Category
VERSES ABOUT JOY
Think about it: the joy of the Lord doesn't just fill you with strength, it brings us all together. It's a joy that's not meant to be kept to yourself; it needs to be shared. Just like the Israelites were instructed to celebrate and share what they had with each other, you can spread the joy of the Lord with everyone you know.
This joy challenges you to love your neighbor and share the Gospel. When your heart is joyful in God, you are strong and empowered to spread that joy throughout your community. It's a lasting joy, something no one can take away.
Psalm 98:4-6 says, "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music; make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing, with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the Lord, the King." You can find so many verses like this that talk about the joy of our God.
And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you [abundantly], And make your name great (exalted, distinguished); And you shall be a blessing [a source of great good to others];
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “Once more they will speak these words in the land of Judah (the Southern Kingdom) and in her cities when I restore their fortunes and release them from exile, ‘The Lord bless you, O habitation of justice and righteousness, O holy mountain!’
In that day Israel will be the third party with Egypt and with Assyria [in a Messianic league], a blessing in the midst of the earth,
He will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your land, your grain and your new wine and your [olive] oil, the offspring of your cattle and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you.
Then Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them, and came down [from the altar of burnt offering] after presenting the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offerings.
Live temporarily [as a resident] in this land and I will be with you and will bless and favor you, for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, and I will establish and carry out the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. [Gen 22:16-18; Ps 105:9]
Then Jacob blessed them that day, saying, “By you Israel will pronounce a blessing, saying, ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ” And he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
And I will bless (do good for, benefit) those who bless you, And I will curse [that is, subject to My wrath and judgment] the one who curses (despises, dishonors, has contempt for) you. And in you all the families (nations) of the earth will be blessed.” [Gal 3:8]
Then their offspring will be known among the nations, And their descendants among the peoples. All who see them [in their prosperity] will recognize and acknowledge them That they are the people whom the Lord has blessed.
By the God of your father who will help you, And by the Almighty who blesses you With blessings of the heavens above, Blessings lying in the deep that couches beneath, Blessings of the [nursing] breasts and of the [fertile] womb.
in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk [that is, to live each and every day] in His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments (precepts), so that you will live and multiply, and that the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to possess.
“Comfort, O comfort My people,” says your God.
Listen carefully, the Lord God will come with might, And His arm will rule for Him. Most certainly His reward is with Him, And His restitution accompanies Him. [Rev 22:7, 12]
He will protect His flock like a shepherd, He will gather the lambs in His arm, He will carry them in His bosom; He will gently and carefully lead those nursing their young.
¶Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens with a span [of the hand], And calculated the dust of the earth with a measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?
Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, Or has taught Him as His counselor? [Rom 11:34]
With whom did He consult and who enlightened Him? Who taught Him the path of justice and taught Him knowledge And informed Him of the way of understanding?
In fact, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Now look, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
And [the forests of] Lebanon cannot supply sufficient fuel to start a fire, Nor are its wild beasts enough for a burnt offering [worthy of the Lord].
All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless.
¶To whom then will you liken God? Or with what likeness will you compare Him? [Acts 17:29]
As for the cast image (idol), a metalworker casts it, A goldsmith overlays it with gold And a silversmith casts its silver chains.
“Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, And call out to her, that her time of compulsory service in warfare is finished, That her wickedness has been taken away [since her punishment is sufficient], That she has received from the Lord’s hand Double [punishment] for all her sins.”
It happened that from the time that he made Joseph overseer in his house and [put him in charge] over all that he owned, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house because of Joseph; so the Lord’s blessing was on everything that Potiphar owned, in the house and in the field.
And as you have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah (Southern Kingdom) and house of Israel (Northern Kingdom), so I will save you, that you may be a blessing. Fear not; let your hands be strong.’ [Jer 22:8, 9]
The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.
Those who trust in and rely on the Lord [with confident expectation] Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever.
The Lord will take away from you all sickness; and He will not subject you to any of the harmful diseases of Egypt which you have known, but He will impose them on all [those] who hate you.
¶Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone does wonderful things.
Blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.
“In fact, you [Israel] will call a nation that you do not know, And a nation that does not know you will run to you, Because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”
“The Lord will cause the enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you; they will come out against you one way, but flee before you seven ways.
They were pleased to do it, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual things, then they are indebted to serve them also in [tangible] material things.
For thus says the Lord of hosts, “After glory He has sent Me against the nations which plunder you—for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.
The Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the good news [of the Savior] to Abraham in advance [with this promise], saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” [Gen 12:3]
If I forget you, O Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget [her skill with the harp].
Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not prefer Jerusalem Above my chief joy. [Ezek 3:26]
For you had little before I came and it has increased and multiplied abundantly, and the Lord has favored you with blessings wherever I turned. But now, when shall I provide for my own household?”
“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, But My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, Nor will My covenant of peace be shaken,” Says the Lord who has compassion on you.
The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless, He will bless the house of Israel; He will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless those who fear and worship the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder], Both the small and the great. [Ps 103:11; Rev 11:18; 19:5]
Through your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have heard and obeyed My voice.” [Gen 12:2, 3; 13:16; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14; Acts 3:25, 26; Gal 3:16]
Your descendants shall be as [countless as] the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and the east and the north and the south; and all the families (nations) of the earth shall be blessed through you and your descendants. [Gen 12:2, 3; 13:16; 22:18; 26:4; Acts 3:25, 26; Gal 3:8, 16]
The Lord your God will inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who have persecuted you.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a [special] people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies [the wonderful deeds and virtues and perfections] of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. [Ex 19:5, 6]
However, there will be no poor among you, since the Lord will most certainly bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess,
This is what the Lord God says, “Listen carefully, I will lift up My hand to the [Gentile] nations And set up My banner to the peoples; And they will bring your sons in the fold of their garments, And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
¶For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place:
“This is My resting place forever” [says the Lord]; “Here will I dwell, for I have desired it.
When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion (Jerusalem), We were like those who dream [it seemed so unreal]. [Ps 53:6; Acts 12:9]
Then our mouth was filled with laughter And our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”
Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am going to take the children of Israel from among the nations where they have gone, and I will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;
and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king will be king over all of them; and they will no longer be two nations, and will no longer be divided into two kingdoms. [Jer 50:4]
¶On your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed and stationed watchmen (prophets), Who will never keep silent day or night; You who profess the Lord, take no rest for yourselves,
And give Him no rest [from your prayers] until He establishes Jerusalem And makes her a praise on the earth.
May peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you; Be lord and master over your brothers, And may your mother’s sons bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, And may those who bless you be blessed.”
¶There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, The holy dwelling places of the Most High.
“Blessed [inwardly peaceful, spiritually secure, worthy of respect] are the gentle [the kind-hearted, the sweet-spirited, the self-controlled], for they will inherit the earth. [Ps 37:11]
For I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land.
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols.
Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
“Enlarge the site of your tent [to make room for more children]; Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, do not spare them; Lengthen your tent ropes And make your pegs (stakes) firm [in the ground].
“For you will spread out to the right and to the left; And your descendants will take possession of nations And will inhabit deserted cities.
His foundation is on the holy mountain.
The Lord loves the gates of Zion More than all the dwellings of Jacob (Israel).
Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God [Jerusalem]. Selah.
“I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace (unmerited favor) and supplication. And they will look at Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him as one who weeps bitterly over a firstborn. [John 19:37; Rev 1:7]
I will make them and the places around My hill (Jerusalem, Zion) a blessing. And I will make showers come down in their season; there will be [abundant] showers of blessing (divine favor).
Also the tree of the field will yield its fruit and the earth will yield its produce; and My people will be secure on their land. Then they will know [with confidence] that I am the Lord, when I have broken the bars of their yoke and have rescued them from the hand of those who made them slaves.
May the Lord give you [great] increase, You and your children.
May you be blessed of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
This is what the Lord God says, “Listen carefully, I will lift up My hand to the [Gentile] nations And set up My banner to the peoples; And they will bring your sons in the fold of their garments, And your daughters will be carried on their shoulders.
“Kings will be your attendants, And their princesses your nurses. They will bow down to you with their faces to the earth And lick the dust of your feet; And you shall know [with an understanding based on personal experience] that I am the Lord; For they shall not be put to shame who wait and hope expectantly for Me.
¶Hear the word of the Lord, O you nations, And declare it in the isles and coastlands far away, And say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him And will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
Let God arise, and His enemies be scattered; Let those who hate Him flee before Him.
Your flock found a dwelling place in it; O God, in Your goodness You provided for the poor.
¶The Lord gives the command [to take Canaan]; The women who proclaim the good news are a great host (army);
“The kings of the [enemies’] armies flee, they flee, And the beautiful woman who remains at home divides the spoil [left behind].”
When you lie down [to rest] among the sheepfolds, You [Israel] are like the wings of a dove [of victory] overlaid with silver, Its feathers glistening with gold [trophies taken from the enemy].
When the Almighty scattered [the Canaanite] kings in the land of Canaan, It was snowing on Zalmon.
¶A mountain of God is the mountain of Bashan; A [high] mountain of many summits is Mount Bashan [rising east of the Jordan].
Why do you look with envy, mountains with many peaks, At the mountain [of the city of Zion] which God has desired for His dwelling place? Yes, the Lord will dwell there forever.
The chariots of God are myriads, thousands upon thousands; The Lord is among them as He was at Sinai, in holiness.
You have ascended on high, You have led away captive Your captives; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell there. [Eph 4:8]
¶Blessed be the Lord, who bears our burden day by day, The God who is our salvation! Selah.
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; As wax melts before the fire, So let the wicked and guilty perish before [the presence of] God.
For from the rising of the sun, even to its setting, My name shall be great among the nations. In every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name shall be great among the nations,” says the Lord of hosts.
¶Now it will come to pass that In the last days The mountain of the house of the Lord Will be [firmly] established as the highest of the mountains, And will be exalted above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.
In that day men will throw away to the moles and to the bats Their idols of silver and their idols of gold, Which they made for themselves [as objects] to worship,
To go into the caverns of the rocks and into the clefts of the [ragged] cliffs [as they flee] From the terror and dread of the Lord and the splendor of His majesty, When He arises to terrify the earth.
Stop regarding man, whose breath [of life] is in his nostrils [for so little time]; For why should he be esteemed?
And many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house (temple) of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go out from Zion And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
and so [at that time] all Israel [that is, all Jews who have a personal faith in Jesus as Messiah] will be saved; just as it is written [in Scripture], “The Deliverer (Messiah) will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob.” [Is 59:20, 21]
I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, you shall choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,
and you have returned to the Lord your God and have listened to and obeyed His voice with all your heart and with all your soul, in accordance with everything that I am commanding you today, you and your children,
by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding closely to Him; for He is your life [your good life, your abundant life, your fulfillment] and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord promised (swore) to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”
Blessed and greatly favored are those who dwell in Your house and Your presence; They will be singing Your praises all the day long. Selah.
Ascribe strength to God; His majesty is over Israel And His strength is in the skies.
O God, You are awesome and profoundly majestic from Your sanctuary; The God of Israel gives strength and power to His people. Blessed be God!