Head: Know God's Word | Heart: Love God | Hands: Follow God's Way 

Read Psalms 16

Head 

This week, we are focusing on joy. What is joy? We know from Galatians 5:22 that joy is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Joy is having happiness and peace even when experiencing a trial or hardship. So, let’s look to God’s Word to discover how to find joy. 

Let’s start by reading Psalms 16. This psalm is about a prayer to God from David. David is going through a tough time in his life. His enemies are chasing him and he is afraid, so he calls out to God to say, “I know my life is not meant to be easy, but the only way I find refuge is by keeping my eyes on You.” David realizes that a truly joy-filled life can only be found by keeping our focus on God and nothing else. Our hope and protection come from the only God, our heavenly Father. 

“For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.” (Psalms 16:10) 

This is referring to Jesus, our Savior, who died for our sins, defeated death, and was raised to life to sit at the right hand of God. He did that for us so that we could have a relationship with God and have real joy! A life without Jesus is not a joyful life. Where do your hope, strength, peace, and joy come from if you don’t trust that Jesus took our sins away so we could be with God forever? David tells us that you can’t. A life with joy only comes with a close relationship with Jesus. Even when life gets hard and messy we can trust that Jesus made a way for us to one day be in heaven where there is no more sadness or hardship but joy and love honoring our God! 

Heart 

When I read Psalms 16, I thought about how David sought protection and joy from God as his enemies were after him. It reminded me of the time we took our children to their first corn maze. A corn maze is a tradition in our family and maybe in yours also. We loved the idea of going in a maze and using clues to try to escape the paths that seemed so confusing to our little ones. Now, we didn’t make it easy by going during the daylight hours; we went at night. So, picture it, darkness all around you except for your flashlights to guide your path. Now our children were excited until we got in the middle of this 3-acre corn maze and fear set in. What if we couldn’t find our way out? Everything looked the same. How would we ever find the exit? But they had one advantage, their dad. He has an amazing sense of direction, and he also knew most of the answers to the clues the farm gave us to guide us out. So, when they realized they couldn’t do it on their own and their initial excitement turned to worry, they looked to their dad to protect them and deliver them out of the dark maze into the light of the pasture. When their eyes focused on their dad, the fun of the puzzle began to come back and fear was replaced with excitement and joy. When we trust only in ourselves, we have to remember that we have very limited knowledge of situations and experiences. But when we trust in the God who is all-knowing and who loves us so much, He produces joy in our lives! 

Hands 

Joy can only be found in a relationship with God through Jesus, so how do we have a closer relationship with Him? Let’s start by following David’s example of praying to God. God wants us to come to Him always but especially when we are feeling sad, fearful, or hopeless and acknowledge joy can only come from trusting in Him. Also, try reading your Bible daily so you can see all the amazing characteristics of our faithful and loving God who will provide all we need in Christ Jesus. 

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, life is hard, and we need You to help us feel safe, protected, and loved. We want to be filled with joy that only You can give. So today I ask You to be with me everywhere I go and in everything I do. Please help me to develop a deeper relationship with You that cannot be destroyed. Help me focus on You and what You can do and not try to do it myself. We love You and thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to save us from sins. Help me have joy always so I can be a light for others to see You. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.