Can You Imagine What 'Fulness of Joy' Means?

“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
                              Psalms 16:11 (KJV)





 
Hi friends,

     How are you?  I hope and pray that you are well.  Today, I would like to talk a bit about joy.  Do you feel joyful?  Do you know what joy feels like?  I think we may have fleeting moments of joy.  I think we may be happy over this or that circumstance in our life.  But, most often, it fades away as circumstances change.

     It is like, we can think about and imagine how sad it is to lose a loved one, but we never know until it happens to us.  We can empathize and try to sympathize with our friends and neighbors as it happens to them, but we can’t truly know their sadness until it happens to us.

     On the flip side, we can hear about how joyous it is to have a child and to hold our baby in our hands for the first time, but unless we have a child and experience it for ourselves, we don’t truly know that joy.  We can only imagine.

     So, with this in mind, we can start to imagine the monumental encouragement in this verse.  We can only imagine what the psalmist is thinking or feeling.  We can tell that he puts his trust in God and has great hope for the future and everything God promises. 

     Let’s look at the first part of Psalms 16:11.  It says, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life.”  The psalmist has great faith and trust in God.  It doesn’t say, “Please, show me the path to life.”  It doesn’t say, “Will you show me the path of life.”  It doesn’t even say, “If I am good, you will show me the path of life.”  The psalmist is very positive and sure of the outcome.  He has complete faith and trust in God.  Do we have such trust in God?
     In Matthew 21:22, it says, “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”  It seems to me that the psalmist shows that sort of faith in exclaiming that God will show him the path of life.  Do we go to God with that same unwavering faith? 

     The second part of Psalms 16:11 says, “In thy presence is fulness of joy.”  I think this is where we need to consider that we don’t even know what joy means at this point.  We may have experience a partial joy in different moments of our life.  However, I don’t think we can even wrap our head around the idea of what “fulness of joy” could even mean in reality.  We might think we can imagine a joy so magnificent and so total as being in God’s presence forever.  I just don’t think it is possible to even imagine the joy we will feel. 

     The last part of Psalms 16:11 says, “…at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”  I am not sure if the psalmist could even know or imagine just how wonderful and majestic these pleasures may be.  I don’t know that any of us can.  However, we can see his belief, trust, faith, and passion in this verse.

     The psalmist may not have fully understood his own statement in Psalms 16:11.  Although, he believed what God told him through prayer and scriptures about leading him to eternal life and the joy of being in the presence of God for eternity. 
 
Heavenly Father,
     Thank you for your infinite love and faithful guidance.  Thank you for your mercy and grace.  Help us to value your Word and take to heart your truth as did the psalmist is Psalms 16:11.  Help us to pray and rejoice with the same confidence and faithfulness that the psalmist did.  Thank you for showing us your ways and your love for us.  Help us to love and appreciate all you do for us.  I ask you this through your Son, Jesus.  Amen.
 
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Reflective questions for Psalms 16:11 (KJV):
*What does Psalms 16:11 mean to me?
*Do I know what “fulness of joy” really means?
*Can I imagine what it would be to be in God’s presence forever?
*Can I see and feel the belief, trust, faith, and passion of the psalmist?
*Do I have this same sort of belief, trust, faith, and passion?
*What does God want me to learn from Psalms 16:11?
*How can I better heed the words in Psalms 16:11?

Now, it is your turn.
     I am thankful that you are here.  I appreciate your support and kindness.  I hope and pray that I will find the belief, hope, faith, love, and passion that the psalmist shows in Psalms 16:11.  I believe God is working on me with this.  I hope and pray that you will find it also, if you haven't already. 

     I look forward to reading your comments, thoughts, beliefs, faith, and testimonies.  Please, feel free to leave a comment below or to contact me. 

     I pray that you are finding value with the Faith Blog by DUO Inspirations.  I pray that it at least touches your heart and gets you to thinking or encourages you to read God's Word more.  If you are finding value with the Faith Blog by DUO Inspirations, please share it with friends and family.  Thank you.

     Also, if you haven't done so already, you may want to consider signing up below to receive the Faith Blog by DUO Inspirations and other faith content in your inbox.  Get my free gift of the "5 Reflective Questions to Delve Deeper into God's Word" by DUO Inspirations as my thank you.  I pray it helps you to get more out of God's Word as you read it.

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