The Sound of Soul
Joy is not a perspective shaped by circumstances, but joy shapes circumstances.
Hang out in my home these days and you’ll hear new songs. Our older son has started taking guitar lessons, and often the enthusiastic melodies of his fingers plucking the strings in his bedroom will echo down the hallway with such a rush that my wife and I respond, “Keep it down!” And our younger son is our singer. At the table. In the shower. Down the hallway. On his bike. Sweetly singing the tunes he learns at school or hears at church – and sometimes singing instead of brushing his teeth or otherwise getting ready, so that my wife and I respond, “Stop singing!” We’ve become the sound police, but we’re wondering if it’s right to be squelching the abounding enthusiasm of these boys so glad to be making music. This abounding enthusiasm is the flavor of a word Isaiah uses in chapter 12: “joy.”
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” The people of Israel depended so dearly on rain and underground springs for their water supply to keep them and their animals alive, and during the dry season the wells became even more vital. Dropping a bucket into a well of fresh water was no chore, and there was no complaining or grumbling to be heard. Only abounding enthusiasm whistling a happy tune, fully expecting the bucket to return filled with the same fresh water that had supplied refreshment before to supply refreshment again.
This is joy. Joy is not a perspective shaped by circumstances, but joy shapes circumstances. Like people who really think snow is great. They get all giddy when it snows in November, and just as giddy when it snows in March! How can that be?! Who is happy about snow in March?! Only people who like snow and winter, whenever it rears its ugly head.
What about the cancer patient who can smile on the same day she receives a radiation treatment? Or the lonely widow who can laugh about special memories on the anniversary of her husband’s death? Or the Christian business professional who says, “It’s okay, God has other things in mind” after he loses his job? Or the investor who loses $80,000 but won’t allow such a dramatic drop to ruin his day? How can that be?! Who can do that?! Only people like us, whose Christian joy sings with a resurrection faith and breathes with a childlike trust.
We “Rejoice in the Lord always,” (Philippians 4:4) and don’t let circumstances determine our joy but instead let joy define our circumstances. “Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel among you.” Because God is great, and because God is among us, we have constant joy no matter what the circumstances. The Lord is the joy of our song. That’s the sound of soul.
PRAYER: Hear my voice, O Lord, and listen to my cry for mercy. Accept my praises, and speak to me that I may speak to others the wonders of your love. Amen.