Exulting in the Lord (Pt. 1)

In Psalm 21:1 David says something very interesting. "Lord, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults!" This statement has some interesting implications.

First of all what does it mean to exult in God's strength? Well to exult means to show or feel a lively or triumphant joy; rejoice exceedingly; be highly elated or jubilant. So to exult in God's strength would be to rejoice exceedingly in or be highly elated about the fact that God is strong. At first this could seem kind of strange, but in the end it makes perfect sense.

What would cause us to rejoice in the strength of God? Well, if God is strong enough (and the bible says he is all-powerful) He can do whatever he wants. If He can do whatever He wants that means He has the power to do us good or harm. Now, if God loves us (which the Bible says he does) it follows that he will most likely do us good. Therefore if we connect God's strength with His love and goodness we see that He will work all things together for those whom he has loved and called (Romans 8:28).

Therefore, when we exult in the strength of God, we are exulting in the fact that God is powerful, good, and loving. As we exult in God we magnify His greatness. We say, "God, You are great because You have power beyond all comprehension, because You are not limited by anything, because You are able to do all things according to Your will. Thank you that You are great! You are worthy of all praise and glory because You are a good God, you give undeserved gifts to Your children who you have adopted in love. Thank you that You are good! You are a God above all other gods. Thank you that You are above all other gods!" When we do this, our joy is maximized.

You see, God created us for the sole purpose of ascribing glory to Him. As we saw earlier, when we exult in the strength of God, we glorify God, and therefore fulfill our purpose. But do you remember what exult means (to rejoice exceedingly; to be highly elated)? If we are exulting in something we are receiving great joy from it. The amount of joy we receive from something, in which we exult, is relative to the object in which we are exulting. Therefore, when I exult in a cup of coffee (which I do quite often), I am receiving a large amount of joy, but when I exult in God, I am experiencing infinitely more joy, because God is infinitely more valuable than coffee. I find the greatest joy in life, when I exult in God, and more specifically, in His strength.

As the Psalmist exulted in the strength of the Lord, so should we, for in doing so we honor God, and find the joy that we were made to know.