Reflection on Psalm 21 - "Joy in God's Presence"

I really love the words in Psalm 21 verse 6 ...
“you make him glad with the joy of your presence”.

This refers to God making the king glad with the joy of God’s own presence.
So this starts and finishes with God, who brings a gift that turns out to be a great blessing.

So, I need to ask some questions, and then try to address them:

What is it like to experience the joy of God’s presence?
When can we feel joy in God’s presence, and in what circumstances?
What is joy in the first place?

1. Structure

Psalm 21 has three distinct sections. Although probably written by one person, David, this psalm is written as if being spoken by multiple voices ... the voices of the congregation or community; and is written this way so that people could repeat it together.

· Verses 1 to 7 – where the congregation or community speak to God about the king; and these are the verses I shall come back to and centre on.

· Verses 8 to 12 – where the congregation or community speak to God about their enemies. Note these are human sentiments toward their enemies, not God’s sentiments. Human inclinations toward violence and retribution are here forced upon God. This is the unfortunate mindset where total annihilation of enemies was seen as the only option. For the people to speak in this way they must have felt embattled and under a great deal of strain, threat and fear. E.M Blaiklock calls this “hot language” (uttered under pressure)! And we can understand how they felt, for we too have sometimes felt that God should just dispense with all opposition to him and us.

These words are extreme, but at least they do point out the seriousness of rebellion against God and the dire consequences that can follow opposing God in our life behaviour. There is at least a desire here that evil will not gain the initiative. Sometimes we are too tolerant of evil that brings disruption to our life and injustice to society. Sometimes we are too tolerant of ourselves, rather than seeking to grow and change and produce fruit. By taking sin seriously, we participate in God’s ultimate victory over evil and darkness.

But, when reading this psalm, and looking at such words as found in verses 8 to 12, we must now do so in the light of Jesus, and know that our proper response to persecution and opposition is really to come to that point where we can love our ‘enemies’.

· And the concluding Verse 13 – where the congregation and community speak to God about God. The people seek to lift God’s name high in word and song, due to God’s creativity, mighty effectiveness and strength.

2. The king’s trust

Back to the first seven verses ... where it is seen that the people’s king has been successful in his endeavours through his relationship with God. His efforts have saved the nation. This king has sought after God and has received his “heart’s desire” and the “requests of his lips”; i.e. his prayers have been well and truly answered. The king’s life is on track, his role and purpose have been clearly established, his integrity is there for all to see, and his future is secure.

Yet the community and also the king himself are well aware of where this blessing and undertaking comes from – the required help and strength come from God. The king cannot boast, for the people know that he is only human – any of us who take up leadership and succeed in things that count, have only been able to do so through the gifts of God. It is in this context of understanding God’s provision that the people celebrate – God has been active in the life of their king.

Though the king must have done his part, i.e. must have made himself available to God ... he must have taken some positive attitude for his life to be able to be described and celebrated in this way! It just doesn’t happen out of thin air that things go so well for someone. There is actually a statement made on this in the psalm – a statement of cause and effect – that begins “For ...” (verse 7). There are two factors behind this happy reality described in that verse. What are they???

What two things in verse 7 do you think would make a big difference???

· The king has wholly put his trust in God – for the present and the future, in the big things and the small things; God is the centre of this king’s life ...
· And nothing will deflect him away from this (or at least this is his current attitude) – “he shall not be moved”. The king will keep to the foundation he has established and on which his life is built. Even though failure was not far away, this foundation will allow him to quickly confess his guilt, be forgiven, and get firmly back on track. Even though threats and challenges often confront us in life, these can be endured through a knowledge of the steadfast and complete love of God.

3. Questions for us

So this is all preliminary to answering the questions we started out with ...

What is it like to experience the joy of God’s presence?
When can we feel joy in God’s presence? In what circumstances?
What is joy in the first place?

For I want to argue, that ‘joy in God’s presence’ is not just something for later on in some other place, but also something for now. Sure it will be perfectly enjoyed in heaven, but for those who follow Jesus, eternal life has already begun.

(a) What is “joy”?

The dictionary defines “joy” as pleasure, gladness, delight; but surely biblical and spiritual “joy” is bigger and better than that!

And “joy” is surely not just happiness when things are going easily. In fact, we may not really experience "joy" until we have it in the midst of difficulty. It's easy to feel happy when Carlton is ten goals in front in the last quarter (everyone should feel pleased about that)! But real “joy” only comes as we are part of an experience of overcoming obstacles, or are making a difference in someone else’s life against the tide, or experience God working in our lives in tangible ways. Joy is found within the dynamic of being shifted out of the mundane and out of our routine, above and beyond our basic humanness, limitations and normal constraints.

“Joy” then, it may seem, is almost out of our grasp ... almost ... but then that reminds us that “joy” is more a gift of God than something we can artificially or accidentally obtain.

(b) So, when can we feel “joy” in God’s presence??

· In worship – to the God who lovingly created us and redeemed us. We come together as a worshipping community and focus on God and God’s greatness, and we read the Bible and wait expectantly on God to teach us something. There is here the joy of spending time in something that really counts, has tremendous purpose, and can be life-changing. Singing praise to God takes us out of ourselves and focuses us on God’s love and effectiveness, and on what God wants to achieve in the world.

· In our thanksgiving – acknowledging what God has done for us along the journey, especially through Jesus. Being an Easter people ... saved from sin and given new life ... we join together with thanksgiving as our song (Frances Hogan). Jesus is our source of “joy” these days, for right back at his birth, we hear an angel from God saying to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid; for see – I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day ... a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11). Matthew tells us that the “wise men”, when that “star” that they were following stopped over the place where Jesus was to be found, were “overwhelmed with joy” (2:10).

· In prayer – personal and corporate – as we sense God participating with us, leading us, and responding to our concerns. As we focus on how God has answered our prayers in the past, on what God might be doing in the present, and as we wait expectantly for all the surprising and wonderful things God will do in the future ... well ... this should be a joyous experience!! Our faith builds on the back of the positive vibes of other people’s faith.

· In service to others – as we sense their appreciation; and even if we don’t (even if we’re not thanked), we can see the face of Jesus in the one we have helped. There was an opportunity to respond to, and we didn’t hang back! It should be a “joy” that we have become the hands and feet (and the laughs and tears) of Jesus throughout a number of our daily interactions.

· In witnessing to Jesus – the disciples expressed joy when they were successful in their mission (e.g. Luke 10:17); and even when they were persecuted, because they were still making an impact for Jesus (e.g. Acts 5:40-42).

Speaking of witnessing ... we have a clip from a special Resurrection Sunday Dance from Budapest in Hungary in 2010:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5dSIL358NM

On April 4, 2010, over 1,300 young people, all of them members of Faith Church celebrated Resurrection Sunday in Budapest.

The 'bridge' of the song in this clip commences:
“Joy in this life time, utterly free;
More than the world gives, beyond what you see”.

· In relationship – perhaps there is just a “joy” in knowing that God knows us and that we know God, and in knowing that God is ultimately looking after us, and should the worst happen, we will certainly be in God’s presence. When the disciples finally understood that Jesus had risen from the dead, and that they were to have an ongoing role in the Jesus movement empowered by the Holy Spirit, we read that, “they worshipped [Jesus], and returned to Jerusalem [where they were to receive the Spirit] with great joy ... and they were continually in the temple blessing God” (Luke 24:52-3). There is surely joy in knowing that God is our constant companion and that not even death can upset that!

(c) What is it like to experience the “joy of God’s presence”???

Well there is no doubt that “joy” is a positive, it feels good. I just discovered Isaiah 12 verse 3 ... what do you think of this verse?? “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation”.

The depths of the salvation that God brings to us are inexhaustible. This reminds me that, because of the “living water” that Jesus has given me, I will never be thirsty again (John 4).

The “joy of God’s presence” also looks good too, because we are not only redeemed, we also look redeemed! For “joy” puts a radiant smile on our face, even at times when you normally wouldn’t expect that to be the case. In this way “joy” is connected to “peace”, because we know who we trust, and we trust who we know, and there is great security, hope and purpose in that.

Even when things are not going well, we can still rest in the knowledge that God is with us in our suffering; for we read in Habakkuk 3:17-19:

“Though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails, and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold, and there is no herd in the stalls
[a picture of abject desperation];
yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will exalt in the God of my salvation.

God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
and makes me tread upon the heights”.