Knowing God's Fullness Of Joy (Know God, Know Joy)

Knowing the Fullness of God’s Joy

Text: Psalm 16:11

Intro:

This Sunday is our 1st week that we are now having our monthly theme this July entitled “Know God, Know Joy”. As I was meditating our text this month found in Psalm 16:11, I can’t help but to ask God, what kind of joy does God wants us to understand or grasp at this point in time? If you ask many people, including ourselves, what are the things that make us joyful? You see there are a slight difference between happiness and joy that can be found in this world. According to Wikipedia, “happiness” is defined as a mental or emotional state of well-being which can be defined by, among others, positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. While “joy” is defined as a feeling of great pleasure and happiness. On this 2 meanings we can see that being happy is an emotion while joy is the highest level of that emotion. So being joyful or full of joy means we are not just happy, but super, mega, or having a great emotion of being happy.

In this world where many things we think are sources of joy in our lives, we sometimes mistakenly identify them as the true source of this great emotion. Allow me to give you a glimpse of what the word means in the light of God’s Word. Let’s read our text today Psalm 16:11

Psalm 16:11 NIV

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.

English Standard Version

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

In this verse we can see 3 sources of joy that God wants us to experience:

1. His Path of life – “landas ng buhay”

“You make known to me the path of life”

John 14:6a Jesus said “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”. Jesus is the only way to that life we ever wanted to experience. He has the roadmap to that life that goes to His Father that is why He also said in the 2nd part of the verse “no one can come to the Father except through Me” which means He knows the Way where infact He is the “only” Way to that life! And the verse says that “God will make known to us that way” He will never keep that as a secret! God wants us not just to be happy, but joyful and He will not be contented in keeping the 1st source of joy to us, but to make them known to us the path of life. It is to discover that way to that joyful life with God.

David is the author of this Psalm and as a shepherd to his own flocks, he should know the path where his sheep is walking through. The shepherd knows the way and after him his sheep follow. In John 10 Jesus clearly states the function of a shepherd, not just an ordinary one but a “good” one. What does this shepherd do which makes him as “good” to his sheep? Let us read in verse 1 to 5:

1 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.

2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.

3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”

Here we can see that the shepherd becomes “good” because of these qualities:

• he enters the gate appropriately (not gate-crashing it) v2

• the sheep listen to his voice – v3

• he calls his sheep by their names and leads them out (one by one) –v3

• his sheep follow his voice because they know it– v4

• they will not follow a strangers voice – v5

What truths can we find in these verses in John 10?:

• God wanted to be our shepherd, so long as we allowed Him to. He will not gate-crash our hearts in order to make known the path to that kind of life God wanted for us!

• If we could only listen to His voice