July-10-0465-Rejoice in the Lord at all times
465_Rejoice in the Lord at all times Psalm 33:1-12 Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. 2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! 3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. 4 For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. 5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord. 6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! 9 For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. 10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the peoples. 11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations. 12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage! Several years ago, a well-known Christian musician was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. At the height of her career, with awards, albums, and a loving family, it would have made sense if despair had taken hold. But what struck everyone around her was the consistent joy in her voice—not just on stage, but in her hospital room, in her journal entries, and in every interview she gave. When asked how she could be so joyful in the midst of suffering, she replied, “Joy isn’t tied to what’s happening to me. It’s tied to the One who holds me.” This is the heart of Psalm 33. It’s not a psalm attributed to any particular author, but its message is unmistakably clear: God’s people are called to rejoice—not just occasionally or when everything is going well, but at all times. The opening lines are not a gentle suggestion; they are a call to action: “Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.” To rejoice in the Lord is not merely a response to favorable circumstances—it is the posture of the faithful heart. The psalmist makes it clear that praise is fitting for the upright. In other words, it is the most natural and proper thing for someone who knows the Lord. This joy is not rooted in the temporary comforts of life, but in the eternal character of God. Charles Spurgeon once wisely said, “To rejoice in temporal comforts is dangerous, to rejoice in self is foolish, to rejoice in sin is fatal, but to rejoice in God is heavenly.” True joy—unchanging and resilient—flows from a relationship with the living God. In the New Testament, Paul echoes this idea repeatedly, saying in Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice.” This is not a