“For You, LORD, have made me glad through Your work; I will triumph in the works of Your hands.” Psalm 92:4
In this verse the psalmist declares that there are two effects that the works/deeds of the Lord have upon him. The first is that they have made him glad, or merry of heart. It’s actually the same word used in Psalm 104:15 that speaks of the positive effect wine has on the heart. The second effect is that his heart is not just merry, but the works of the Lord have caused him to erupt in shouts of joy. The word translated triumph means to literally shout out, even to yell for joy. The works of the Lord have made the psalmist so happy he cannot contain it inside himself; he must shout it out.
The question to ask is, what are the works of the Lord that have caused so much joy? In Psalm 92 it is the destruction of God’s enemies and the flourishing of the righteous, those who worship God in His courts. But of course, the whole Bible is filled with the wonderful works of the Lord on behalf of His people. Through meditation on the works of the Lord we see clearly that He loves us, He chose us, He called us, He gave us the gift of faith, He redeemed us, we belong to him, we are treasured by Him, and we are precious to Him. He has forgiven us, justified us, sanctified us, made us holy, delivered us from condemnation, freed us from bondage to sin, delivered us from the power of the kingdom of darkness. We are born again of the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. We are in the body of Christ as children of God sanctified by Him, glorified by Him, assured of being resurrected by Him, assured of eternal life with Him, and of course we could go on and on. As John says at the end of his gospel, “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.” John 21:25
The message is clear. The more we dwell on the world, setting our mind on the things of the world, and seeing our lives through the eyes of the flesh, the more our hearts are made fearful, anxious, angry, depressed, and unsettled. However, the more we dwell on the works of the Lord, setting our mind on things above, seeing our lives through the eyes of faith, the more our hearts are made merry and so joyful that we must shout out for joy.
Therefore, if we want to experience the joy of the psalmist, we must be diligent to mediate on the works of the Lord. It is not in vain that Jesus told His disciples, “In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33
His mercy endures forever!
Pastor Flynn