Great joy

The whole assembly of Judah rejoiced, also the priests and Levites, all the assembly that came from Israel, the sojourners who came from the land of Israel, and those who dwelt in Judah. So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. Then the priests, the Levites, arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard; and their prayer came up to His holy dwelling place, to heaven. - 2 Chronicles 30:25-27

‘So there was great joy in Jerusalem…’

What was the source of the joy that was greater than any joy since the time of Solomon and the building of the Temple. The joy came from the fact that Passover was observed and worship was restored and they prayed and God heard their prayers.

True joy, the kind of great joy talked about here, comes from worshipping God and being in true fellowship with Him and with other believers.

Sunday morning started badly for me. I woke up with a terrible sense of oppression and foreboding. I couldn’t shake it. I texted the men in our church and asked them to pray for me and then battled my feelings and emotions until time for church.

But when we got there and the service began that heaviness slowly but surely was replaced with the joy of the Lord.

That’s the way true joy is. True joy is not based on feelings or circumstances. It is not based on how things are going. True joy comes in doing what is right, obeying God, and being with God’s people.