Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
Scripture Ref: Psalm 71:23 Romans 15:13
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, 7:6, 11:9 John 15:10-11, 16:24, 17:13
Proverbs 14:13 Psalm 16:8-11
Job 20:5 Acts 2:28
Other Ref: Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
New Bible Dictionary, 1996
The New Topical Textbook
1. Introduction
a. Read Psalm 71:23—I will shout for joy and sing your praises, for you have redeemed me. (NLT)
b. Inspired by this passage from the book of Psalms, at the age of 55 Dr. Henry J. Van Dyke, a Presbyterian minister, penned the words to a now-familiar, greatly loved hymn:
Joyful, joyful we adore Thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee,
Opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness,
Drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness,
Fill us with the light of day.
c. Set to the music of Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, the hymn swells with love and majesty in both word and music.
(1) Why didn’t Van Dyke write “Happy, happy, we adore thee?”
(2) Why don’t I feel happy every time I sing it.
d. Secular teachings have led us to believe the words “joy” and “happy” are interchangeable, when in fact, they are not.
e. I may not always be happy, which is subject to my emotions and external stimuli; but, I am always joyful in the Lord.
f. This morning, we will first study the difference between joy and happiness, and then we will study what the Bible has to say about joy.
2. Joy vs. Happy
a. Webster’s defines happy as:
(1) 1990 Collegiate Dictionary: (1) favored by luck or fortune—fortunate, (2) notably well adapted or fitting, (3) enjoying well-being and contentment—joyous.
(2) 1828 Dictionary: Being in the enjoyment of agreeable sensations from the possession of good; enjoying pleasure from the gratification of appetites or desires. The pleasurable sensations derived from the gratification of sensual appetites render a person temporarily happy; but he only can be esteemed really and permanently happy, who enjoys peace of mind in the favor of God. To be in any degree happy, we must be free from pain both of body and of mind; to be very happy, we must be in the enjoyment of lively sensations of pleasure, either of body or mind.
b. Webster’s defines joy as:
(1) 1990 Collegiate Dictionary: (1) the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires—delight, (2) a state of happiness or bliss.
(2) 1828 Dictionary: The passion or emotion excited by the acquisition or expectation of good; that excitement of pleasurable feelings which is caused by success, good fortune, the gratification of desire or some good possessed, or by a rational prospect of possessing what we love or desire; gladness; exultation; exhilaration of spirits. To rejoice; to be glad; to exult.
c. Are the two terms interchangeable? Perhaps by secular standards, but not by biblical standards. “Happy” is derived from the obsolete root word “hap,” which, according to Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, meant “that which comes suddenly or unexpectedly; chance; fortune; accident; a casual event.”
d. The New Bible Dictionary says this about joy: In both the OT and the NT, joy is consistently the mark both individually of the believer and corporately of the church. It is a quality, and not simply an emotion, grounded upon God himself and indeed derived from him, which characterizes the Christian’s life on earth, and also anticipates eschatologically the joy of being with Christ for ever in the kingdom of heaven.
e. Our joy and our source of joy is not the result of a chance happening, but rather a divine plan put into motion before time began.
f. The Bible makes strong distinctions between the joy of the wicked (happiness) and the joy of the righteous.
g. Let’s look at both.
3. Joy of the Wicked
a. Is derived from earthly pleasures
(1) Read Ecclesiastes 2:10-11—I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
(a) Solomon searched to find something worthwhile to do. He even experimented, though deliberately and with restraint, not blindly or in uncontrolled excess with sensual indulgence and with what he would otherwise have characterized as a foolish or frivolous lifestyle.
(b) He denied himself nothing through which pleasure might be gained.
(c) The richest and most powerful man who had ever lived in Jerusalem, he surrounded himself with pleasureful objects such as magnificent buildings and vineyards, luxuriant gardens and parks, numerous slaves who were available to serve him, musicians to meet his aesthetic needs, and a large harem to satisfy his physical desires.
(d) Though he could gain some satisfaction from the joy of accomplishment and had experienced pleasure from it all, when he reflected on the real value of what he had accomplished, he concluded it was meaningless.
(2) Read Ecclesiastes 11:9—Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
(a) Solomon encouraged his readers to do whatever their hearts desired.
(b) However, those desires should be tempered with an awareness that God will judge.
b. Is Delusive
(1) Read Proverbs 14:13—Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in grief.
(2) By their laughter people may give the impression they are enjoying life when actually their hearts are hurting emotionally.
(3) The phrase “joy may end in grief” refers either to the fluctuating nature of human emotions or to the idea that joy is seldom pure, untainted by any grief.
c. Is Short-Lived
(1) Read Job 20:5—Surely you know how it has been from of old, ever since man was placed on the earth, that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.
(2) Read Ecclesiastes 7:6—Like the crackling of thorns under the pot, so is the laughter of fools. This too is meaningless.
(a) Comparing the frivolous pleasure of fools—their songs and their laughter—to the crackling of quick-burning thorns under a pot, Solomon said it was meaningless, vain, or useless.
(b) It is more beneficial to live life wisely in light of the sober warning of life’s brevity than to live as if life were one continual banquet.
(c) Also, it is better to give heed to the warnings, corrections, and rebukes of the wise than to engage in foolish pleasure.
4. Our Joy Is Made Full by:
a. The Favor of God
(1) Read Acts 2:28—You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.
(a) The inference here is obvious—the paths of life refer to the resurrected life we will share with Him and the joy from being in His presence is a reference back to Psalm 16:8-11
(b) Read Psalm 16:8-11—I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
(1) David was assured the Lord would preserve his life in the face of death. He rejoiced because God enabled his body to rest securely even when confronted with death.
(2) The reason he could rest is that God would not abandon him to the grave, nor … let His holy one see decay. In fact God had caused him to know the path of life so he anticipated experiencing further joy in God’s presence.
(3) Preservation from the decaying grave is the idea behind both David’s and Jesus’ experiences, but with David it came through a deliverance from death, whereas with Jesus it came through a resurrection from death.
(4) Death posed no threat to David because he enjoyed great blessing and fellowship with the Lord. God would not permit death and the grave to interrupt that fellowship. In a fuller sense this is true of believers today, who having the full revelation about the doctrine of resurrection, can say that even when they die, God will not let death destroy that full fellowship they enjoy with the Lord
b. Faith in Christ
(1) Read Romans 15:13—May 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.
(2) The description of God as the God of hope relates to hope mentioned in the preceding verses and to the promises of God recorded in the Scripture, which give hope.
(3) Paul desired God to fill his readers with all joy and peace.
(4) Joy relates to the delight of anticipation in seeing one’s hopes fulfilled. Peace results from the assurance that God will fulfill those hopes. These are experienced as believers trust in Him.
c. Abiding in Christ
(1) Read John 15:10-11—If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
(2) Obedience to the Father’s commands is the same for a disciple as it was for the Son. Active dependence and loving obedience are the proper paths for all of God’s children.
(3) Jesus had great joy in pleasing His Father by living a fruitful life. The purpose of His teaching is to give man an abundant life, not a joyless existence.
(4) The commands for His disciples to obey are for their joy.
d. The Word of Christ
(1) Read John 17:13—I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.
(2) The words of comfort spoken by Jesus to His disciples were of great benefit to them. After His Passion, they would recall His words and experience the full measure of His joy.
(3) Joy came to them because they knew from His words that He had conquered the evil one and brought eternal life to them.
e. Answers to Prayer
(1) Read John 16:23-24—In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.
(2) Future events brought about changed relations. Since Jesus would not be with them physically, they would not be able to ask Him questions; but the Holy Spirit would help them.
(3) Just as the disciples would be, we are His ambassadors and therefore we have the right to ask the Father for whatever we need to accomplish His will.
(4) The words in My name are not a magical formula that enable us to get His will done; rather those words tie the requests to the work of the Son in doing the Father’s will.
5. Summary
a. We can certainly be happy in Christ when His Spirit touches our emotions, but when those emotions wane and our happiness fades, our joy is still complete.
b. We can have joy in God and Christ because we have the assurance that all our hopes are fulfilled in Christ and that we will spend eternity in His presence.
c. While we may at times sing “Happy, happy, we adore Thee;” we can always sing “Joyful, joyful we adore Thee.”
6. Invitation
