Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
Habakkuk 3:18
Recommended Reading: Psalm 51:12
“I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart. Where? Down in my heart! Where? Down in my heart! I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart, down in my heart to stay.”
This energetic call-and-response song (Where? . . . Where?) is well-known to Sunday school students! Kids especially love the third verse: “If the devil doesn’t like it, he can sit on a tack! Ouch!” This song’s theme is thoroughly biblical: the pairing of joy with salvation.
The last phrase of the first verse is especially important: Joy is “down in my heart to stay.” Nowhere is this better illustrated than in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, written while he was in jail. In his letter, Paul references joy no fewer than a dozen times. It’s important to note, however, that we can lose our joy temporarily due to sin. After he sinned, King David prayed that God would restore to him the joy of His salvation (Psalm 51:12).
The waters of joy from the never-ending well of salvation are ours to draw from at every moment (Isaiah 12:3).
Only to sit and think of God, oh what a joy it is!
Frederick W. Faber