What a lot of dry-bone religion there is! Go and stand at the door of almost any place of worship, and watch the faces of those who enter. How many look as if they were going there for enjoyment? Honestly! Do not the vast majority look as though they were going rather to a funeral than to a feast? To the dentist rather than to “God, my exceeding joy”? “That’s just reverence,” says somebody. “Oh, indeed!” “Yes, sir, and a lack of reverence is one of the chief sins of today. “Agreed, irreverence is a great sin, but what is reverence? Surely not a long or gloomy face! True reverence is obedience, and disobedience is irreverence in its worst form. Court, not fancy, dress is required when one enters the KING’S presence; and the Court dress prescribed by THE KING HIMSELF and published in His orders is “JOY.” “O come, let us sing.” “Let us make a joyful noise,” “Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving,” “Let us make a joyful noise unto Him with psalms.” Thus should all loyal subjects appear before their KING.
Look at the smile on the faces of the sons of Korah as they go to church singing:”How lovely, how pleasant are Thy tabernacles O Lord of Hosts. My soul longeth, yea, even fainted, for the courts of the Lord.” “My heart and my flesh sing for joy unto the Living God.” Where the heart thus sings the face must needs dance for joy. “As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God.” Watch David as he enters his pew, the joy on his face says audibly, “One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His Temple”; and here I am “satisfied.”
The wise men came to the house where Jesus was, rejoicing with exceeding great joy. Of course! Had they not seen His star? And were they not sure that He was inside the house? Faith was the cause. Joy is the child of faith, and the fruit of the Spirit of God. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Faith sees the Son, and the Son gives a sunny countenance.
The Lord is a Great God, and loves to do great things for His people, and when He does them, their tongues are filled with singing and their mouths with laughter, while all men see that they are glad.
– C.T.Studd, “The Laugh of Faith”
Recent Comments