My wife’s father and I are both real football fans. We can joyfully talk about football for long periods of time. We anticipate every recruiting class, season, and game. When our teams played for, and won, the national championship, we talked about it extensively, replayed the game, and rejoiced in the victory. With a sense of reverence, it occurs to me that we believers should be even more enthusiastic fans of God and be constantly rejoicing in Him.

In Philippians 4:4, Paul tells us to: “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, rejoice.” Notice that the emphasis, and focus, of rejoicing is not in our circumstances, but in the Lord Himself. A study of the Scriptures reveals there are many aspects of the Lord that should produce rejoicing in us. Jeremiah wrote about how mercifully God deals with sinful man. He said: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not, they are new every morning…” (Lamentations 3:22-23). David wrote: “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy” (Psalm 103:8). He added: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised…I will speak of the glorious honor of Thy majesty… the Lord is gracious, and full of compassion, slow to anger, and of great mercy” (Psalm 145:3-8). Likewise, Moses said: “The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty…” (Numbers 14:18). Even in the face of Israel’s blatant rebellion, Nehemiah proclaimed: “…but Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not” (Nehemiah 9:17). But even when, in righteousness, God will judge the sins of mankind, we have the assurance: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25). Many passages describe God’s holiness, righteousness, power, omniscience, and love. For example: “…God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). After we trust in Christ, we have the assurance of eternal security, and on our behalf, He “…is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think…” (Ephesians 3:20).

Throughout today, we should exalt the Lord in songs of praise and rejoice in His greatness. Doing so will not only glorify God, but it will also draw us closer to Him and give us a greater appreciation for our salvation.