his crucifixion he calls them to weep for the wrath of God will soon fall on this city (70 AD) for they executed their king.
For now, though, they are called to rejoice and shout in exultation and by extension, so are we. Yet, how often we do not. We get distracted by the minor struggles of life and miss the greater blessing and cause to praise of our mighty God. How easily we are duped by such things. How often we complain to God when we should be rejoicing before him. How often we worry instead of trusting his protection. Loved ones, our God on high has given us protection and covering; sing and celebrate the great gift he has afforded us at the cost of his Son’s blood.
Food for the Soul and Guidance for Your Life
“Having said this, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write this to you is not something from which I shrink, on the other hand, for you it is firm ground.”
(Philippians 3:1)
This verse is a little bit idiomatic, but should not be too hard to sort through. It begins with the phrase to\ loipo/n (to loipon), which literally means: “the rest.” In other words, Paul is changing gears here with this statement. We are not just at the middle of the book, per say, but it is as if he is saying, “okay, I am done talking about the sickness that Epaphroditus has suffered…it was mentioned because it needed to be mentioned, but now I am getting back to the real reason that I am writing to you, and that is to offer counsel to your souls.” That, at least is the notion that is being conveyed.
So, having said all of this about his sorrows, Paul turns to words of counsel and begins with the statement, “Rejoice in the Lord!” But, Paul, what about all of the sickness and suffering of you in prison and Epaphroditus on the sickbed? Paul is saying to us that while those things are earthly realities, our God is not earth-bound and there is glory waiting for those who are faithful to the end. So, why our long faces? Rejoice!
In light of this…something that Paul will soon repeat…what I am going to say may very well frustrate some of my Reformed brethren…but they will get over it. Sometimes Christians hear and even affirm this language that we are to rejoice in the Lord, but we hardly communicate that when we gather to worship. We often find ourselves gathering with long faces and somber attitudes, like one would expect at a funeral, not like one would expect at a celebration of the Resurrection (which is every Sunday, by the way!). Even people’s attitudes before they arrive have not been helpful to their demeanor…how many times have we heard, “Do I really have to go to church today?” As if it is a chore!
Folks, don’t misunderstand me…I am not talking about dancing in the aisles or charismatic kinds of things. I am simply saying that when we gather to worship, everything from our thoughts to our actions ought to communicate what a wonderful salvation that we enjoy in Jesus Christ our Lord. Our obedience to God ought to reflect the joy it is to serve the Lord we serve. And when visitors join our midst and see everything done in good order, they should not see that order as a bored routine, but as a glorious way to guide and train our affections toward an attitude of worship…genuine worship in Spirit and in Truth. We should look forward to Sunday worship for indeed, it is meant to be a taste of heaven…or at least practice for heaven. Yet, in how many churches was Mark Twain correct in saying, “They talk about heaven where they will worship God eternally but they dread doing so for an hour a week here on earth” (Letters From The Earth)? So, brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord, and again I say, rejoice! But I get ahead of myself.
Finally, Paul begins a transition back to practical points of spiritual counsel. Again, the phraseology is a bit awkward in English, but what it seems to be that Paul is saying is that counsel is something from which he does not shrink. Sometimes it can feel awkward to say, “You need to do this or that,” but Paul recognizes not only that offering such counsel is his calling (so he does so) but that it is also good for the people of Philippi to receive this counsel.
How often professing Christians are faced with such counsel in scripture and act as if it were optional for them. “I can do this or that,” they think, but then they ignore the other things. Yet, Paul is making it clear that this counsel is a solid foundation on which to base their lives. And if it is good for the church in Philippi, it is good for our churches today. Take heed, beloved, to the words of the Apostle (as well as to the words of all the Scripture!) for they are food for your soul and guidance for your life.
Sacrifice
“In the same way, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.”
(Philippians 2:18)
The notion of sacrifice is so alien to our culture in the western world that this verse needs to be emphasized as well as the previous one. It is one thing to make a personal decision to pour oneself out even unto death for the purpose of building the Kingdom of God. Yet it is entirely another thing to be prepared to rejoice when one that you love is doing so. How quick become filled with worry for others when those we care about make such a decision.
My favorite missionary from history is a man named John Paton. John discerned a calling from God to travel to the New Hebrides Islands with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The problem? The tribes that lived on the islands were cannibals and had already slain (and eaten!) one group of missionaries who had traveled to that island group. When John announced that he would be going to Tana Island in the New Hebrides, a member in his congregation sought to change his mind. “But they will eat you!” said the man to John. John’s reply echoes the spirit of the Apostle Paul in this chapter; John said, “But when you die and they put your body in the ground, worms will eat you! Whether worms of cannibals, what difference does it make if I am serving God?”
How often, our response to those who are ready to pour out their lives for the Gospel is to tell them they need to pull back. How sad it would be if they were to die young, having spent themselves for the glory of God. How often it is counseled to young ministers that they need to slow down and pace themselves so they don’t burn out and so that they can have long ministries until they are ready to retire comfortably in old age. While I have no desire to disparage those to whom God has given a long and healthy ministry and have been able, in their old age, to look back and see how the hand of God was moving through them, we should be ready to “spend and be spent” for the Gospel, as John Wesley put it. And we should rejoice with those who have such a commitment.
As I write these words, my mind also thinks of those brothers and sisters of ours who come to faith in Muslim areas and who often face terrible repercussions for their conversion…many even losing their lives. Yet, would we be content to not evangelize them? Would we think that for them to live a healthy comfortable life here on earth is worth their losing their soul in Hell? Where a trade off needs to be made — comfort in this life or comfort in the next — which will we choose for others or for ourselves? Though we may live a hundred years on earth, what is that in comparison to eternity in glory? We place such weight in the here and now that we often lose perspective on the eternal. Rejoice, beloved, in the things that God has done in you but also rejoice and be glad for those that God has privileged to have their lives extinguished in the proclaiming of the Gospel. Grapple to taste just a bit of God’s eternal perspective rather than to be satisfied with the passing perspective of earth.
In What Will You Rejoice?
“What then? But that in every manner, either with a pretext or in truth, Christ is being declared and in this I rejoice…but rather, I rejoice!”
(Philippians 1:18)
Here you go…this is the mindset that we are talking about…here is a man who is focused on the goal above all else…he is focused on Christ and upon Christ’s glory. How easy it is for us to lose sight of this. Paul is saying, look, folks, there are lots of people who are preaching Christ to gain attention, to gain favors, to gain a reputation for themselves, and even to cause me distress…but Christ is still being proclaimed!
Loved ones, do you see what it is that Paul is saying here? It is easy for us to decry bad denominations and self-serving preachers…and there is a time and a place to do that (see Paul’s language in Galatians!), but at the same time, there are often people who are being gloriously saved in spite of the bad churches and self-seeking preachers. Indeed, this is just one more testimony to the sovereignty of God in all things, particularly in our salvation.
The sad thing, I think, is that I often fear that while we do rejoice as God’s people, often we rejoice over all of the wrong things. Or, we at least, rejoice primarily over earthly things that are transient at best. Shall we rejoice? Most certainly! Yet, let us rejoice in Christ! Let us rejoice in one who is eternal and who offers eternal life! Let us rejoice in the one who is the source of all our hope and joy and promise. This world is passing away…in the scope of eternity, our time here is as dust in the wind. Why focus here? Why not focus on the one from whom glory gets its meaning. Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God! How shall earthly things compare to that? They cannot! Indeed, they cannot! It is Christ and Christ alone in whom we must find that joy and when Christ is proclaimed, let us rejoice.
Rejoicing in Yahweh’s Divine Actions
“For you make me rejoice constantly, Yahweh, in your divine action; in the works of your hands, I continually exult.”
(Psalm 92:5 [verse 4 in English])
The question that we must raise is whether or not we can really say, with the psalmist that we rejoice and exult in the works of God. On the surface level, our first response is probably to say that we do rejoice in God’s works, but in saying that we need to take a closer look at what we are suggesting. Indeed, it is easy to rejoice in the blessings that God brings into our lives, but what of the trials? What of those times when everything is falling apart and we just cannot figure out which end is up in life? Is it not harder to rejoice in God and exult in his works when such things take place? Yet this, too, is in sight of what the Psalmist is saying.
Sometimes the hardest thing to do, when things fall apart in our lives, is to praise God in the midst of such things. Yet, in times of distress like this, such is what our soul most needs. We need that communion and worship and we need to affirm that God’s work is continually a good thing in my life because it is used to conform me into the image of his Son, Jesus.
One of the great reminders of this principle is the setting aside of the Sabbath day. A day where we join with the body of Christ and worship together — where we even lift one another up in worship, standing in the gap for the brother and sister who is broken and cannot stand (spiritually) on their own feet to do so. That joined with the promise that if we count the Sabbath a delight, God will raise us up from our depths and give us a taste of his glory (Isaiah 58:13-14).
David in the Wilderness: Psalm 63 (part 12)
“The King will rejoice in God;
and boast, will all who swear by him;
for the mouth will be shut of all who speak a lie.”
(Psalm 63:12 {Psalm 63:11 in English Bibles})
And David, who is the rightful king of Israel, will rejoice in God (even in the midst of having to flee for his life) because God will shut the mouths of the liars—God will vindicate David’s name and bring to shame those who would seek to speak ill of him. What an amazing statement! David is saying that because God is who he is, that he has no fear. Even in the situation he is in, where people are seeking his life and his kingdom, that David is entirely confident that God will bring truth to the surface and will bring an end to the lies that are being spoken about him.
Beloved, were it that we could only have such faith! That we could walk with such confidence as to know that God will stop the mouths of those who lie about us. Yet, friends, we can because God will! How often do we respond to lies about us by angrily confronting the liars? How often do we drop everything that we are doing just to focus our energies on “restoring our good name?” Loved ones, do not misunderstand me, a good name is an important part of your Christian witness, but do you not think that God will restore your good name for you? Do you not think that God is able to put an end to false talk about you? If you believe that God will do this and that he is able to do so, why do you fret and panic about the lies of the enemy so?
Loved ones, you are held in the hand of the one who is the very definition of truth and righteousness—pursue His truth and righteousness and the lies of the enemy will be shown for what they are. As our Lord, himself said:
“Blessed are you when they reproach you, persecute you, and say evil and lies of you because of me. Rejoice and Exalt! For your reward is great in heaven. For thus they persecuted the prophets who came before you.”
(Matthew 5:11-12)
Beloved, let our lives sing and boast of the one we serve, for what other god is like our God? None! No not one!
I will sing of my Redeemer, and his wondrous love to me:
On the cruel cross he suffered, from the curse to set me free.
Sing, O sing of my Redeemer!
With his blood, he purchased me;
On the cross he sealed my pardon,
Paid the debit and made me free.
-Philip Bliss
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