Joy Unspeakable

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

Acts 2:25-28

JOY UNSPEAKABLE

25 David said about him:

"'I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, 27 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.'  

NIV

Although we considered what Peter quoted from David and looked at us as being the holy ones of God, even if Peter was talking about Jesus being the Holy One. There is something else in this Psalm of David that strikes a chord in our hearts. First, the Lord does show us, or makes known to us, the paths of our lives. The problem could be that we are not listening or are unwilling to follow the path he has laid out before us. Do we want to travel our own paths? We know those who refuse to accept Jesus surely travel their own paths down that wide road that leads to hell. However, we have confessed that Jesus is our Lord and Savior and submitted our wills to the will of the Father. That would mean we should not be making our own way in life, but rather watching and listening so we will know the path he has for us. He will make known our path, both the one we walk in the worldly sense and the calling of our walk of faith. This walk of faith would be both in the world and in the church. It is who we are, holy ones who belong to the Lord; our lives do not belong to ourselves. Because of who we are, the second truth appears directly to our hearts. When we walk the path the Lord has laid out for us, he fills us with the joy of his presence. Can there even be any joy if we are not filled with his presence? Do we try to make ourselves happy with the material goods of this world? But stuff can be temporary; we can obtain it, but we can just as easily lose it. The purpose of our lives is not to obtain stuff, but to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and He will make sure we have enough, which is not the reason we seek him first. When we walk with the Lord, listening to his plans and his path for us, and following them, we will be filled with the joy of his presence. This is true joy, which far surpasses happiness. The word that David used in the Psalm means pleasure, that is, we will know the pleasure of his presence. In a small way, it is like the pleasure we experience when we are in the presence of the one we love, our spouse. But being in the presence of our Lord, enjoying His presence in our lives, fills us with a joy that cannot be contained and measured. It is joy unspeakable and full of glory. Although those are the words of a hymn, they are from one of Peter's letters to the church. Joy unspeakable and full of  glory because we are in His presence.