Joy & Joy of Salvation

¹⁰Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

⁸I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. ⁹Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will dwell securely. ¹⁰For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. ¹¹You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. ¹¹Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me. ¹²Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.

¹In that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me. ²Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. For the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and He also has become my salvation.” ³With joy you will draw water from the springs of salvation, ⁴and on that day you will say: “Give praise to the LORD; proclaim His name! Make His works known among the peoples; declare that His name is exalted. ⁵Sing to the LORD, for He has done glorious things. Let this be known in all the earth. ⁶Cry out and sing, O citizen of Zion, for great among you is the Holy One of Israel.”

¹³Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials ⁷so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹now that you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹¹But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them ever shout for joy. May You shelter them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in You. ¹²For surely You, O LORD, bless the righteous; You surround them with the shield of Your favor.

⁴Sing to the LORD, O you His saints, and praise His holy name. ⁵For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning. ¹¹You turned my mourning into dancing; You peeled off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, ¹²that my heart may sing Your praises and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks forever.

¹⁰Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but loving devotion surrounds him who trusts in the LORD. ¹¹Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous ones; shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

⁵My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You. ⁶When I remember You on my bed, I think of You through the watches of the night. ⁷For You are my help; I will sing for joy in the shadow of Your wings. ⁸My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.

¹A Psalm. A song for the Sabbath day. It is good to praise the LORD, and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High, ²to proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning and Your faithfulness at night ³with the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre. ⁴For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds; I sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

¹Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout to the Rock of our salvation! ²Let us enter His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him in song. ³For the LORD is a great God, a great King above all gods. ⁴In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him. ⁵The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. ⁶O come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. ⁷For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, the sheep under His care. Today, if you hear His voice,

¹A Psalm. Sing to the LORD a new song, for He has done wonders; His right hand and holy arm have gained Him the victory. ²The LORD has proclaimed His salvation and revealed His righteousness to the nations. ³He has remembered His love and faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. ⁴Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth—let your cry ring out, and sing praises! ⁵Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, in melodious song with the harp. ⁶With trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn shout for joy before the LORD, the King.

¹A Psalm of thanksgiving. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth. ²Serve the LORD with gladness; come into His presence with joyful songs. ³Know that the LORD is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. ⁴Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and bless His name. ⁵For the LORD is good, and His loving devotion endures forever; His faithfulness continues to all generations.

¹A song of ascents. When the LORD restored the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers. ²Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” ³The LORD has done great things for us; we are filled with joy. ⁴Restore our captives, O LORD, like streams in the Negev. ⁵Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy. ⁶He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.

¹The wilderness and the dry land will be glad; the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose. ²It will bloom profusely and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. ³Strengthen the limp hands and steady the feeble knees! ⁴Say to those with anxious hearts: “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance. With divine retribution He will come to save you.” ⁵Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. ⁶Then the lame will leap like a deer and the mute tongue will shout for joy. For waters will gush forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. ⁷The parched ground will become a pool, the thirsty land springs of water. In the haunt where jackals once lay, there will be grass and reeds and papyrus. ⁸And there will be a highway called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not travel it—only those who walk in the Way—and fools will not stray onto it. ⁹No lion will be there, and no vicious beast will go up on it. Such will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk upon it. ¹⁰So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.

¹The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners, ²to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor and the day of our God’s vengeance, to comfort all who mourn, ³to console the mourners in Zion—to give them a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for a spirit of despair. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. ¹⁰I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. ¹¹For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables seed to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

¹⁷Though the fig tree does not bud and no fruit is on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though the sheep are cut off from the fold and no cattle are in the stalls, ¹⁸yet I will exult in the LORD; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! ¹⁹GOD the Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer; He makes me walk upon the heights! For the choirmaster. With stringed instruments.

¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! For behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: ¹¹Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord! ¹²And this will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there appeared with the angel a great multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying: ¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!”

¹⁷The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.” ¹⁸So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. ¹⁹Behold, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. Nothing will harm you. ²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

⁴“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? ⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, ⁶comes home, and calls together his friends and neighbors to tell them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost sheep!’ ⁷I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent. ⁸Or what woman who has ten silver coins and loses one of them does not light a lamp, sweep her house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors to say, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

⁹As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. ¹⁰If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. ¹¹I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

²⁰Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. ²¹A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world. ²²So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. ²³In that day you will no longer ask Me anything. Truly, truly, I tell you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you. ²⁴Until now you have not asked for anything in My name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.

¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵Let your gentleness be apparent to all. The Lord is near. ⁶Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.