Rejoice in the LORD Greatly
8-14-2018
Isaiah 61:10, “I will greatly rejoice in the
LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the
garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a
bridegroom decketh himself with
ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself
with her jewels.”
I know that this verse is specifically written to
Israel, but when I read it the other day the Lord impressed it upon my mind
that I too should be rejoicing greatly. Why should I rejoice?
I should rejoice because God has clothed me with
the garments of salvation when I received Jesus Christ as my saviour. He removed my filthy garments of sin and put upon me His pure blood of salvation. There
was nothing that I could do to save my soul. There is also nothing that I still
need to do to obtain eternal salvation. Jesus Christ did everything for us so
that all we need to do is believe that he is God the Son, the Saviour of the
world, and put our full trust in him and receive him alone as our savior. I
should rejoice if for no other reason than the fact that I am saved.
I should also rejoice because he has covered me
with the robe of righteousness the moment I got saved. There was a time when I
thought that I had to do all these good things so that I could be righteous.
The Bible says that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in Isaiah 64:6, “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do
fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” I should rejoice
for the fact that there is nothing more that I need to do to become (or to
stay) righteous. I am clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Too often, we think that we have nothing to
rejoice about or that we have the right to be grumbling and discouraged. If we
have been saved by the blood of Jesus; if we have trusted in Christ alone for
our salvation, then we have all that we need, and we should greatly rejoice in
the LORD no matter what is or isn’t going on in our life. And if you think that
this only applies to Israel, well, take a look at the command God gave to the
church in the New Testament writings of Paul the apostle to the Gentiles:
Philippians 3:1, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice
in the Lord.
To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe.”
Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”
1 Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice evermore.”
