Unrestrained Joy

Having family around me makes me so joyful that the idea of blogging anything not joy related seems almost impossible. When I was reading in Psalms the other day, I was stunned at two very prevalent themes. Those themes are repentance and joy--joyful praise. Psalm 96:11 begins in context with "The Lord Reigns" then it says "Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all of the trees of the forest will sing for joy; they will sing before the Lord, for He comes." I love that. The whole earth is so joyful that even the heavens and earth rejoice, the fields are so full of joy and the trees clap their hands.
Oh, that we humans, could express our joy so readily. After all He created us, too. We have so much to be joyous about. This time of year, we have family and friends and food and fellowship. What else do we need? How can we not be jubilant? How can we not clap our hands in delight? How can we not sing for joy?
There are some areas of our life wherein we need to show restraint. Joy is not one of them. I believe since it pleases God for the heavens and earth to praise Him in such a way, He cannot help but be pleased when we, His most treasured and loved, show joy--overflowing and unrestrained.

Neva