JOY
I’ve prayed the Psalter for almost thirty years. The poetry and the rhythm of our singing have the effect of, little by little, altering my inner landscape. Just about every human emotion is to be found in the Psalms. ‘Joy’ makes a frequent appearance along with ‘delight’ and ‘exultation’. The Books of Isaiah are written in a style which reminds me of the Psalms. Hard-hitting rhetoric about Israel and Judah’s failure to walk in the way of the Lord is woven together with some of the most exultant words in Scripture.
Isaiah tells of a great reversal of fortunes: the people will leave behind the wilderness experience of Exile and run to the safety and security of Zion. The whole cosmos will share in the joy of God’s saving act. This is no fleeting joy, this joy is everlasting. Every fibre of their being will be filled with joy.
They will come to Zion shouting for joy;
everlasting joy on their faces;
JOY and gladness will go with them
and sorrow and lament be ended.
It’s easy to lose sight of this prophetic promise in our own lives. It is into our own world, with all its joys and sorrows, that Isaiah still speaks his promise. What is dry and arid God promises to renew with an everlasting joy. Advent invites me to be consciously open to those moments of joy.
Where have you experienced joy this Advent?
(35:1-10 Monday, Week Two)