People Of Joy In The Bible
Twelve People Of Joy In The Bible
The Bible pictures many beautiful attributes of JOY as God reveals HIs glory through His people. Just a reminder, JOY in the Presence of God becomes a much richer, a fuller reality than the fleeting sense of happiness we often mistake for JOY in this life on earth. God intends for His people to walk close to Him, even as He walks close to them in the Person of Jesus and in the Presence of the Holy Spirit who abides with us once God’s Grace saves us through the faith He gifts us in Jesus.
ENOCH
Genesis 5:21-24
When Enoch had lived 65 years,
he fathered Methuselah.
Enoch walked with God after he fathered Methuselah 300 years
and had other sons and daughters.
Thus all the days of Enoch were 365 years.
Enoch walked with God, and he was not,
for God took
Hebrews 11:5
By faith Enoch was taken up
so that he should not see death,
and he was not found,
because God had taken him.
Now before he was taken
he was commended as having pleased God.
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Imagine the joy
of walking with God
each day until
your heart was tuned
so beautifully
in harmony with His
He invited you
to go Home with Him
and spend eternity
combining
His GLORY and
your JOY in Him.
In the little we know about Enoch, we clearly see how He rejoiced in a day-by-day worshipful relationship with God as he walked close beside the One who had made him and called him into deep and abiding fellowship. God found such pleasure in their relationship that Hebrews tells us he was taken up into God’s Presence who was pleased with him.
NOAH
Genesis 6:22
Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.
Hebrews 11:7
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen,
in holy fear built an ark to save his family.
By his faith he condemned the world
and became heir of the righteousness
that is in keeping with faith.
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Ever, it seems, Noah
stood with His family
alone against the
world opposing him,
for he dared to stand
for righteousness
along with faithfulness
to his Holy God
even to the point
of building
the awkward
very first ark
and in so doing
found the JOY
which comes from
obeying God.
Noah and his family had such faith in God they stood alone against the world as this obedient family built the Ark, gathered the animals, and found the salvation from the flood that God had promised them through Noah. We read in this long time of preparation Noah did all that God commanded. JOY comes to us as God’s people when we live our lives with such obedience in contrast with the world.
Hannah
I Samuel 1:24-28
And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her,
along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah of flour,
and a skin of wine, and she brought him
to the house of the Lord at Shiloh.
And the child was young. Then they slaughtered the bull,
and they brought the child to Eli.
And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord,
I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord.
For this child I prayed,
and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him.
Therefore I have lent him to the Lord.
As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”
And he worshiped the Lord there.
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Deep down in her heart
Hanna had this hunger
which would not go away
for a child of her own,
and so she prayed and
and she prayed and prayed
again and and again until
God heard her prayer;
He gave her Samuel
and in her true JOY
she gave back her
own boy to Him and
in His glory God
used Him to anoint
Saul, and then David,
while all Israel was blessed.
Hannah carried in her heart a deep desire placed there by God, HImself, and she boldly pray for the fulfillment of her hope in Him. He knew her heart, and granted her prayer’s desire. Then she chose the JOY of giving up Samuel, His Promised one delivered to her, for service to God. Then, He graciously granted her more children, and she had the further JOY of seeing Samuel grow up to become a mighty Judge and a Prophet for the Lord.
Ruth
Ruth 1:16-18
But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you
or to return from following you.
For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.
Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.
May the Lord do so to me and more also
if anything but death parts me from you.”
And when Naomi saw that she was determined
to go with her, she said no more.
Ruth 4:16-17
Then Naomi took the child and laid him on her lap
and became his nurse.
And the women of the neighborhood gave him a name,
saying, “A son has been born to Naomi.”
They named him Obed.
He was the father of Jesse, the father of David.
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While Ruth proved
her loyalty
honoring Naomi
with hard daily
labor in the fields
God in His glory
blessed Her
with the favor
of Boaz
who had such plenty
he could share
the leavings—
while God did His
work and brought
them together for
Naomi’s family
and for Israel’s
king and Messiah
both promised
for great JOY.
God chose Ruth from Moab to not only become His own, but rewarded her unselfish love for her mother-in-law, Naomi, to bless not only her family, but also the entire world as she became the great-grandmother of David, and eventually a part of Jesus’ own family heritage. What JOY for such a hard-working and faithful women of the Lord.
Habakuk 3:17-19
Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
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Habakuk even
in the midst of
famine found cause
to rejoice
in the God of his
salvation
who would make him
who had nothing
to dance like the
deer in the JOY
of being God’s
blessed man
equipped for
worship on steep
and on rocky
high places.
Habakuk, through His service to the Lord, discovered the JOY of knowing how God would bless him and the people he lived among, even as he lived and spoke the truth God granted Him, even when circumstances might cause most to doubt those very words. Habakuk became one of God’s people strengthened for hard, but glorious, and ultimately JOYFUL service.
Mary
Luke 1:36-55
And Mary said,
“My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
and exalted those of humble estate;
he has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”
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Mary knew the JOY
of knowing God’s
favor bestowed
in her humble heart
for such honor
as mighty women
esteemed by this world
might have prized,
for His glory
shines most clear
on those darkest
of nights when
His Star points
the way for
Shepherds and Kings
seeking His light.
Yes, Mary, certainly lived a blessed life, not as one who had extraordinary powers, but as an humble young woman who overcame her shock and fear to carry in her womb our own glorious Lord Jesus. Her JOY in being chosen by God’s Holy Will challenges us to do as she did, to keep our eyes and our praise focused on Him and on Him alone.
Elizabeth
Luke 1:39-45
In those days Mary arose and went with haste
into the hill country, to a town in Judah,
and she entered the house of Zechariah
and greeted Elizabeth. And when Elizabeth heard
the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb.
And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
and she exclaimed with a loud cry,
“Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
And why is this granted to me that
the mother of my Lord should come to me?
For behold, when the sound of your greeting
came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
And blessed is she who believed that
there would be a fulfillment
of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
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A lifetime of
faithful service
and of waiting
for God’s gift
it seemed she would
never receive
revealed such a heart
of deep faith
Elizabeth shared
with her husband’s
priestly worship
when she conceived
such a son as
leaped in her womb
for their Messiah
to be born—such
pure JOY for her,
such GLORY to God,
HOPE for her people,
LOVE for the world.
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What a woman! Having lived with her husband, Zechariah, a life of loving and JOYFUL obedience in spite of her barrenness, Elizabeth recognized the significance of their son and His purpose in pointing us all to the Messiah, Jesus. She rejoiced with Mary at the honor of having the Messiah born of her virgin womb to see God’s Gospel plan fulfilled. Imagine her extraordinary JOY when her own John in the womb leaps with JOY before the Savior in Mary’s womb.
Simeon
Luke 2:26-35
And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit
that he would not see death before
he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
And he came in the Spirit into the temple,
and when the parents brought in the child Jesus,
to do for him according to the custom of the Law,
he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,
“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
according to your word;
for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.”
And his father and his mother marveled
at what was said about him.
And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother,
“Behold, this child is appointed for the fall
and rising of many in Israel,
and for a sign that is opposed
(and a sword will pierce through your own soul also),
so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
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How soon he forgot
all those long years
he had been waiting
trusting God’s Word
day-after-day
visiting the Temple
looking with faith
for the One
who would come
as salvation
for his people
blessed by His God—
now He was here
in the arms
of this young mother
close by this poor
man—clearly
this was the Child,
JOY for his old heart,
promised for the world.
Simeon lived his long life looking toward the JOY of having God’s Promise fulfilled to Him—that he would himself see the Messiah for himself one day. And he did! God keeps His promises. Simeon knew this and proved this. Praise be to God!
Paul
Philippians 2:1-11
So if there is any encouragement in Christ,
any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit,
any affection and sympathy, complete my joy
by being of the same mind, having the same love,
being in full accord and of one mind.
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility
count others more significant than yourselves.
Let each of you look not only to his own interests,
but also to the interests of others.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours
in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God,
did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,
being born in the likeness of men.
And being found in human form, he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.
Therefore God has highly exalted him and
bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
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He never would
have thought back
when he was Saul
how God would
so reverse
the course of
his wayward life
blinded by hate
until LOVE knocked
him down and raised
him again
by the power
of JOY too
bright for eyes
blinded by pride
to see the TRUTH:
God so lived
in Jesus
He transformed
Saul into Paul.
Well, yes, Paul was a stubborn man, like so many of us. So, God had to literally knock him down and blind him so He could see the truth about Jesus, whose followers he so hatefully pursued. Once God got his attention, he left behind the miserable Saul and became the JOYFUL Paul. Only with Jesus as His Lord did he discover the richness of fully and truly serving the great God he had so grievously misunderstood.
John
John 21:25
Now there are also many other things that Jesus did.
Were every one of them to be written,
I suppose that the world itself could not contain
the books that would be written.
Revelation 7:9-12
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude
that no one could number, from every nation,
from all tribes and peoples and languages,
standing before the throne and before the Lamb,
clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
and crying out with a loud voice,
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders
and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces
before the throne and worshiped God,
saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
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How could one
human heart
contain all
this JOY
when God blessed
Him so John
saw in GLORY
Jesus as Lord
of the nations,
of the tribes,
of the peoples,
languages all—
how blessed are
we who read
John’s testimony—
the day is coming
when we will
join those
throngs praising
His eternal goodness—
God on the Throne,
God’s Saving Word,
Jesus the Lamb,
New Earth Redeemed.
From one of the Sons of Thunder to the Apostle of Love, John had the JOY of over a long lifetime witnessing and experiencing for himself, how gloriously Jesus gives life meaning, purpose and fulfillment. Having answered the Call, John stood by Jesus, even beneath His Cross, and spent a long lifetime bearing witness to the total change the Love of God in Jesus brings to those who trust in HIm. And then, he even had the privilege to see heavenly visions gloriously picturing the real JOY we all experience in Heaven. Praise the Lord!
