So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you…
John 16:22
God’s Word Brings Us Joy
“for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.” Psalm 119:47-48 ESV
We often lift up our hands with pleasure when we worship God. We are filled with such joy when praising Him and when we pray to Him, that sometimes we do not even realize that we are reaching our hands up for a gift we long for as we pray in obedience to Him and in accordance with His Word. More often than not, a passage from the Bible will speak to us and affirm that God has heard our deepest cries. What joyous comfort!
That is how the writer of this Psalm must have felt when reading God’s Word. Not only did he delight and find joy in God’s Word; but he loved those parts of God’s Word that were commandments – yes – even the mandatory parts.
Prayer
Lord, we thank you for your Word – your Word that brings us joy – your Word that guides us every day – your Word that asks us to read and obey your commandments. We pray that your Word continues to transform us so that we become more and more like you!
In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Solape Delano is serving as the prayer coordinator for this year’s retreat. During this final six weeks, she is creating weekly prayers paired with devotions for each of us to use to prayerfully prepare ourselves.
