I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
-Psalm 9:1-2
Last year about this time, I received an email in which the writer shared some of the things that brought him joy in 2008. At the end, he challenged readers to do the same. Never one to give up the opportunity to make a list and reminisce, I took up the challenge.
As I read this Psalm, I was reminded of that experience. It occurred to me that when you praise the Lord with all your heart, it leaves no room for other things that try to capture it. These verses are a cycle of joy. The exercise in sharing your gifts of joy is one way of entering into that cycle. Try it. Share with someone else, the gifts of joy, God brought you this year (This is both the praising and telling of the things He’s done). As you reflect on God’s gifts of joy this year, and share them, you will be filled with joy again.
I can hardly wait to begin. Here are just a few of God’s gifts of joy to me this year: laughing at the Christmas party, spending a weekend in Fredericksburg, playing football with my nephews and letting them pile on top of me, asking God to take care of something because I couldn’t and getting an answer the next day…