In Psalm 16, David goes on to say ‘I bless the LORD who gives me counsel…’ There is a great Joy in receiving God’s word. The truth is that the Bible is a great source of joy. Psalm 119:162 “I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil.” The idea there is that treasures are hidden in the word. Sometimes reading the Bible may even seem boring, you may read verse after verse with little noticeable benefit, but suddenly a verse jumps out at you and it is like a precious nugget. The Bible is a sweet Word. Psalm 119:103 says “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” It brings joy to our lips, it refreshes us. The New Testament speaks of washing with the Word (Ephesians 5:26), it restores your soul, it brings joy to you. When you are sorrowful and you read this Word, joy comes in the morning.
We must get the Word into us. That happens through study, through reading it, it is through listening to sermons. If you find a sermon that particularly helps you one Sunday morning, get it on your phone or on your computer or on a CD and listen to it. Listen until you can almost say it word for word. Let God get it into your heart. Let the Word of God dwell in you richly as you pray the Word through, as you pray the Word through, as you pray the Bible back to God, as you seek counsel of godly pastors and friends, as you as God for wisdom. God’s wisdom lubricates your life and it comes from the Word. It talks here about him lying on the bed in the night, and his heart instructs him. Your heart can only do that if the Word is in there. As you are lying there at night, instead of worrying about the next day, mull over a Bible verse that you read that day. Let God speak to you. Let joy well up in your heart as you read again your salvation and what God has done for you.
It is a funny thing that each year billions of pounds are spent on anti-depressant tablets. They have a place, and there are many Christians that need to take them and that receive benefit from taking them (more of that in the next post). But as I was thinking about this, it suddenly hit me in a very obvious way, if those tablets sit on the shelf and no one takes them out of the packet and swallows it, they are not going to do anything. And yet, how many Bibles remain closed? In this book is the source of real joy, not just a tablet that will help with the symptoms of biological depression, but something that will change your heart. You may need the tablets, especially perhaps just for a while or in some cases ongoingly, but this Word will bring real joy to you. So open it, read it, and let it get into your hearts.
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