A Deeper Joy
Lydia Mulkey
December 7, 2021

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
    break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
    with the lyre and the sound of melody.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
    make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.
Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
    the world and those who live in it.
Let the floods clap their hands;
    let the hills sing together for joy
at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
    to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
    and the peoples with equity.
~ Psalm 98

Psalm 98 served as the inspiration for hymn Writer Isaac Watts to write that famous carol we sing each Christmas Eve, “Joy to the World.” What strikes me when I read Psalm 98 is that there is an awful lot about judgement for this to be a hymn of joy. But then I remember what joy is. Sometimes we talk with the children about how sad seriousness and happiness come together in the story of Jesus to create joy. Joy is something deeper than fleeting happiness. Joy comes from a deep place of knowing the full story—the good the bad and the ugly—and knowing that the awful parts weren’t the end! The psalms also say “weeping may last for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” Joy is that thing that comes after life’s challenges have been survived. So, it makes sense for a people living under oppression to sing about judgement and joy! When the oppressors have finally been judged rightly, we will have survived and that freedom will be pure joy!

This Sunday we will light the candle of joy! I pray we will not limit ourselves to the easy and fleeting happy moments of life when we consider joy. Let’s consider all we have been through, and all that we will get through together, so that we can find the deep well of joy that comes from knowing the full story of God’s faithfulness through it all. Amen.