“And again I say, rejoice” (Phil. iv. 4).
It is a good thing to rejoice in the Lord. Perhaps you found the first
dose ineffectual. Keep on with your medicine, and when you cannot feel any
joy, when there is no spring, and no seeming comfort and encouragement,
still rejoice, and count it all joy. Even when you fall into divers
temptations, reckon it joy, and delight, and God will make your reckoning
good. Do you suppose your Father will let you carry the banner of His
victory and His gladness on to the front of the battle, and then coolly
stand back and see you captured or beaten back by the enemy? Never! the
Holy Spirit will sustain you in your bold advance, and fill your heart
with gladness and praise, and you will find your heart all exhilarated and
refreshed by the fulness of the heart within.
Lord, teach me to rejoice in Thee, and to rejoice evermore.
The joy of the Lord is the strength of His people.
The sunshine that scatters their sadness and gloom;
The fountain that bursts in the desert of sorrow,
And sheds o’er the wilderness, gladness and bloom.