As our name suggests, Desiring God Church emphasizes the importance of our delighting in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We often quote verses such as Psalm 16:11 and Philippians 4:4:

In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

But consider how often we find similar commands in the book of Deuteronomy – often prescribing rejoicing during the regular feasts or when bringing tithes and offerings:

Deut. 12:7 (NET): Both you and your families must feast [at the place God designates] before the LORD your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he has blessed you.

Deut. 12:12 (NET): You shall rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God

Deut. 12:18 (NET): In that place you will rejoice before the LORD your God in all the output of your labor.

Deut. 14:26 [When the people bring their tithes to the place God designates]: You shall eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.

From Deut. 16:10-15: Then you shall keep the Feast of Weeks to the LORD your God with the tribute of a freewill offering from your hand, which you shall give as the LORD your God blesses you. ¹¹ And you shall rejoice before the LORD your God, you and your son and your daughter, your male servant and your female servant, the Levite who is within your towns, the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow who are among you, at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell there…. ¹⁴ You shall rejoice in your feast…. ¹⁵ For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.

Deut. 26:5-11 [When the people offer from their first harvest in the Promised Land]: You shall make response before the LORD your God, ‘A wandering Aramean was my father. And he went down into Egypt and sojourned there, few in number, and there he became a nation, great, mighty, and populous. ⁶ And the Egyptians treated us harshly and humiliated us and laid on us hard labor. ⁷ Then we cried to the LORD, the God of our fathers, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. ⁸ And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with great deeds of terror, with signs and wonders. ⁹ And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. ¹⁰ And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which you, O LORD, have given me.’ And you shall set it down before the LORD your God and worship before the LORD your God. ¹¹ And you shall rejoice in all the good that the LORD your God has given to you and to your house, you, and the Levite, and the sojourner who is among you.

Deut. 27:7 [After crossing the Jordan and building an altar]: You shall sacrifice peace offerings and shall eat there, and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God.

From these and related passages, consider four observations that help us today to rejoice in God:

First: Rejoice corporately! In our individualistic culture, we easily internalize commands such as Philippians 4:4: “I must rejoice in God in myself!” In contrast, all the quoted passages refer to rejoicing in God together with others. So today we should rejoice together in God not only in our worship services but also at our meals, at family events, at gatherings in our homes. By so doing, we help one another also to rejoice internally.

Second: Recognize that all you have is a gift from God! God owes you nothing. You have earned nothing. As the excerpt from Deuteronomy 26 emphasizes, only a handful of people went to Egypt, and God multiplied them, making them a great nation. Then He rescued them from oppression and by His power brought them into a fruitful land. Just so with us. We were dead in our trespasses and sins, and by His great mercy through the work of His Son He made us alive in Jesus. Every breath, every heartbeat, every morsel of food is an undeserved gift from God.

Third, and related: Recognize that even what you “earn” is a gift from God! Deuteronomy 12:7 says we are to “rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he has blessed you.” Thus, even what seems to result from our work is a blessing from God. Deuteronomy 8:17-18 elaborates on this idea: “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.” If I produce more output than others through diligent work, that doesn’t mean I am better than others, or that I deserve the additional output. Rather, the diligence and the ability to work well are gifts that others do not have. I should therefore rejoice in God all the more.

Finally: Rejoice in the Giver rather than the gift! When they prosper, the Israelites are to rejoice in the giving of tithes and during their regular feasts as repeated reminders of the One Who is Himself good and holy and loving. The houses, the herds, the flocks, the silver, the gold, health, children, protection – all these are pointers to God. Just so with us. Every good and perfect gift is from Him (James 1:17). We must not be like the thousands in John 6 who ate the miraculous bread and simply desired more, failing to see what it signified. Rather, we can take the occasion of every delight – cardinals at the feeder, sunshine on new leaves, a whiff of Clematis flowers, a brisk early-morning walk, tasty cobbler, a toddler’s smile – and rejoice in our trinitarian God, from Whom, through Whom, and unto Whom are all these joys.

[All quotations are ESV unless otherwise indicated.]