“But let all those who take refuge and put their trust in You rejoice; let them ever sing and shout for joy, because You make a covering over them and defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You and be in high spirits.” Psalm 5:11
I love the fall. Sitting on the back porch I see the many blessings of fall. The leaves are bright and colorful. The sky is crisp and blue. Kids go running through the yard, jumping into every pile of leaves that stand in their way. Giant sticks walking around. Boys carrying limbs 3x their size.
Wait! Large giant sticks, what are they doing!
“Necessary to reinforce the leaf pile bases during the acorn battles”, kids yells out. Oohh, I never knew that. Capture the flag, air-soft battles, and acorn battles are a mainstay at my house. It is times like this that I am glad that God has a covering and shield over my boys. Welcome to my world of boys.
Oh to be like boys who run and jump and rejoice as the battle rages on!
Psalm 5:11 mentions joy and battle in the same voice.. Oxymoron?.. Or spiritual truth to be embraced?
Joy is mentioned three times in Psalm 5:11. Each is derived from different Hebrew verbs and have different meanings.
- The first is ‘samach‘ which means ‘to be glad’, ‘make merry’, cause to make ‘joy’. In other words, the joy comes from Jesus and not us. God will make us joyful as we put our trust in Him. What a promise!
- The second is ‘ranan‘ which means to sing, shout, cry out in triumph. This is not everyday singing and shouting. This comes from the deep inside part of us. It is like the joyful cries and shouts of a woman in labor as she joyfully and triumphantly and yes painfully delivers her child.
- The third is ‘alats‘ which has the connotation of jumping for joy, being exalted. God will exalt us in the midst of battle.
Jesus I pray that as I take refuge in You and put my trust in You, Jesus, that You will make me joyful in the midst of battle, that Your joy will go deep into my innermost being to strengthen me for the battle. As I love You, Jesus, that You will exalt me over the battle, that you will make a covering over me that protects and defends me. Thank you that you reinforce my leaf pile to withstand the battle. Amen
Gazebo Gallery:
Describe a time that as you loved and trusted God, He gave you the joy necessary for the battle?
In Due Season 