Philippians 4:4-7“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
In my last newsletter, I looked at one of the most commonly quoted commands found in many forms throughout Scripture: “Don’t worry.” Today I want to continue looking at the reasons we have to trust God and obey that command by looking at what I call its counterpart: “Rejoice always.” Thinking of these two commands as counterparts is helpful for me because I think God has given us one to help us obey the other.
Our sinful hearts find it very easy and natural to worry, which makes sense when we see so many forms of the command “Don’t worry” throughout the Bible. But sometimes, even as we seek to grow in trusting God and relying on Him, it’s still so hard to just “turn off” that worry or anxious thinking in our lives. That’s why I love the opening verses from Philippians 4, because in the same vein that Paul instructs us not to worry, he tells us what we should be doing first and instead of worrying: rejoicing always!
As I stated in my last newsletter, God never gives us a command that He will not enable us to obey. However, when a lot of us hear the words, “Don’t worry,” we often think it’s impossible to just stop worrying, even if it’s out of the motivation to obey God. But in Philippians 4, before Paul tells his readers to “not be anxious about anything,” he first instructs them to “Rejoice always”… twice! I believe this order is intentional in equipping us to be able to understand how we can avoid worry or habits of anxious thinking. We are to actively and always be rejoicing in the Lord, and this command is repeated throughout the Bible:
Psalm 32:11Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!
Psalm 40:16But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;may those who long for your saving help always say, “The Lord is great!”
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
Romans 12:12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Now, we may be able to logically see how a heart and mind full of rejoicing will be less likely to give into worry or anxious thoughts. But how can God expect us to “rejoice always?” Doesn’t He know how hard life is? Isn’t He aware of the effects that this sin-cursed world has on our lives? I think we get hung up on the word “rejoice” from this command, because we often think of rejoicing as “being happy.” However, I don’t believe that God is commanding us to “always feel happy.” In this world, that’s really impossible! We have physical pain, we experience loss, we face disappointments, and there are legitimate fears that can cause worry or doubt… in those moments, “happy” is far from what we feel.
When we read the command “rejoice always,” God isn’t telling us to just get over it and pretend to be happy. He isn’t telling us to ignore or get rid of all other emotions. In Scripture we see that God Himself experiences a range of emotions, and not all of them are happy. God gets angry (Psalm 7:11), frustrated (Exodus 32:9-10), and sad (Genesis 6:6). He created us to have these kinds of emotions too.
But God can instruct us to “rejoice always,” because in Christ we always have a greater hope to look to for joy. The special thing about biblical joy and biblical rejoicing is that those two concepts are not linked to just feelings. Joy comes from a heart at peace with its Savior and King, knowing that the worse problem it could ever face (its own sinfulness) has already been defeated. Rejoicing is rehearsing biblical truth to ourselves and intentionally practicing gratitude. When we rejoice, we are remembering that God is the only One who can give us joy since He is the source of our salvation from sin.
Acts 2:28 - The context of Peter quoting Psalm 16:11 while addressing crowds in Jerusalem about the proof of Jesus being the Messiah.You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Isaiah 61:10 - The context of Isaiah prophesying about the Messiah coming to proclaim the “Year of the Lord’s favor,” which is the passage Jesus quoted at the beginning of His earthly ministry in Luke 4. I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
We as believers always have reason to rejoice in our righteous standing before God, made possible through the saving work of Jesus Christ on the Cross. No one and nothing can take that truth and hope from us. As Christians, we must make it a daily habit of rehearsing Gospel truths and blessings in our lives, because we so easily forget. A great resource for practicing that kind of Gospel meditation is A Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent, which gives daily reasons based on Scripture for things we can rejoice in regarding the Gospel.
The Good News of Jesus Christ isn’t meant for just the moment of salvation, but as a sweet truth found throughout the Bible meant to remind us of who we are and our purpose now that we are in Christ. The Gospel is what we must cling to for joy, because it is the only source for hope.
Romans 15:13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
As a believer, God has given you His Holy Spirit. By the power of His Spirit, we can confidently choose to rejoice and be thankful in our salvation. We can confidently ask God to help us rejoice in all things to combat the worries of this life. And when we feel overwhelmed and unable to escape anxious thoughts, we can ask Him to help us remember and believe His Gospel and the power it has in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 6), or to worry or anxiety! Praise God for that hope, and my prayer is that these passages and truths we reflected on today will encourage you to focus on developing habits of rejoicing in truth each and every day.
In my next newsletter, I’m going to discuss the command to “love your neighbor as yourself” that Jesus gave us during His earthly ministry. This is another widely quoted command, and I want to focus on how it applies to our lives while also looking at how it is consistent with God’s love and commands for us throughout the rest of the Bible. I pray this series is an encouragement to you, and I want to thank you again for reading or listening. God bless you as you seek to study His Word and know Him more.
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