“Joy” in the O.T. * Job - 9 times (Joy in suffering)
* Psalms - 56 times (God brings joy & light)
* Proverbs - 15 times (Wise seek godly joy)
* Esther - 7 times (Joy, though in Exile)
* Isaiah - 29 times (Joyful future with God)
* Jeremiah - 12 times (Weeping turns to joy)
Deut. 16: 14-15 14 Be joyful at your Feast—you, your sons and
daughters, your menservants and maidservants,
and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.
15 For seven days celebrate the Feast to the LORD your God at the place the LORD will
choose. For the LORD your God will bless you
in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands,
and your joy will be complete.
Psalm 28:7“The LORD is my strength
and my shield; my heart trusts in him,
and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy andI will give thanks to him in
song.”
Psalm 94: 17-1917 Unless the LORD had given me
help, I would soon have dwelt
in the silence of death. 18 When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O LORD, supported me.
19 When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought joy to my soul.
Psalm 126: 5-65 “Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy. 6 He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”
Isaiah 51:3 The LORD will surely comfort Zion
and will look with compassionon all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like
the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in
her, thanksgiving and the sound of
singing.
Isaiah 51:11The ransomed of the LORD will
return. They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Isaiah 52: 9-109 “Burst into songs of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his
people, he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The LORD will lay bare his holy arm
in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth
will see the salvation of our God.”
Isaiah 60: 4-54 “Lift up your eyes and look about
you: All assemble and come to you;
your sons come from afar, andyour daughters are carried on the
arm. 5 Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with
joy”
Jeremiah 31: 3-43 The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:
“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with loving-kindness.
4 I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines
and go out to dance with the joyful.”
Nehemiah 12:43“And on that day they offered
great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great
joy. The women and children also
rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem
could be heard far away.”
Habakkuk 3: 17-1917 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior. 19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to go on the heights.
Joel 1:12“The vine is dried up
and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm
and the apple tree— all the trees of the field—are dried
up. Surely the joy of mankind
is withered away.”
Luke 1: 46-50 46 And Mary said:
“My soul glorifies the Lord 47 and my spirit rejoices
in God my Savior, 48 for he has been mindful of
the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
49 for the Mighty One has done great things for me
— holy is his name. 50 His mercy extends
to those who fear him, from generation to
generation.”
Luke 2: 8-9
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
Luke 2: 10-12
10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Luke 2: 15-16
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
Luke 2: 17-20
17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.”
Matthew 2: 9-10
9 “After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east
went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.
Matthew 2:11
11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures
and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.”
Luke 15: The “Lost” Chapter
Lost Sheep - “joyfully puts it on his shoulders”
“rejoice with me”“more rejoicing in Heaven”
Lost Coin - “rejoice with me” “more rejoicing in presence of
angels”
Lost Son - “Let’s have a feast and celebrate!”
“We had to celebrate and be glad”
John 16:2222 So with you:
Now is your time of grief,
but I will see you again
and you will rejoice, and no one will take
away your joy.”
James 1: 2-32 “Consider it pure joy,
my brothers, whenever you face
trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops
perseverance.”
1 Peter 1: 8-98 “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him
now,you believe in him and are filled with
an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your
faith, the salvation of your souls.”
Matthew 13:44“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it,
he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that
field.”