A Vague Theme

"You shall rejoice before the LORD your God in all your undertakings" (Deut 12:18).

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; And let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns" (1 Chron 16:31).

"The joy of the LORD is your strength" (Neh 8:10).

Worship the LORD with reverence, And rejoice with trembling (Psa 2:11).

I have trusted in Thy lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation (Psa 13:5).

I will rejoice and be glad in Thy lovingkindness, Because Thou hast seen my affliction (Psa 31:7).

Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones, And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart (Psa 32:11).

Let all who seek Thee rejoice and be glad in Thee; Let those who love Thy salvation say continually, "The LORD be magnified!" (Psa 40:16).

The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; Let the many islands be glad (Psa 97:1).

This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psa 118:24).

"Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation" (Isa 25:9).

The afflicted also shall increase their gladness in the LORD , And the needy of mankind shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel (Isa 29:19).

I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels (Isa 61:10).

Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, For the LORD has done great things (Joel 2:21).

I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation (Hab 3:18).

Wait ... wait ... am I detecting a theme here? Is there something in common with these? Is God trying to get something across to us? Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's just the Old Testament stuff we don't really need to pay attention to ...

"Be glad in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven" (Luke 6:23).

"These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full" (John 15:11).

"Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full" (John 16:24).

"But now I come to Thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy made full in themselves" (John 17:13).

The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17).

Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you (2 Cor 13:11).

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law (Gal 5:22-23).

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord (Phil 3:1).

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! (Phil 4:4).

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thess 5:16-18).

To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation (1 Peter 4:13).

Hmm, what do you know? It appears to be a running theme throughout the Bible! Now, one might think that if God took the trouble to repeat that many times (and, trust me, that's just a sampling) the call and command to rejoice, it might be that He really wants that for us. So ... when do we start? Or why should we stop? It seems to me that we should be the rejoicingest people on the planet. (Yeah, I had to make a word up for that.)