Fighting for Joy

Before I even get started, I would like to say to everyone reading this that Bob and Scott are BRUTAL when it comes to the fact that I haven't posted anything yet. So, here we go with my first post and let me say...it is great that we have something like this. I pray that this might be a place for people to come and ask questions, seek answers, and that together we might "recount" the wondrous deeds of our Savior and exult in His Name!

I am not sure, but there is a struggle within me because of the different matters going on from day to day. There are days when I am completely exhausted, there are days when it feels as if I am under attack, and days that quite frankly I wish that I could back in bed and try it all over again.

This morning I was reading Psalm 9 and found what David said here and found it interesting....perhaps you will too. In verse 1, we find:

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

First, I would like to explain a couple of things that really stuck with me this morning. David says, "I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart." Oh my dear friends, when we consider the work of grace in the life of the believer, we should give thanks with everything that is within us. We should not give praise with our lips only, but with our hearts, our lives, and our total being. It is possible to appear to be in outward obedience, but have a heart that is far from God. God is not honored by our simple obedience out of a sense of obligation or duty...but he wants us to delight ourselves in Him.

I see this theme throughout the Psalm as David is thankful to the Lord for the blessings that he has seen. For this, he is forever grateful. Can I please just leave you with a few things that I see in the first part of this Psalm that might help all of us as we are fighting for that joyful heart in the midst of a fallen world filled with struggles and temptations?

1. Give Thanks to God (1a)
2. Give Thanks to God with everything "Your Whole Heart"
3. Recount His Wonderful Deeds (1b)
4. Be glad and exult in Christ (2a)
5. Sing glad songs that rejoice over the victory of Christ over sin in your life, in the lives of your brothers and sisters.
   

If I could offer a brief summary of this. When we see the work of Christ in and around us, it should move us to an attitude of WORSHIP. Not just singing, but a rejoicing by "recounting" and a glad heart that is fixated on the One who gave Himself up for the ungodly, making them His treasure.

Give Thanks to the Lord, for He is Good!