Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice!   Philippians 4:4 AMP

 

God instructs us in His Word to always rejoice in Him and delight in Him.  Not just occasionally or when all conditions are favorable, or only when we feel like it, but ALWAYS! We must be faithful to Him and faithful to rejoice in Him.

 

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. Psalms 37:4 AMP

 

When you delight yourself in the Lord and rejoice in Him, He will give you even those things that are the secret petitions of your heart, the things that you have never even spoken of or asked for out loud.

For as a young man marries a virgin, So shall your sons marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you. Isaiah 62:5 NKJV

 

In His Word, the Lord uses the marriage relationship as a parallel of His relationship with us, the Church. God is completely and utterly faithful to us just like a very good husband, and all He asks in return is that we would be faithful to Him. He adores us and rejoices over us like a new groom rejoices over and delights in his new bride.

 

Let your fountain [of human life] be blessed [with the rewards of fidelity], and rejoice in the wife of your youth.  Proverbs 5:18 AMP

When we obey God and do things His way, we will always be blessed. Fidelity and faithfulness bring their own rewards. The spiritual follows the natural—if we can be faithful in a marriage relationship, then we can be faithful to God.  In both relationships, it is possible to develop a bad attitude and to become ungrateful and lose the blessing of the relationship.  However, if we retain a good attitude, appreciate one another and make a decision to rejoice in each other, then we will have a good marriage that lasts a lifetime and a wonderful relationship with our Heavenly Father that lasts into eternity!

 

The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.  Zephaniah 3:17 AMP

 

God is the perfect husband—He is faithful, He rejoices and exults over you, praising you and telling you, and everyone else, what a wonderful wife you are and He never reminds you of your faults or your mistakes.  Every woman would be so blessed to have a husband like that!

 

Without having seen Him, you love Him; though you do not [even] now see Him, you believe in Him and exult and thrill with inexpressible and glorious (triumphant, heavenly) joy. 9[At the same time] you receive the result (outcome, consummation) of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  1 Peter 1:8-9 AMP

 

Even in the midst of severe trials and persecutions, you can walk in heavenly joy—joy unspeakable and full of glory—because you know what lies before you and the glory He has promised.

 

Therefore, since we are justified (acquitted, declared righteous, and given a right standing with God) through faith, let us [grasp the fact that we] have [the peace of reconciliation to hold and to enjoy] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). 2Through Him also we have [our] access (entrance, introduction) by faith into this grace (state of God’s favor) in which we [firmly and safely] stand. And let us rejoice and exult in our hope of experiencing and enjoying the glory of God.  Romans 5:1-2 AMP

But Christ (the Messiah) was faithful over His [own Father’s] house as a Son [and Master of it]. And it is we who are [now members] of this house, if we hold fast and firm to the end our joyful and exultant confidence and sense of triumph in our hope [in Christ]. Hebrews 3:6 AMP

 

We are truly members of Christ’s household if we continue to hold fast and firm, our joyful and exultant confidence in our hope in Christ. This rejoicing we do with a sense of TRIUMPH—anticipating the victory! We don’t rejoice only when things go well, but we are faithful to rejoice always—in all things—confident in our God and confident of final victory because we know that He is completely and utterly faithful to us.