A Source of Joy

Friday, October 4, 2013

by Dr. Paul Chappell

"Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth."

Proverbs 5:18

Marriage is under attack in our society. On one hand, the push for same-sex marriage is seeking to change the very definition of the institution which God created. On the other hand, there is a lack of respect and commitment for marriage, even among those who still understand what marriage is. Often we hear jokes about marriage that reveal contempt rather than holy reverence for the institution that is part of God’s original plan for mankind. Marriage did not come after the fall but before it—and God takes the covenant commitment made by a man and wife very seriously.

God intends for marriage to be a source of joy and help in our lives. While it is not God’s plan for every individual to marry, marriage is God’s gift to many. For marriage to be what God intends it to be, effort on the part of both spouses is required. It cannot be done properly unless it is done unselfishly. There aren’t any secrets or shortcuts—it is simply a matter of living day after day with the best interests of the other person in mind.

The pattern of humility and service that is required for a joyful marriage is set for us in the life of Christ. Picture Him on His knees in the Upper Room washing the feet of His disciples—including Judas who would betray Him that very night. The disciples had been discussing their comparative ranks in the coming kingdom and asking which of them would be the greatest. Yet Jesus, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, was humble before them, performing the task of a slave to meet their needs. When we approach marriage with care for the other person rather than insisting on getting everything we want, marriage becomes a source of joy and strength as God intends.

Today's Growth Principle
God intends for marriage to be a source of joy, and those who are married are responsible to help create that joy.

Old Testament Reading

Isaiah 23-25

CHAPTER 23

¹ The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of Tarshish; for it is laid waste, so that there is no house, no entering in: from the land of Chittim it is revealed to them. ² Be still, ye inhabitants of the isle; thou whom the merchants of Zidon, that pass over the sea, have replenished. ³ And by great waters the seed of Sihor, the harvest of the river, is her revenue; and she is a mart of nations. ⁴ Be thou ashamed, O Zidon: for the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea, saying, I travail not, nor bring forth children, neither do I nourish up young men, nor bring up virgins. ⁵ As at the report concerning Egypt, so shall they be sorely pained at the report of Tyre. ⁶ Pass ye over to Tarshish; howl, ye inhabitants of the isle. ⁷ Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. ⁸ Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, the crowning city, whose merchants are princes, whose traffickers are the honourable of the earth? ⁹ The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth. ¹⁰ Pass through thy land as a river, O daughter of Tarshish: there is no more strength. ¹¹ He stretched out his hand over the sea, he shook the kingdoms: the LORD hath given a commandment against the merchant city, to destroy the strong holds thereof. ¹² And he said, Thou shalt no more rejoice, O thou oppressed virgin, daughter of Zidon: arise, pass over to Chittim; there also shalt thou have no rest. ¹³ Behold the land of the Chaldeans; this people was not, till the Assyrian founded it for them that dwell in the wilderness: they set up the towers thereof, they raised up the palaces thereof; and he brought it to ruin. ¹⁴ Howl, ye ships of Tarshish: for your strength is laid waste.

¹⁵ And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. ¹⁶ Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. ¹⁷ And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. ¹⁸ And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the LORD: it shall not be treasured nor laid up; for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the LORD, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing.

CHAPTER 24

¹ Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. ² And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. ³ The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word. ⁴ The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. ⁵ The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. ⁶ Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. ⁷ The new wine mourneth, the vine languisheth, all the merryhearted do sigh. ⁸ The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth, the joy of the harp ceaseth. ⁹ They shall not drink wine with a song; strong drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. ¹⁰ The city of confusion is broken down: every house is shut up, that no man may come in. ¹¹ There is a crying for wine in the streets; all joy is darkened, the mirth of the land is gone. ¹² In the city is left desolation, and the gate is smitten with destruction.

¹³ When thus it shall be in the midst of the land among the people, there shall be as the shaking of an olive tree, and as the gleaning grapes when the vintage is done. ¹⁴ They shall lift up their voice, they shall sing for the majesty of the LORD, they shall cry aloud from the sea. ¹⁵ Wherefore glorify ye the LORD in the fires, even the name of the LORD God of Israel in the isles of the sea.

¹⁶ From the uttermost part of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the righteous. But I said, My leanness, my leanness, woe unto me! the treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously; yea, the treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously. ¹⁷ Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. ¹⁸ And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. ¹⁹ The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. ²⁰ The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. ²¹ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. ²² And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. ²³ Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

CHAPTER 25

¹ O LORD, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. ² For thou hast made of a city an heap; of a defenced city a ruin: a palace of strangers to be no city; it shall never be built. ³ Therefore shall the strong people glorify thee, the city of the terrible nations shall fear thee. ⁴ For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. ⁵ Thou shalt bring down the noise of strangers, as the heat in a dry place; even the heat with the shadow of a cloud: the branch of the terrible ones shall be brought low.

⁶ And in this mountain shall the LORD of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. ⁷ And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. ⁸ He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

⁹ And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the LORD; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. ¹⁰ For in this mountain shall the hand of the LORD rest, and Moab shall be trodden down under him, even as straw is trodden down for the dunghill. ¹¹ And he shall spread forth his hands in the midst of them, as he that swimmeth spreadeth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down their pride together with the spoils of their hands. ¹² And the fortress of the high fort of thy walls shall he bring down, lay low, and bring to the ground, even to the dust.

New Testament Reading

Philippians 1

CHAPTER 1

¹ Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons: ² Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

³ I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, ⁴ Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, ⁵ For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; ⁶ Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

⁷ Even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. ⁸ For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ.

⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; ¹⁰ That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; ¹¹ Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

¹² But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel; ¹³ So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places; ¹⁴ And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. ¹⁵ Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: ¹⁶ The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: ¹⁷ But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. ¹⁸ What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. ¹⁹ For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, ²⁰ According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

²¹ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. ²² But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not. ²³ For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: ²⁴ Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. ²⁵ And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith; ²⁶ That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christ for me by my coming to you again.

²⁷ Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; ²⁸ And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God. ²⁹ For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake; ³⁰ Having the same conflict which ye saw in me, and now hear to be in me.

Proverbs Reading

Proverbs 5

¹ My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: ² That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. ³ For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: ⁴ But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. ⁶ Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. ⁷ Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. ⁸ Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: ⁹ Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: ¹⁰ Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; ¹¹ And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, ¹² And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; ¹³ And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! ¹⁴ I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. ¹⁵ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. ¹⁶ Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. ¹⁷ Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. ¹⁸ Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. ¹⁹ Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. ²⁰ And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? ²¹ For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. ²² His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. ²³ He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.