Joy of All Joys || Psalm 33:12 || Manna for the Mind #77

Welcome to Day 77 of the “Manna for the Mind” devotional series! This series is about taking scripture passages (typically 1-3 verses) and building our understanding of their teachings through their context and connecting scripture. I believe that doing this helps us understand how to be the type of human that God created us to be.

Today’s passage is Psalm 33:12. We’ll discuss the joy of people choosing to follow God.

Psalm 33:12

12          What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.

The community that chooses to follow God as their Lord will have joy. The word translated as joy in the NLT is “blessed.” The Hebrew word for blessed is esher (eh’-sher). It describes the concept of happiness. It comes from the Hebrew word ashar (aw-shar’), which means to go straight, go on, or advance. It describes calling something happy or a blessing. It’s a title and a descriptor. The Oxford Dictionary describes happiness in three ways:

• Showing pleasure or contentment
• Having confidence in or satisfaction with something.
• Fortunate and convenient

When we choose to follow God, our life is full of pleasure and contentment. God teaches us to be content with what we have and to change our hearts from the covetous nature that the world has taught us, and we will find joy in that. Our attitude will become confident and satisfying, even when doing what God calls feels counter-cultural to the world. The fortunate relationship we gain with God, our loving Father, friend, counselor, teacher, and healer, is something that no relationship can replace in our world. Even the best worldly relationship we have pale in comparison to the one we get to have with God. It’s convenient as well because God will never leave us. When we commit to following God to what he’s called us to do, we receive the Holy Spirit in our hearts to give us the wisdom, courage, strength, and everything else needed to do what God needs.

We get a more direct command in Exodus 19:5.

Exodus 19:5

5             Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me.

Why did God choose the Israelite nation to be his people? God was honoring this promise to Abraham about making him a great nation. God knew that no other nation was good enough, especially after trying twice to have a nation live out what he created it to be through both Adam and Noah. He chose Israel not because of anything they did but because of his love and mercy toward them – and despite everything they would do and have done up to this point in their history. God chose them to fulfill his plan, and they had a very rocky way of doing that, but they tried. That’s one thing you see repeated: they began trying to do it God’s way. Still, they later added their own spice and eventually ruined their recipe, which tasted so good. God chooses us to fulfill his plan to this day. Jesus states that the Gospel is open to everyone with no gatekeeping requirements. We often try to manage God’s plan our way, like they did, and we often fail by doing that, too. However, God still chooses us to do it even when we get it wrong. God wants us to represent his way of life, to teach his Word, and to be an agent of salvation to the world. We show that best, in my opinion, through the transformative power of the relationship we get. The more we learn about who God is, his message, and the importance of sharing it with others, the more of an internal and external work that happens with us. The light grows brighter as each day our relationship grows.

Jesus would be born through the nation of Israel. God chose the Israelite nation and, in essence, put it through an intense training program so that one day, it could prepare the world for the blessings God had for it. I hope you see the blessings that God has for you. The blessings are not meant to hurt you but to prosper you into who God’s called you to be.

As we conclude, let these words from Psalm 144 resonate within you, reminding you of the joy that comes from following God. Amen.

Psalm 144:15

Psalm 144:15               Yes, joyful are those who live like this! Joyful indeed are those whose God is the Lord.