The Joy of the Lord is your Strength

JOY in our labor, whether physical, mental, or spiritual, is the best guarantee that all the available powers we possess will be cheerfully thrown into our labor, and joy thus becomes one of the chief elements of success in work of any kind. The world, which is wise in its generation, knows perfectly well the power of this element, and it has become a proverb, that it is useless to put a boy to an occupation he dislikes; and the great aim is first to impress youth with the necessity of labor, and then find the occupation which is most likely to be agreeable to his tastes, and therefore the one which is best calculated to enlist all his energy and secure success. Experience teaches us the same thing, for often with a light and cheerful heart we have been able to perform, with ease and comfort, what, at other times, with a sad and heavy heart, we have not dared to attempt.

Of all laborers, he who labors in the spiritual field stands in the greatest need of joy in his work, because of all labor it is that which brings the greatest amount of care, disappointment, trial and suffering. He who labors in the merely intellectual field finds little to retard his steady progress; his is certainly an ascending path requiring patience and hard toil to master its difficulties, but it is a decidedly pleasant path, and free from ruggedness and pitfalls, and every ascent gives a more extended view, and stimulates to further progress; and he who travels it, generally meets with encouragement from fellow-laborers and applause from the world, and the higher he ascends the more honorable and distinguished does his position become. But it is very different with the laborer in the spiritual field—disappointment, opposition, trial and persecution from without, and temptations, weakness, fears, doubts and troubles from within, are what is expected by him who labors earnestly in the Lord’s vineyard; but as the sufferings of Christ abound in him, so his consolations also abound by Christ, so that after all, the Christian laborer ought to be the most joyful in the whole world. The joy of the spiritual man in the exercise of the power of the Spirit which has been imparted by God, is far higher and diviner than that which results from the acquisition and exercise of intellectual knowledge and power, even as that is superior to the joy (if it may be called such), which is produced in some minds by the display of mere brute force; for as the soul is the highest and noblest part of man’s being, and that which is destined to live forever, he only who has been raised to spiritual life, knows the joy which is unspeakable and full of glory, for he only knows what it is to live in the highest and noblest sense of that term.

But while we assert that of all men the Christian should be the most joyful, we feel there is ground for the charge often brought against us, that we are the most melancholy. It is too often the case that when we come together for worship, for prayer, or for breaking of bread, there is very little joy and rejoicing amongst us; thankfulness, gratitude, and a certain degree of joy no doubt exist, but our meetings are rarely joyful meetings; there is more generally a mourning the absence of the Lord, rather than a rejoicing at his presence. That God would not have his children destitute of this joy of the purest, highest and most invigorating kind, we are assured by his Word; and being such an important element in the success of those who labor for him, we do well to ascertain from the Scriptures how we may each strive to promote this joy in the hearts of our fellow-believers, and especially in the hearts of those who watch for our souls, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for us, for the joy of the Lord is their strength.

There was once a marriage-feast where they wanted wine which maketh glad the heart of man, and we have an account of the manner in which that want was supplied. Christ was there, and we have his promise “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” The mother of Jesus was there, who could claim a closer relationship to Christ than any other being, yet he says, “Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and mother;” so that where there is a company of believers with but one thoroughly earnest soul who lives near to God and enjoys much communion with Christ, there is hope for that church, for it is in no worse condition than the company at Cana of Galilee. The mother of Jesus evidently believed in the power of Christ to supply the want of the assembled guests, and she as evidently believed in his willingness, for when he said, “My hour is not yet come,” she did what she could to hasten the hour; and as she felt she could not go to the governor of the feast nor to the guests, she went to the servants and exhorted them to look to Christ, and not to look only, but “whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” Too much stress cannot be laid on the points contained in this exhortation, it is a perfect model for our guidance and imitation, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” The eyes of the servants were then directed to Christ, and they had not to wait long for instructions; they being desirous to learn, his hour was come to teach; and his telling them first to fill the waterpots with water, teaches us the necessity of first seeking the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The picture given us of the servants (most likely their number was very small), in obedience to Christ, filling the waterpots with water, is a great encouragement to God’s people to meet together, if they be but few and of humble position, to seek the outpouring of the Spirit into their own souls, that they may have faith to pray prevailingly that the blessing of God might descend on the preacher and the preaching of the Word, that in God’s own appointed way, the whole company of believers might be blessed and made to rejoice. Perhaps when God often blesses the preaching of the Word, to the astonishment of the preacher himself, the last day will reveal the fact, that two or three humble disciples, having faith in God’s promises, had long met together for prayer and supplication—and although the ruler of the feast knew not whence the good wine came, the servants who drew the water knew—and so did they know and rejoice in the fact that God had answered their prayer, and revealed himself to them as a faithful and promise-keeping God, and perhaps it will be said of such as it was of the poor widow, “Verily I say unto you, this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury.”

There is encouragement here for every believer who feels that the hearts of God’s people are too much set on worldly things, and that God’s cause, therefore, is in a low and feeble state; for until believers are led to joy and rejoice in Christ and in doing his will, work for Christ and for his church will never be done in a manner either pleasing to God or profitable to men; for God loveth a cheerful giver and cheerfully-rendered service, and that can never proceed from a divided heart. As the company at Cana had good wine ministered to them through the instrumentality of one individual, the Word of God teaches us how by faith in Christ, we may one and all seek to do the same service to the church, however poor and humble we may be in this world’s goods, and this world’s estimation.

Spurgeon, C. H. (1867). The Sword and Trowel: 1867, 292–294. (Public Domain)