If you are following along with us as we go through the Joy Devotional I wrote for the Art & Faith Creative Retreat in Italy a couple weeks ago, here is Day 2 below.

Day 2

David starts out Psalm 16 asking for the Lord to preserve his life.  Now think about this verse in light of David’s life at the time.  He was fleeing from Saul and thought he was going to die.  He was surrounded and yet escaped death because God brought a diversion. Yes & Amen!  We see this over and over in scripture, how God makes a way, and we can see this in our own lives… if we look closely.  

In verse 1 he says “Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."  David took refuge in God and saw that he had no good apart from Him.   Even in his time of complete fear for his life, he saw the Lord’s hand in his life and trusted in Him. 

So looking at verse 11 in this context, we see this verse isn’t talking about us having an abundance of “things” or an incredible life filled with pleasures evermore… 

What we instead can glean from David here is that the Lord was his portion, his joy… even in this tumultuous time of his life. Psalm 9 &10  say this: “Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.”  He was able to rejoice in the Lord, even while he was hiding from Saul & his army. He knew the Lord would take care of him and some day he would be in eternal fellowship with him in heaven.

Through everything David had been through (and would go through still), he was confident in knowing that God had been his refuge!   Not only that, He was also his trusted counselor… and his Savior & Lord. 

So I think verse 11 is talking about WHERE our source of joy comes from.  It doesn’t come from THINGS, or being on easy street… because looking at David, he was homeless and running for his life!  Certainly not what you would call the abundant life!  And yet, we can learn from David by seeing the JOY he had in knowing God was always his portion.

“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever,” (Psalm 73:26).

Where does our joy come from??   Our JOY comes from the Lord!

Things to think about today:

1. Do you look to God to be your safe refuge? 

2. Where have you seen Him guide you in your life?

3. Is the Lord your trusted counselor?

4. Write down a prayer in your journal about what JOY in the Lord looks like in your life.

I hope you are enjoying this study on Joy. We went through this study and wrote in our Traveler’s Notebooks to keep our notes all together from the week. I encourage you as well to get a journal of some kind (or watch for my GIVEAWAY at the end of this… wink, wink) to keep your thoughts in. This is such a beautiful way for us to look back and see the journey the Lord has us on and what a Good, Good Father He is!

Have a GREAT day in the Lord!

Hugs,

Laura