Mensa Otabil - God Will Make You Glad
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Psalm 4, verse 7: You have put gladness in my heart more than in the season when their grain and wine increased. We must always remind ourselves, when we’re reading the scripture, especially as we’re doing with the Psalms, to get the context within which the message is delivered. It helps you position the words in the scripture to the context in which they occurred. This psalm, as we’ve said, is coming to us, or the Holy Spirit is inspiring David to bring forth these words in a context of war when things are going against him. God uses David’s experiences to speak to us. Although David is going through the experience, God is speaking to you if you are going through a similar situation. It is the timeless word of God coming through a person and his experience.
If you look at this verse, verse number seven, David sounds a bit upbeat. He sounds encouraged compared to the previous verses that expressed despair. He seems to be glad and happy, and David compares the confidence he has in the Lord with that of his opponents. The opponents are confident, and David is also confident. How does he compare the two sources of confidence? David says, «Well, God has made me glad.» He talks about his opponents and says, «More than in the season when their grain and wine increase.» For them, their confidence comes because their grain and wine have increased. What does that mean? It means that things are going well for them. David is saying these people are confident because everything is working well for them. The vineyards are blooming; the grains are flourishing. It’s almost like a farmer who has planted and everything is prospering. Then there is another farmer whose farm is not flourishing; nothing is working for him. So David says these people are happy because their grain is blossoming. Things are working for them.
But I am happy because the Lord has put gladness in my heart. Do you see the difference? One is happy because things are going well for them, and the other is happy because God has made me glad. That is where we stand as Christians. Our joy doesn’t come from the surrounding events being okay or everything going well for us. Our joy comes from the Lord; the Lord makes me glad. So while people complain, David remembers, «Yes, things are going well for them, but that’s not how I find my joy. I don’t get my joy because things are going well for me; I get my joy because the Lord makes me glad.»
This is something we must learn in life. When you observe people who don’t know Christ, their joy comes from buying a car, purchasing a house, or some fortunate event that occurs. But is that how a believer should define happiness? No. Our happiness is because God makes us glad — the presence of the Lord, the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the joy of the Lord, the joy of opening up to the scriptures, and hearing God speak to you in the morning. That joy surpasses the joy of the person whose grains and wine fields are blossoming.
Today, I want you to understand that the source of your victory is not what the world perceives. The source of your victory lies in knowing the gladness that God places in your heart. I pray that God’s joy will bubble out of your heart. His joy will be your strength; He will grant you victory -not because everything has changed around you, but because everything has changed within you. The Holy Spirit in you gives you the assurance that everything will be well. You are going to win this one; you will be the head and not the tail. There may be no evidence outside, but inside you know God has granted you the victory.
Let’s pray. Say with me: Heavenly Father, you are the source of my joy. Thank you, Lord. You gladden my heart with your presence. In Jesus' name, Amen and Amen.