The joy of the Lord is your strength

The world's strength is in its mirth or its money or its arms; the Christian's strength is in the joy of the Lord. Take that joy from him, and he is weak; restore it, and he can move mountains.

What is the joy of the Lord? It is delight in God. It is the believer rejoicing in what God has done, in what God is doing, in what God will do. It is the soul leaning hard upon Christ and finding him sufficient. It is the heart settled, not by absence of trouble, but by presence of the Saviour.

Mourning saint, take heed: thy strength is bound up with thy joy. Not the joy that makes thee laugh, but the joy that makes thee trust. Get back to the secret of it. Look again at Christ. Remember thy sins forgiven, thy sonship, thine inheritance. The joy will return, and with it the strength to do and to bear.