You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11 NKJV)

Being full of joy seems like an aspiration – something intangible or something you can’t actually have. But that’s not true. The Bible says we can experience a “fullness of joy,” and it tells us how to do that.

 

What is Joy?

But first, let’s define our terms. What is joy? Is it being happy? Being joyful can result in a feeling of happiness. But it’s more than that.

The Hebrew word for joy is simha, which means a state of rejoicing. I like that: a state of rejoicing. You know how it feels when you’re rejoicing over something or someone. It’s a great place to be. Who wouldn’t want to be full of joy? And its meaning is even deeper when we realize how we receive it.

 

How Do You Get Joy?

There’s only one way to obtain true joy. And that’s in God’s presence.

In Psalm 16, the psalmist, David, is talking to God. How do we know that? We see it in the first two verses. In Psalm 16:1 (NKJV), David says, “Preserve me, O God, for in You I put my trust.” Then in verse 2, he calls God by His name. He says, “Oh my soul, you have said to the Lord, You are my Lord, my goodness is nothing apart from You” (Psalm 16:2 NKJV).

The word Lord in verse 2 is the Hebrew word comprised of four letters: Yud, Hey, Vuv, and Hey. In English, we translate it as Yahweh. It’s the name of the self-existent, eternal God. The one and only true God.

So, if you want to be full of joy, you must come into the presence of Yahweh. You can’t experience that fullness of joy in anyone or anything else.

 

How Do You Come Into God’s Presence?

Now that we know that we need to be in Yahweh’s presence to be full of joy, how do we come into His presence? Here are three ways to do that.

• Pray: As a born-again believer, you have direct access to God. You don’t have to go through a priest or a pastor or anyone else to talk to Him. Because Jesus has paid the price for your sins, you can come to God just by talking to Him, anywhere and at anytime. Isn’t that amazing? And you don’t have to be afraid to talk to God. As it tells us in Hebrews 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

• Read: God has spoken to us through His Word, the Bible. The Bible is the literal Word of God. God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). And it’s accessible to us now more than ever before. You can come before God’s presence by reading the Bible on your phone or tablet, or in paper form. You can even listen to it in an app on your phone or computer. All you have to do is take time out of your day to meet with Him.

• Sing: God has instructed us to “come before His presence with singing” (Psalm 100:2 NKJV). When you sing praises to God with your heart and mind focused on Him, you glide into His presence without even thinking about it.

So, come into God’s presence. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:8a NKJV). Read His Word and meditate on what He’s said. Sing to Him. Talk to Him. And before you know it, you’ll be full of joy as you walk by faith with Him.

 

Photo by Anastasia Zolotukhina on Unsplash