Meekness and Joy in the Lord

“The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord.”  - Isaiah 29:19a

I was struck by this verse during my Bible reading this morning, and found myself doing a bit of word study work and commentary reading on meekness.  I found John Gill's comments very good and insightful, so I thought I would share my findings here with all of you. :-)

"The "meek", lowly, and humble, are such who are made sensible of sin, and become humble under a sense of it; who see the insufficiency of their own righteousness, and submit to the righteousness of Christ; who attribute all they have, and are, to the free grace of God, and quietly submit to every dispensation of Providence; who are not easily provoked by men, but bear much and long without reviling; who envy not those that are above them in gifts and grace, nor despise those that are below them, and think the worst of themselves, and the best of others; now these have joy in the Lord, in the Word of the Lord, as the Targum, in the Lord Jesus Christ; in the greatness and glory of his person as Jehovah, and so able to save to the uttermost; in him as the Lord their righteousness; in his blood and sacrifice, for the pardon and expiation of their sins; in his fulness as theirs, to supply their wants; in his salvation, being so great, so full, so free, and suitable to them: and whereas their joy may be interrupted through the corruptions of their hearts, the temptations of Satan, and divine desertions, they "shall add" joy in the Lord, as in the original; they shall repeat it, it shall come again, it shall be restored unto them, and they shall afresh exercise it, and "increase" in it, as we render it; for spiritual joy may be increased by the discoveries of the love of God; by fresh views of Christ, through an increase of knowledge of him, and faith in him; by means of meditation and prayer, and by reading and hearing the word."

-John Gill's Commentary on Isaiah 29:19a 

The last part of his comments really stood out to me.  It is in looking to Christ, through communion with Him, that we come to see ourselves as less and Him as the amazing God He is, thus drawing our hearts more closely to Him in love, giving us joy and making us satisfied in Him, thus detouring us from seeking joy in sin and the pleasures of this life.

  ~Brittany

Hope ~ Romans 5:2-5

In interesting word study from my personal reading this morning. :-)

“Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”  -Romans 5:2-5

This list of steps in the growth of our Christian walk is sandwiched with hope.

Hope is:

(to anticipate, usually with pleasure); expectation (abstract or concrete) or confidence: - faith, hope.

Anticipate:

To foretaste or foresee; to have a previous view or impression of something future.

Expectation:

The act of expecting or looking forward to a future event with at least some reason to believe the event will happen. Expectation differs from hope. Hope originates in desire,and may exist with little or no ground of belief that the desired event will arrive. Expectation is founded on some reasons which render the event probably. Hope is directed to some good; expectation is directed to good or evil.

Confidence:

A trusting, or reliance; an assurance of mind or firm belief in the integrity, stability or veracity of another, or in the truth and reality of a fact.

Safety, or assurance of safety; security.

Boldness; courage.

“Courage is fear that has said its prayers.”  -Michael Lederman

“Hope is a gift of God's grace, and is implanted in regeneration, but abounds, increases, and becomes more strong and lively by experience of the love, grace, mercy, power, and faithfulness of God.”  - John Gill’s Commentary