A Song of Undiminished Joy

This post is part of the series, Songs of Thanksgiving. Find the whole series here.

“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 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. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalm 100:1-5).

It isn’t always easy to come before the Lord with joyful songs and to worship him with gladness.

Sometimes living in a sinful world overwhelms us with grief, emptiness, and sadness. We don’t feel much like shouting for joy. We might be able to manage a mere whisper, or we might feel like weeping bitterly instead.

Maybe it’s because we’re experiencing an abrupt and shocking loss—a now-empty seat at the table and a hole in our lives that feels like it can never be filled. Or perhaps it’s because we or one of our loved ones is sick—and we’re not sure how much time we have left.

Maybe relationships with our families have worn thin and the thought of getting together for Thanksgiving or Christmas fills us with dread. Or perhaps we’ve recently been laid off at work and don’t know how we’ll make ends meet.

Whatever the reason, loss affects us all and threatens to rob us of the joy that is ours in Christ Jesus—especially when so much of the social media content we consume is filled with picture-perfect families and grateful #blessed posts.

Our own experiences might feel vastly different.

Dear Christian, I hope you know that happiness is not the same as joy. Don’t think that to be a Christian, you must always be happy and smiling, no matter what happens to you or your loved ones. To say such would be a grossly inaccurate picture of what it means to live in a sinful world. To pretend that everything is all right when it really isn’t helps no one. It hurts.

It’s okay to acknowledge that. It’s okay to admit that—to God, yourself, and others.

How can we still sing songs of joy and say, “The Lord is good and his love endures forever”?

Dear Christian, . . . please don’t forget the song of undiminished joy that is yours—even now—despite the sorrows of the world around you.

Don’t forget that you have a Savior who knows exactly what you’re experiencing and how you feel because he walked through life in this sin-darkened world too. He experienced all of its heartache. He did that for you.

Jesus carried the immeasurable weight of the world’s sorrows, griefs, and pains—yours and mine too. He carried that weight all the way to the cross and bore all our sins there so that one day, you and I will experience undiminished joy in his presence. Joy that will never fade. Joy that cannot be touched by grief and sorrow because there will be no more grief or sorrow.

Why?

Why would Jesus do that? Because we are his joy, and he delights in us. He made us and we are his. We are his people. He is faithful, even when we are not. He rejoices over us with a song of undiminished joy, even when we don’t shout for joy to him. We are his.

That we belong to Jesus is the undeniable, sure, and certain truth for which we can always give thanks and praise. Here and now, because of him, we can sing a song filled with undiminished joy.

“The Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalm 100:5).

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