Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Even when every earthly support collapses, with harvests failing, food gone, flocks and herds cut off, and livelihood and expected results swept away, a person can still rejoice in the Lord and find joy in God as Savior and source of salvation. The ground of that joy is that the Lord God is strength, who makes the feet sure and lifts the trusting one to walk in high places. It is faith that holds fast to God in distress, famine, darkness and perplexity, trusting His promised deliverance and waiting for it in its appointed time and way while outward conditions remain barren and severe. That holding fast means staying the soul upon God and fleeing to Him as stronghold, refusing to murmur, complain, despair or let go of Jesus, but keeping sight of His goodness, mercy and love. Such steadfast joy is made possible by trusting in Jesus as ever-present refuge, protector and strengthener, whose peace, grace and joy fill the heart with an abiding peace the world can neither give nor take away.
Joy When Provision Fails
Habakkuk's rejoicing comes after a picture of total agricultural and material collapse, when the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit in the vines, when the labor of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, when the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls. What is gone is crops and herds, food and livelihood, work and expected results, with every earthly support failed. Even the hard-pressed and sorely tried believer faces that barrenness, with discouragement, unappreciated work, bodily infirmity, temptation to complain, and the pressure of the destroyer bearing surely and heavily.
Yet even then a person can rejoice in the LORD and find joy in the God of salvation, with joy resting in God as Savior and source of salvation rather than in material abundance. Even when every visible source of food, livelihood, and provision fails, and necessities fail amid loss, hardship, deeply discouraging circumstances, severe trials and peril, faith in God's promises sustains joy and confidence instead of murmuring or despair. For those who fear God, crops may fail, herds be lost, and food be lacking, yet they can still rejoice in the Lord who saves them.
The ground of that joy is added in the following verse, that the Lord God is his strength and will make his feet like hinds' feet and make him to walk upon his high places. The verse expresses the faith of God's people in a time of distress and famine when every earthly source and support is gone and hardship continues, even when crops fail and food is scarce. It is faith that holds to God and trusts His promised deliverance while waiting for it in its appointed time and way, holding onto God and rejoicing even when the spirit is very sad, the body suffers pain, and outward conditions are discouraging and barren.
Faith That Holds Fast
The words are the language of full assurance of faith for a soul tugged hard by discouragement, declaring that he does not stand alone because Jesus is at his right hand to help. They mean staying the soul upon God in adversity, perplexity and thick darkness where His presence dwells concealed, fleeing to the stronghold and urging faith to the throne of God, trusting even though slain. They mean refusing to murmur against God, to become discouraged, depressed and despairing, to talk discouragement, to complain and lose sight of His goodness, mercy, love and the exceeding weight of glory awaiting the overcomer. They mean refusing to trample His mercy and love under foot or to let go of Jesus, because Christ is life, consolation and only hope.
It is a promise to hang in memory's hall and to speak as a barricade when Satan casts his hellish shadow between the soul and the source of strength. Repeating it over and over when unbelief makes the Word seem hard puts the believer where the light and brightness of the Sun of Righteousness can be perceived, refusing to look at darkness. Lifting up the Man of Calvary as the sinner's only hope, the believer becomes rooted and grounded and settled in truth, trust and confidence in God. This steadfast joy is made possible by trusting in Jesus as ever-present, abiding Christ and as refuge, protector and strengthener, looking to Him in faith. Then joy is fed from inexhaustible springs constantly breaking forth into refreshing abundance, and the heart is filled with His peace, grace and joy.
Faith supported by hope rejoices in darkness as well as in light, lightening every burden and relieving life's weariness by anticipating the future glorious rest in heaven. In the depths of affliction it gives a serenity and cheerfulness that bears the spirits up, conquers in the fight with manifold temptations, and develops in trial a strength that comes alone from the throne of the Most High. This deeper peace and more blessed victory is realized by dying to self and finding rest in Jesus. The verse expresses joy and triumph found in God who saves and trust in His enduring goodness and mercy, with real satisfaction through finding Jesus and receiving the virtue in Him.
Rejoicing in the Lord is the satisfying response to reliance on Christ and satisfaction in His Word as comfort and guide, bringing an abiding peace that the world cannot give or take away. It expresses more perfect confidence in God, being drawn nearer to Him through permitted trial and being brought from the furnace refined and purified as gold. God is leading, keeping His eye upon His people every moment, answering the cry of faith and delivering all who trust in Him, making the victory more complete and the triumph more sure.
Joy Applied to Hardship
In the time of trouble God's people may suffer persecution and privation and lack food, with crops failing, herds lost, and food lacking, yet they can still rejoice in the Lord and find joy in the God who saves them because He will care for them and meet their needs, with joy resting in Him and not in material abundance.
For hard-pressed teachers meeting trials, discouragements, unappreciated labors, loss, bodily infirmity and temptations of Satan, the verse is a call to trust God through trials rather than yield to murmuring or despair, even when necessities fail and circumstances are deeply discouraging and when livelihood, work and expected results fail. It is the confession of the hard-pressed, sorely tried believer when fig, vine, olive, field, flock and herd all fail, meaning gladness in the Lord and delight in God as Savior despite discouragement, unappreciated work, bodily infirmity and temptation to complain. It means staying the soul upon God in adversity, perplexity and thick darkness where His presence dwells concealed, fleeing to the stronghold and urging faith to the throne of God, trusting even though slain, and refusing to murmur against God or lose sight of His goodness, mercy, love and the exceeding weight of glory awaiting the overcomer. It expresses more perfect confidence in God, being drawn nearer to Him through permitted trial and being brought from the furnace refined and purified as gold, with God leading, keeping His eye upon His people every moment, answering the cry of faith and delivering all who trust in Him, making the victory more complete and the triumph more sure.
Applied to perplexity over means for sanitariums when some institutions prosper, some stand still and others run behind, the verse means putting trust in the Lord, waiting patiently for Him, knowing He will work in behalf of His people, make them rejoice in His mercies and surely be their help. In the midst of more than two months of painful bodily suffering, sleepless nights and confinement to bed and lounge when outward remedies cannot help, and when the spirit is very sad and the body suffers pain under discouraging and barren outward conditions, the verse means holding onto God, trusting in Jesus, laying the case at His feet in prayer, believing those prayers will be answered and the Lord will bring the affliction to an end ere long. It means believing the sufferer will see the salvation of God and being sustained by the grace of Christ so as not to be discouraged.
When the power of the destroyer presses surely and heavily with discouragement, unappreciated work, bodily infirmity and temptation to complain, the verse means finding gladness and delight in God as Savior despite it all by trusting in Jesus as ever-present, abiding Christ, with joy fed from inexhaustible springs constantly breaking forth into refreshing abundance. Even when others do not live consecrated, self-denying, self-sacrificing lives, and under disappointment and trial, the verse is a resolve to keep rejoicing and not be won away from Jesus but be bound to His great heart of infinite love, with power to keep rejoicing from having tasted the powers of the world to come. It means refusing to become discouraged, depressed, despairing, to talk discouragement, to trample the mercy and love of the Lord under foot, or to let go of Jesus, because Christ is life, consolation and only hope.
The verse applied to continuing affliction, as in Bro. Nichols' continuing affliction and his past service to the cause of truth, still calls for rejoicing in the Lord and joy in God as the source of salvation even when every source of provision fails and hardship continues. It shows the spirit of everyone who desires to work for Jesus, who is willing to spend and be spent for Jesus without sullen drudgery, feeling a laborer together with God and doing the work through Jesus Christ cheerfully with joy in the Lord God of salvation. God's Spirit braces the worker for all that is done, with the Lord by the worker's side to nerve the spirit and Jesus acquainted with every chapter in the worker's experience, a joy fitting for believers and to be encouraged in those who join the Lord's work.
Even when every earthly support collapses, with harvests failing, food gone, flocks and herds cut off, and livelihood and expected results swept away, a person can still rejoice in the Lord and find joy in God as Savior and source of salvation. The ground of that joy is that the Lord God is strength, who makes the feet sure and lifts the trusting one to walk in high places. It is faith that holds fast to God in distress, famine, darkness and perplexity, trusting His promised deliverance and waiting for it in its appointed time and way while outward conditions remain barren and severe. That holding fast means staying the soul upon God and fleeing to Him as stronghold, refusing to murmur, complain, despair or let go of Jesus, but keeping sight of His goodness, mercy and love. Such steadfast joy is made possible by trusting in Jesus as ever-present refuge, protector and strengthener, whose peace, grace and joy fill the heart with an abiding peace the world can neither give nor take away.
Joy When Provision Fails
Habakkuk's rejoicing comes after a picture of total agricultural and material collapse, when the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit in the vines, when the labor of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, when the flock is cut off from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls. What is gone is crops and herds, food and livelihood, work and expected results, with every earthly support failed. Even the hard-pressed and sorely tried believer faces that barrenness, with discouragement, unappreciated work, bodily infirmity, temptation to complain, and the pressure of the destroyer bearing surely and heavily.
Yet even then a person can rejoice in the LORD and find joy in the God of salvation, with joy resting in God as Savior and source of salvation rather than in material abundance. Even when every visible source of food, livelihood, and provision fails, and necessities fail amid loss, hardship, deeply discouraging circumstances, severe trials and peril, faith in God's promises sustains joy and confidence instead of murmuring or despair. For those who fear God, crops may fail, herds be lost, and food be lacking, yet they can still rejoice in the Lord who saves them.
The ground of that joy is added in the following verse, that the Lord God is his strength and will make his feet like hinds' feet and make him to walk upon his high places. The verse expresses the faith of God's people in a time of distress and famine when every earthly source and support is gone and hardship continues, even when crops fail and food is scarce. It is faith that holds to God and trusts His promised deliverance while waiting for it in its appointed time and way, holding onto God and rejoicing even when the spirit is very sad, the body suffers pain, and outward conditions are discouraging and barren.
Faith That Holds Fast
The words are the language of full assurance of faith for a soul tugged hard by discouragement, declaring that he does not stand alone because Jesus is at his right hand to help. They mean staying the soul upon God in adversity, perplexity and thick darkness where His presence dwells concealed, fleeing to the stronghold and urging faith to the throne of God, trusting even though slain. They mean refusing to murmur against God, to become discouraged, depressed and despairing, to talk discouragement, to complain and lose sight of His goodness, mercy, love and the exceeding weight of glory awaiting the overcomer. They mean refusing to trample His mercy and love under foot or to let go of Jesus, because Christ is life, consolation and only hope.
It is a promise to hang in memory's hall and to speak as a barricade when Satan casts his hellish shadow between the soul and the source of strength. Repeating it over and over when unbelief makes the Word seem hard puts the believer where the light and brightness of the Sun of Righteousness can be perceived, refusing to look at darkness. Lifting up the Man of Calvary as the sinner's only hope, the believer becomes rooted and grounded and settled in truth, trust and confidence in God. This steadfast joy is made possible by trusting in Jesus as ever-present, abiding Christ and as refuge, protector and strengthener, looking to Him in faith. Then joy is fed from inexhaustible springs constantly breaking forth into refreshing abundance, and the heart is filled with His peace, grace and joy.
Faith supported by hope rejoices in darkness as well as in light, lightening every burden and relieving life's weariness by anticipating the future glorious rest in heaven. In the depths of affliction it gives a serenity and cheerfulness that bears the spirits up, conquers in the fight with manifold temptations, and develops in trial a strength that comes alone from the throne of the Most High. This deeper peace and more blessed victory is realized by dying to self and finding rest in Jesus. The verse expresses joy and triumph found in God who saves and trust in His enduring goodness and mercy, with real satisfaction through finding Jesus and receiving the virtue in Him.
Rejoicing in the Lord is the satisfying response to reliance on Christ and satisfaction in His Word as comfort and guide, bringing an abiding peace that the world cannot give or take away. It expresses more perfect confidence in God, being drawn nearer to Him through permitted trial and being brought from the furnace refined and purified as gold. God is leading, keeping His eye upon His people every moment, answering the cry of faith and delivering all who trust in Him, making the victory more complete and the triumph more sure.
Joy Applied to Hardship
In the time of trouble God's people may suffer persecution and privation and lack food, with crops failing, herds lost, and food lacking, yet they can still rejoice in the Lord and find joy in the God who saves them because He will care for them and meet their needs, with joy resting in Him and not in material abundance.
For hard-pressed teachers meeting trials, discouragements, unappreciated labors, loss, bodily infirmity and temptations of Satan, the verse is a call to trust God through trials rather than yield to murmuring or despair, even when necessities fail and circumstances are deeply discouraging and when livelihood, work and expected results fail. It is the confession of the hard-pressed, sorely tried believer when fig, vine, olive, field, flock and herd all fail, meaning gladness in the Lord and delight in God as Savior despite discouragement, unappreciated work, bodily infirmity and temptation to complain. It means staying the soul upon God in adversity, perplexity and thick darkness where His presence dwells concealed, fleeing to the stronghold and urging faith to the throne of God, trusting even though slain, and refusing to murmur against God or lose sight of His goodness, mercy, love and the exceeding weight of glory awaiting the overcomer. It expresses more perfect confidence in God, being drawn nearer to Him through permitted trial and being brought from the furnace refined and purified as gold, with God leading, keeping His eye upon His people every moment, answering the cry of faith and delivering all who trust in Him, making the victory more complete and the triumph more sure.
Applied to perplexity over means for sanitariums when some institutions prosper, some stand still and others run behind, the verse means putting trust in the Lord, waiting patiently for Him, knowing He will work in behalf of His people, make them rejoice in His mercies and surely be their help. In the midst of more than two months of painful bodily suffering, sleepless nights and confinement to bed and lounge when outward remedies cannot help, and when the spirit is very sad and the body suffers pain under discouraging and barren outward conditions, the verse means holding onto God, trusting in Jesus, laying the case at His feet in prayer, believing those prayers will be answered and the Lord will bring the affliction to an end ere long. It means believing the sufferer will see the salvation of God and being sustained by the grace of Christ so as not to be discouraged.
When the power of the destroyer presses surely and heavily with discouragement, unappreciated work, bodily infirmity and temptation to complain, the verse means finding gladness and delight in God as Savior despite it all by trusting in Jesus as ever-present, abiding Christ, with joy fed from inexhaustible springs constantly breaking forth into refreshing abundance. Even when others do not live consecrated, self-denying, self-sacrificing lives, and under disappointment and trial, the verse is a resolve to keep rejoicing and not be won away from Jesus but be bound to His great heart of infinite love, with power to keep rejoicing from having tasted the powers of the world to come. It means refusing to become discouraged, depressed, despairing, to talk discouragement, to trample the mercy and love of the Lord under foot, or to let go of Jesus, because Christ is life, consolation and only hope.
The verse applied to continuing affliction, as in Bro. Nichols' continuing affliction and his past service to the cause of truth, still calls for rejoicing in the Lord and joy in God as the source of salvation even when every source of provision fails and hardship continues. It shows the spirit of everyone who desires to work for Jesus, who is willing to spend and be spent for Jesus without sullen drudgery, feeling a laborer together with God and doing the work through Jesus Christ cheerfully with joy in the Lord God of salvation. God's Spirit braces the worker for all that is done, with the Lord by the worker's side to nerve the spirit and Jesus acquainted with every chapter in the worker's experience, a joy fitting for believers and to be encouraged in those who join the Lord's work.