Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - 7 Reasons to Rejoice (No Matter What) | The Writings | Psalm 118

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

How can I be joyful during hardships? Have you made God your refuge? How does a Christian live a victorious life? In today's episode, Keith shares how Psalm 118 gives us 7 reasons for why we can rejoice no matter our circumstances. Prepare your heart this Advent with the 2024 TMBT Advent Calendar! Each day, receive a new prompt for Scripture, prayer, and reflection—designed to help you slow down and reflect on the Hope, Love, Peace, and Joy that Jesus offers. Sign up now to receive your free Advent calendar! Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Psalm 118

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. My wife and I recently had the opportunity to go to Rome, and it is a city was so much history in it. I mean, it was amazing. Of course, the Roman Empire was built there. You might remember the TikTok trend in 2023, where women would ask the men in their life, how often they thought about the Roman Empire, and then they would video their response.

And when guys were asked, a lot of them said things like, oh, I think about the Roman Empire every day or twice a week or really often. I mean, who knew? But if you're a Christian, you might think about the Roman Empire more than you realize. Because Jesus lived and died under the empire. Jesus was born under Caesar Augustus, the first emperor. And he was crucified under Tiberius, Rome's second emperor. The New Testament was written as the empire was expanding. so we get to see some of the sites that are visited really often, things like the Coliseum,

and it just blew my mind that we were in the place that so many Christians were killed. But one of the places that was most moving to me isn't visited by many people. It's the prison that Peter and Paul were held in before they were executed. I wish I could show you pictures, but even the pictures don't quite do it justice. It is an underground cell, almost like a cave. They were lowered down through a hole, and it is about 10 by 10. 10? It was dank, wet, cold, dark. You wouldn't want to spend any time there, much less the time leading up to your death. Peter was crucified by the Roman Empire. He said he didn't want to die

like Jesus did, so they crucified Peter upside down. Because Paul was a Roman citizen, they couldn't crucify him, so instead they beheaded him. Now what blows my mind is that Peter and Paul both talk about the joy they had when they were in prison. They had a kind of joy. They had a kind of joy. that isn't built on circumstances. They had a kind of joy that transcended the problems that they faced. I want the kind of joy that they had. I want the kind of joy that's so deep that even prison and death can't take it from you. Well, that story brings us to Psalm 118.

It's a great Psalm. The most famous verse in it is verse 24. This is the day that the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. If you grew up in church or ever went to church camp or just been around church for a while, you might know that this verse has been turned into a song. Trust me, you don't want me to sing it for you. But you know how it goes.

This is the day. This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Now, notice it doesn't say, I will rejoice and be glad because everything is going the way I want. No, the kind of joy that Psalm 118 offers isn't based on circumstances. Christian joy is built on something that can't be taken away because it's built on God. So if you're a Christian, you have reasons to rejoice every day, even in the middle of suffering and hardship. So Psalm 118 gives us at least seven reasons to rejoice daily.

The first is this. We can rejoice in the love of God. Verse one says, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His faithful love endures forever. I know it feels like your troubles are what endures forever. But this Psalm says that compared to God's love, your troubles are momentary. Because his love for you and Jesus will never end. And it is faithful love. It never grows cold. God loves you even when your love for him is weak. Second, we can rejoice because God hears our prayers and comes to our rescue. Pick up in verse 5. In my distress, I prayed to the Lord and he answered me and set me free. The Lord is for me.

I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? Yes, the Lord is for me. He will help me. I will look and triumph on those who hate me. See, this Psalm is saying that I have no reason to fear because God is for me. So whatever challenges, whatever hardships that come to my life, I know they come from God, that he's using them for my good. He's using them to make me more like Jesus, to teach me to depend on him. So I don't need to live in fear because the God who loves me is for me, the Almighty God, the God who knows all things, the guy who's never made a mistake, the all-wise, all-powerful God is for me. The third reason we can rejoice is because God is a refuge. Here I pick it up in verse 8. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people. It is better to take refuge in

the Lord than to trust in princes. When our kids were little, my wife and I used to play a game where I would chase them and if I caught them I would tickle them. They would try to run to their mom and if they got to her before I got to them, well, then they were safe. I couldn't tickle them. She was their refuge. If you've ever been hiking and faced a sudden rainstorm, you've looked for a cave to take refuge in from the wind and the water. Well, God is our refuge. God keeps us safe. And Psalm 118 tells us that he is a better refuge than people or princes. That's because people, even princes, are finite like you, but God is infinite. People make mistakes, but God never fails you. People, even powerful people, have limits to what they can do.

But God is all-powerful. Nothing is too difficult for him. Other people, even good friends, can betray you. But God is always faithful. He never fails you. He's never let you down and he never will. So rejoice because the true God, the living God, the faithful God, the good God, he is your refuge. The fourth reason we can rejoice daily is because God promises to give us victory. Here's verse 14. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has given me victory. Now, maybe you hear that and say, well, that doesn't sound exactly right because cancer kills faithful Christians, and marriages fall apart, and addictions ravage lives, and car wrecks leave people disabled. How can we rejoice that God gives us victory when oftentimes our life is really hard and disappointing?

Well, remember that Jesus defines victory different than we do. We think the good life is the one where everything goes well by our standards, where things work out the way we want them to. But Jesus defines victory by our coming more and more to know him, to love him, to be with him, and to be like him. So the hardships that come in our life are intended to draw us close. to him. And Jesus also has a different time horizon. An investment might not look so great in year one or in year five, but by year 20, that investment may have really paid off. The Bible says

that our hardships are building an eternal glory for us that outweighs all the suffering we've ever experienced in this life. The fifth reason we can rejoice daily is because God disciplines us. Verse 18, The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he is not. given me over to death. See, the Lord's discipline is always for our good. A good and loving parent disciplines their child, not because they're angry at the child, not because they hate the child, but because it is good for the child. The Lord's discipline in our life is always for our long-term good, even though it's painful in the moment. Six, we rejoice daily because God answers our prayers. Here's verse 21. I thank you for answering my prayer and giving you.

me victory. You can always pray to God. He's always available. Whatever burden you have, whatever is weighing you down, whatever is concerning you, give it to God. He will never ignore your prayers. Seventh, we rejoice daily in Jesus's death and resurrection. Verse 22 says the stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. Hundreds of years later, when Peter was preaching to the crowds in Acts 4, he applied that verse to Jesus. Jesus is the stone that was rejected that has now become the cornerstone. That's why there's salvation in no other name. So Psalm 118 tells us that this is the day that the Lord has made and that we should rejoice and be glad in it. We saw seven reasons that the Psalm gave us to rejoice. He loves us. He comes to our rescue. He is our refuge. He promises to

give us victory, he disciplines us out of his love, he answers our prayers. And finally, and most importantly, Jesus died and rose for our salvation. Given all those truths, let nothing steal your joy today. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Amen.