The Generosity of GodNäide

How Can I Have More Joy?

The greatest Christians have always been the most joyful ones. Joy in God was their secret weapon. It was their antidote against a thousand poisons. Their water in a barren land. Their oxygen at high altitudes.

False religion often wears a serious face. It speaks with a tone of pressure and performance. It has the appearance of godliness but denies its power.

Meanwhile, our hearts thirst for joy. We search for it from the time we’re children till the day we die. In Psalm 4, David lights the path of how we can have more joy.

“You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.”

David found that more joy is possible. His joy was not limited to his personality or his circumstances. Instead, he wrote, “You have put more joy in my heart…” More joy can come from God. David found joy in time spent with God. Our pursuit of joy starts in the same place.

David found more joy in God than in abundance. Abundance is often our dream. More wealth looks like the path to more joy. But centuries ago, David learned that God’s joy is better. It’s deeper, fuller, and more satisfying than anything the world can offer. God’s joy is available in every season. Like David, we can stop looking to abundance to give us joy and instead look to God for more.

David found that joy is a gift God gives. Despite the bad press, God is not the barrier to our joy. Instead, God is the most joyful being in the universe. God can put joy in our hearts because joy is in his heart. Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11) We don’t have to achieve joy. We get to receive it from the true source. Joy is a gift, and God is the giver.

David found a joy that never ends. His joy was not anchored in abundance, but in eternity. David was looking forward to Jesus, the one God promised would come after him and sit on his throne forever. Our joy is anchored in this same person! Jesus has come, and he went to the cross for the joy set before him. On the other side of death was resurrection. On the other side of suffering was joy. For all who trust in Jesus, that will be our story as well.

Throughout Scripture and history, those who were the most faithful to God and useful to their generation were also the most joyful. May we be those kind of people.