THANKFULNESS LEADS TO JOY

Acts 16:25 (NIV) — 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

There was no sleep for the missionaries (Paul and Silas) that night, thanks to their pain and their uncomfortable position.

But in the midst of their suffering they displayed their trust in God and their joy by praying and singing praise to him.

Here we have a concrete description of the Christian ideal of ‘joy amid suffering’ (Rom. 5:3; Jas 1:2; 1 Pet. 5:6).

Romans 5:3 (NIV) — 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

James 1:2 (NIV) — 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds,

1 Peter 5:6 (NIV) — 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

The prayers offered may have been simply of praise to God; there is no suggestion that the prisoners prayed for release, although the fact that the other prisoners heard them is perhaps meant to convey the point that they would then regard the miraculous release which followed as an answer to the missionaries’ prayers to their God.

“He gives songs in the night” (Job 35:10).

Though their bodies were still bleeding and tortured in the stocks, their spirits, under the mighty power of the joy of the Lord, rose above suffering, and made the prison walls resound with their song.

“In these midnight hymns, by the imprisoned witnesses for Jesus Christ, the suffering of these saints of God is converted into songs of praise to our God

Praying they were singing (simultaneously, blending together petition and praise).

Friend, life isn’t all doom and gloom. Certainly, there is pain. Certainly, mundane tasks require our attention, and, in general, we navigate uneventful days. However, let us have eyes to see and ears to hear. The invisible hand not only paints the invisible artwork of soul redemption but very visible beauty as well.

Let us be people who still ourselves so that our senses come alive, for we must think in order to be thankful. And we must be thankful in order to experience joy. The greatest tragedies of our age are our constant motion, our overscheduled lives, and our obsessive attachment to screens. We tend to believe we’ll be robbed of happiness if we fail to match the world’s pace step for step when, in fact, the pace robs of us of the simplicity that displays beauty, which in turn leads to thanksgiving and, after thanksgiving, joy.

If busyness mutes beauty, what mutes busyness? Beauty, of course. Paying attention to the small gifts of everyday life helps us see and savor and, in turn, makes our distracted, numb hearts beat with thankfulness. Thankfulness will lead to joy, because when we’re still, we understand: This is what we’re made for.

Meanwhile the prison guards were listening to them wondering what was going on, how could they be praising God in prison

And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. . . . Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. . . . And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.

Nehemiah 12:27–43 (NIV) — 27 At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. 28 The musicians also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem—from the villages of the Netophathites, 29 from Beth Gilgal, and from the area of Geba and Azmaveth, for the musicians had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. 30 When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall. 31 I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed on top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate. 32 Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed them, 33 along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam, 34 Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah, 35 as well as some priests with trumpets, and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah, the son of Zakkur, the son of Asaph, 36 and his associates—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah and Hanani—with musical instruments prescribed by David the man of God. Ezra the teacher of the Law led the procession. 37 At the Fountain Gate they continued directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the site of David’s palace to the Water Gate on the east. 38 The second choir proceeded in the opposite direction. I followed them on top of the wall, together with half the people—past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall, 39 over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate, the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. At the Gate of the Guard they stopped. 40 The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God; so did I, together with half the officials, 41 as well as the priests—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah with their trumpets—42 and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam and Ezer. The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah. 43 And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

What do we learn about joy in these verses? How is joy fostered in God’s people?

First, we learn that joy is God-centered. The joy in this scene came to the people as a result of being in the very presence of God, gathered in the temple as his puri ed people, together giving thanks to him. Notice what verse 43 says: “God had made them rejoice with great joy.” Not only did their joy come from being in God’s presence, but it came from him. He was the living and active source of his people’s joy as they worshiped him.

It’s the same for us. Joy is fostered in us as we come together as God’s people, with God at the center. But it’s no longer about meeting in a place, but rather through a person: Jesus Christ, our Savior, who purified us once and for all through his blood. Joy is fostered in our knowing the very presence of God in the Lord Jesus and celebrating that together. It comes in our gathering week by week to worship the Lord as the people of God. Joy comes as we gather at events like The Gospel Coalition’s women’s conferences, as sisters in Christ, worshiping God together. Indeed, the joy of God’s people is God-centered.

Second, we learn from this passage, even more specifically, that joy comes in remembering God’s faithfulness. As the choirs and leaders proceeded around the wall, all who were there would have remembered how the Lord had protected them and enabled them to finish the work. Not so long before, this wall had been broken down, the city empty, and the Word of God neither heard nor understood. Now look! Remembering his faithfulness fosters joy.

Indeed, the joy of God’s people comes with thankfulness.

It’s the same for us, as we together remember our God, who has given us his Son, Jesus Christ, our Great High Priest, who has provided a new and living way through his own blood (Heb. 10:19–20), who has given us the Holy Spirit as “the guarantee of our inheritance” (Eph. 1:14), and who has given us his Word to live by.

But we are so apt to forget as we get caught up in the “stuff” of life. How are we to remember God’s faithfulness? We remember by daily preaching the gospel to ourselves, that is, reminding ourselves of the truths of the gospel. We remember by daily saturating our hearts and minds in God’s Word, so that God’s ways become our “default” ways of thinking and living. We remember by talking with each other, reminding each other of his works day by day. Indeed, the joy of God’s people comes in remembering his faithfulness.

Thanksgiving Begets Joy

Finally, we learn from this passage, most specifically, that joy comes with thankfulness. The focus on God and the remembrance of God happened in a certain way: with hearts of thankfulness to God. God’s people were celebrating the dedication of the wall “with thanksgiving” (Neh. 12:27). As they remembered what God had done, they responded: they lifted up their hearts and offered him thanksgiving. The choirs are described as companies “that gave thanks” (v. 31)—one word in Hebrew. In other words, one “thanksgiving” went to the north and the other “thanksgiving” went to the south. The choirs were the very embodiment of what they sang: thanksgiving. Thankfulness fosters joy.

If the people of God in Jerusalem were consumed by thankfulness, how much more ought that be true for us who live on this side of the cross? How much more ought that be true for us who know God’s faithfulness in the Lord Jesus Christ? Indeed, the joy of God’s people comes with thankfulness.

You don’t have to tell a bride on her wedding day, you don’t have to tell a new parent who looks at a newborn baby, and you don’t have to tell a child with a big bowl of ice cream to rejoice.

And you didn’t have to tell the people of God in Jerusalem to rejoice with great joy. They just did, because God had made them rejoice: they were God’s people, gathered together in his presence with a joy that was God-centered, full of remembering God’s faithful works, and overflowing with thanksgiving offered back to him.

And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. (Neh. 12:43)

May we never stop praising God whatever condition we may find ourselves in

Acts 16:25–31 (NIV) — 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” 29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Acts 28:1–6 (NIV) — 1 Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. 3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

2 Corinthians 4:7–9 (NIV) — 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

Romans 8:35–39 (NIV) — 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.