Exhortation Station

Deuteronomy 16:14 says, “…you shall rejoice in your feast [Feast of Booths], you and your son and your daughter and your male and female servants and the Levite and the stranger and the orphan and the widow who are in your towns.”  Psalm 32:11 says, “Be glad in YHWH and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.”  Psalm 40:16 says, “Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; Let those who love Your salvation say continually, ‘YHWH be magnified!'” 

I could go on and on about passages that talk about rejoicing in Yahweh.  Yahweh is good, and He wants His children to be glad in Him and rejoice in Him.  The importance of rejoicing in Yah is something I’ve long been aware of and thought about often.

There’s another side of rejoicing, however, that I had not considered much before until I read a passage in Deuteronomy 30, and I’ve found it to be very encouraging and strengthening.  The context of this passage is the restoration promised to Israel when they return to Yahweh with all their heart.

Deuteronomy 30:8-10 — “And you shall again obey YHWH, and observe all His commandments which I command you today. ⁹ Then YHWH your Elohim will prosper you abundantly in all the work of your hand, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your ground, for YHWH will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; ¹⁰ if you obey YHWH your Elohim to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law, if you turn to YHWH your Elohim with all your heart and soul.”

What struck me about this passage is the fact that Yahweh rejoices over those who keep His commandments!  Not only do we rejoice in Yahweh, but Yahweh, the Creator of the universe, rejoices in us when we turn to Him with all our heart. 

It’s as if we’re running a marathon — we’re getting tired and it’s tempting to give up, but we keep pressing on.  Suddenly, we look over and see Yahweh in the stands, cheering us on and shouting, “Well done, good and faithful servant!  Keep it up — you can do it!” 

Zephaniah 3:17 says, “YHWH your Elohim is in your midst, a victorious warrior.  He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.“

Let’s remember to rejoice in Yahweh, and as we do, let us remember that Yahweh rejoices over us!

(Note: all Bible passages NASB unless otherwise indicated, Hebrew transl. added.)