Psalm 5:11/Rejoice! Be Joyful!

                                    Joshua eating at age two

Dear readers,

King David says this about rejoicing:

But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.

What a wonderful verse about a relationship with our God.

Let's take it in two parts. We already know that if we put our trust in God, we have peace, but now we learn we also express rejoicing. But, how can we feel rejoice when we're in the midst of pain and suffering? Believe me, we can. I experienced this early on when we lost Joshua to suicide.

The rejoicing came in minute amounts, and it kept me sane. It can do that for you, also. I remembered someone once told me we needed to keep our eyes on Jesus. I would imagine Jesus in front of me, and I fixed my gaze upon His name. Besides the words to God of, "Help," that was another action I did: seeing Jesus before me when I needed consoling and in a hurry.

It works, dear readers, it truly works.

What about the second part of that verse: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them? From whom or what does God defend us? I say here, from whatever is the enemy, whether it be nature, people, animal, even ourselves.

David is showing us we may shout for joy because of God's protection over us. We may shout it in our minds or out loud, but we won't be able to control our joy.

Our first Christmas after Joshua died, my husband gave me a gift. We had stopped giving gifts to each other years before, so I was surprised. When I opened it, I burst into tears. The gift was a wall hanging tapestry with a verse from Psalms: Under His Wings You Will Find Refuge. That tapestry still hangs on my living room wall.

The verse is saying once again that God will protect us, and to fully collect on His promise, we must accept His Son Jesus in a relationship within our hearts.

To conclude the above verse, when we love God's name, we will be joyful in Him. We may not at times be joyful of our circumstances, but we can be joyful in Lord God. That you can be sure, because even in our darkest hour, God protects His little ones.

My prayer for us today:

Lord God, You are worthy to be praise. Only You can we wholly trust. You are our God and our protector. In Jesus name, we are thankful. Amen.

Until next time . . . trust.