Fullness Of Joy
Psalm 16:11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
This psalm is written by King David, who was under the Old Covenant at the time, yet he could identify with the benefits of being in the presence of God.
Under the Old Covenant, the people of God did not have the consistency of promises that is ours under the New Covenant. Promises were conditional under the Old Covenant. But under the New Covenant, the promises are yes and amen in Christ.
You cannot be in Christ and have Christ living in you and be without the presence in some measure. Under the New Covenant Jesus put in place, He will never leave us or forsake us.
Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Once we become a New Creation in Christ, we are forever sealed by His presence, which gives us new life. When this is believed, it is experienced, and that experience of Him produces the fruit of joy!
But this Psalm did not just speak of the fullness of joy. It also identifies pleasures forevermore.
The Hebrew word interpreted as pleasures could have also been interpreted as being delightful, agreeable, or sweet.
In Christ, the wrath of God that was once upon us has been removed from us, and we are brought into pleasant places! God is not out to get us! In Christ, God is for us!
This reminded me of Romans 8
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
Someone might say that sounds conditional. But it is not conditional on God’s part. It would only be conditional on our side of the coin. You see, if I believe I receive the Spirit and walk in faith, I walk according to the Spirit and do not lean on my strength and ability to try to earn what I have already been given in Christ.
This is New Covenant living that is aware of His presence all the time and therefore set free to experience the fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. You can go through life with a smile, even in your troubled times, when you go beyond passing a Bible quiz about such things, believe the truth concerning them, and receive them to walk in them.
I encourage you today and always to live in the abundance of His goodness that is yours under the New Covenant Jesus established with His own blood. Look to Jesus for your righteousness with confidence, peace, and joy! He will not disappoint.
