Rejoice

 Rejoice

March 11, 2025

Philippians 4:4

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

Psalms 40:16

16 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;

Let those who love Your salvation say continually,

“The LORD be magnified!”

“Rejoice” is one of those Biblical words that may not be understood by modern Americans. We tend to think in terms of “Happiness”, which is something altogether different. You are happy when everything is going your way and all is right with the world. We rejoice because God is good and He is our Father. In fact, the Apostle Peter admonishes us to rejoice even when we are distressed by various trials.

1 Peter 1:6

6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,

Even the meaning of the word “Happiness” has evolved over time. In the Declaration of Independence, we find the phrase “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” In this context, in 18th century English, happiness is an economic term. It means to be able to own property and be free to pursue a career to provide for your family. So happiness in this context is more like financial security. In our time, we tend to think of happiness as having all of our desires fulfilled, though in the end, we know, that satisfying all of your selfish desires does not, in fact, bring you true happiness.

Rejoicing in the Lord is something different. It is a type of worship where you are glad that the Lord is good and has given us salvation. The ultimate scene of rejoicing is found in Revelation at the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:7-9 - Marriage of the Lamb

7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” 8 It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. 9 Then he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.”

This is a picture of the relationship of Christ and the Church. We are the bride of Christ and rejoice in our relationship with Him. This rejoicing will climax at the marriage supper of the Lamb where we will seal our relationship with Jesus and dwell with Him forever. That is indeed something to rejoice about!

In the meantime, we live in the world and we endure various trials and tribulations. We still should rejoice, even though we are not happy in the moment, but we rejoice that the Lord is good and that He works all things to gather for good for those called according to hHs purpose. (Romans 8:28) Thus it is that Paul urges us to rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4). And always means always. rejoice at all times, even when things aren’t going your way. But rejoice in the Lord that He is good and he loves us and one day we will sit with him around the banquet table and celebrate the marriage supper of the Lamb. So rejoice in the Lord always, again I say rejoice!