What is Joy in the Christian Faith?

Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving;
let us shout triumphantly to Him in song. Psalm 95:2

 What is the Christian joy? This type of question is often thrown around in Sunday school s as if we automatically know what joy is. We know where it comes from, we know it comes from our Lord who interceded for us and became the atonement for our sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Joy is a gift, in knowing what Christ has done for us! Joy is not simplistically an emotional feeling, but it is also in knowing that we can approach the Lord when we sin.

When the ark of the Lord had been stolen from the Israelites in 1 Samuel from chapters 4 to 6, the wrath that God pours out is endless. His wrath is against those who have stolen the ark and those who have mishandled the ark. The ark of the Lord being a symbol that God was always with the Israelites bound by the covenant law as a way of keeping them His people.

And so when I read chapter 7, I stopped in my tracks. What is it that I mishandle that God has entrusted to me? And there were a number of sins that I could think of, but with a contrite heart my joy is found in the depths of my confession to God. Like the Israelites, they too realised the error of mishandling what the Lord had entrusted them.

When they gathered at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out in the Lord’s presence. They fasted that day, and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the Israelites at Mizpah. 1 Samuel 7:6

But God was good to forgive the Israelites! They brought their prayers before the Lord and repented. As a result the Lord’s hand was against Israel’s enemies, and sent the Philistines scattering (1 Samuel 10-11). So the depth of joy is found in my tears, in knowing that God is good to reveal to me the errors of my sin. But in knowing this, He is good to forgive! So my joy does not simply reside in sorrow, but in knowing with confidence that He can forgive! We cannot fool the Lord, we can’t run from Him and it would be foolish to try. As it says in Revelation 6:16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the One seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. There will be those who will do all they can to hide from the fear of God but as John Piper once said, fearing God is not running away from God but knowing His greatness, His supremacy, His sovereignty we can only and with confidence turn to Him.