Rejoice in the Lord Always

UV 1392/10,000 Rejoice in the Lord Always

The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
Psalm 118 v 15
The Lord does not want us to show a Pavlovian response of rodents- when something good happens we rejoice, when something negative happens, we mourn, complain, murmur. We should not be like the widowed inconsolable Naomi always moaning that we have become “Marah” as she thought that she was the one who has been emptied of blessing of the Lord and was “Marah” or bitter. She was referring to the place where the Israelites found bitter water that could not quench their thirst in their journey to Israel. They murmured against God at Marah and He heard them. We should not be like Esau who wept when he learnt that Isaac had already blessed the younger son Jacob, “Father, father , bless me.” The voice of mourning, complaining, murmuring and whining should not be in our houses. Instead, we should always rejoice in the strength of the Lord. We should rejoice in the presence of the Lord. We should rejoice that He has permanently defeated our powerful enemies –sin, death, curses and disease with the blood of Jesus. We should rejoice in our salvation. Salvation is a 360 degree experience and every day and every degree of our lives’ movements, we have reason to rejoice and celebrate. We should rejoice with praise and in glorifying the Lord, saying all the time in our hearts, “Salvation, glory, honour, power, riches, wisdom unto the Lord our God.” We should rejoice in the promises of God and thereby obtain gladness and joy. We should believe they have already been fulfilled and praise God for it. We should remember the promises often and always say with joy, “Amen, amen, Lord Amen.” Jesus is referred to in the book of Revelation as Lord Amen or as the One who causes our prayers to be heard, the One who causes miracles, the One who blesses and causes us to be a channel of blessing to others so that others can rejoice and praise God, the One who performs every one of His promises.

Praise is suitable for the upright. Unless we are upright or living in the integrity of our faith, our praise or adoration will not be acceptable to the Lord. But when we are upright and walking in integrity, our praise and worship are not just acceptable but pleasing to the Lord. We rejoice because we trust in the Lord. He is our hiding place. He fills our hearts with songs of deliverance. He deals with our fears. He turns our bitterness away. The memory of our past losses are wiped away.
The hands of “Zerubabbel”, a type of Jesus and therefore standing for Jesus, has laid the foundation of our tabernacles of righteousness. He is the one who has laid our foundation of faith and of our righteousness. Our homes are the residence of the Lord. He resides in us and with us. Our bodies are His temple. The right hand or the strong arm of the Lord Jehovah Nissi will always act on our behalf to protect us, to deliver us, to provide for us, to bless us, to give us victory. He is the One who is building and re-building us. He is the One who finishes us or completes our faith and our work. He is not like the coach who stands on the sidelines and urges us on. He runs alongside us till the finishing line. The plumbline of Zerubabbel that enables us to build in straight lines and angles the walls of our lives is the Word of God. He will enable us to act valiantly and overcome the challenges of our lives. Every testimony of victory, our own as well as that of others, will cause us to exult in the Lord. When we rejoice in the Lord, He will turn our “Marah” into Elim, an oasis of abundance with eternal springs of heaven and flourishing palm trees that yield dates rich in iron and nutrients. Elim was a place on the route of the Jewish people on the way to Canaan where there were twelve wells and seventy palms. When we moan, complain and murmur we eliminate Elim from our lives. The Lord will turn our roots of joy into routes to Elim.

Prateep V Philip