Trinitarian Joy

“Ye men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you with great works, and wonders, and signs, which God did by Him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, I say, being delivered by the determinate counsel, and foreknowledge of God, after you had taken, with wicked hands you have crucified and slain. Whom God hath raised up, and loosed the sorrows of death, because it was impossible that He should be holden of it. For David saith concerning Him, ‘I beheld the Lord always before me: for He is at my right hand, that I should not be shaken. Therefore did Mine heart rejoice, and My tongue was glad, and moreover also My flesh shall rest in hope, because Thou wilt not leave My soul in grave, neither wilt suffer Thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast showed Me the ways of life, and shalt make Me full of joy with Thy countenance [Psalm 16:8-11].’ Men and brethren, I may boldly speak unto you of the Patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher remaineth with us unto this day. Therefore, seeing he was a Prophet, and knew that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins he would raise up Christ concerning the flesh, to set Him upon his throne. He knowing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that His soul should not be left in grave, neither His flesh should see corruption” (Acts 2:22-31, Geneva Bible).

David, at once king, father, and prophet, gives us, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a glimpse into the worshipful joy of the Son toward the Father, even when facing the grave. For those united with Christ by faith, there is immediate application of this worshipful joy to our lives today: “Wherefore, let us also...cast away everything that presseth down, and the sin that hangeth so fast on: let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, and despised the shame, and is set at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1,2). Whatever this day brings, hear the Spirit’s voice in the Scripture guiding you into the Son’s joy in the Father’s presence.