Be Glad in the Lord: Psalm 97-Supplication through the Scriptures

Be Glad in the Lord

Psalm 97

Be glad of heart, O believer, but take care that your gladness has its spring in the Lord. You have much cause for gladness in your God, for you can sing with David, "God, my exceeding joy!" Be glad that the Lord reigns--that Jehovah is King! Rejoice that He sits upon the throne and rules all things!
Charles Spurgeon

Not too long ago, I attended a birthday party for a friend. She is older than I am, and she has lived her life well. Friends of hers were allowed to get up and share what they loved about this woman. Many stated how they loved the joy, warmth, and light this woman exhibited. And it was all from her Savior. A life rooted in Christ will be one that shows gladness of heart.

Psalm 97 ends with a command, “Be glad in the Lord, you righteous ones; and give thanks to His holy name” (97:12). To be glad is to be pleased or delighted. God commands us to be glad in Him partially because He is the one thing that will never change. If we find our joy and gladness in other things, then it will be temporary. But to have gladness and joy in God will mean that our joy and our gladness will only get deeper and fuller as we come to know Him more. The more we know of Him the more we have to delight in. Gladness found in God will produce in us warmth, peace, and a face and demeanor that show forth our gladness. 

Let’s pray through Psalm 97 finding our gladness in God and His magnificence and asking that our lives shine forth with the joy we have found in Him.

The Lord reigns

97:1-5 The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 
Let’s pray:
▫️We would have a gladness of heart because the Lord reigns. We would delight in His sovereign rule of our lives and the whole world. When things go well, we would give thanks to Him. When things are hard, we would have peace because He never changes.
▫️Because righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne, our souls would be settled and glad knowing that He will always do what is right on our behalf, injustice will not go unpunished, and His purposes will prevail.
▫️We would rejoice in our Mighty Warrior. His adversaries cannot withstand Him and His great power. 
▫️We would be glad in our great God whose very presence can make the mountains melt like wax. The mountains which are vast and immovable to us, simply melt before Him. 

The Lord is Most High

97:6-9 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory. All worshipers of images are put to shame, who make their boast in worthless idols; worship him, all you gods! Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice, because of your judgments, O Lord. For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. 
Let’s pray:
▫️As we look around at the beauty and glory of the created world, the skies and seas, our hearts would be filled with awe and rejoice to see a glimpse of His glory, and we would eagerly anticipate the day when we shall see Him and His glory revealed.
▫️We would not delight in idols. Our delight would be in the Lord and in His Word. Any delight we have in any created thing would be turned in praise to Him who has provided it.
▫️In gladness and rejoicing we would worship Him!
▫️We would rejoice and be glad in His judgments, for He is the Lord Most High and He is good and does what is good (Psalm 119:68).

Rejoice in the Lord!

97:10-12 O you who love the Lord, hate evil! He preserves the lives of his saints; he delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!
Let’s pray:
▫️We would love the Lord and delight in Him (Psalm 37:4) and hate evil. Our delight in God would cleanse and purify us.
▫️We would be filled with happiness and peace because our Savior preserves the lives of His saints, delivers them from the hands of the wicked, guards, protects, keeps, guides, and provides for us. How could we not be glad when we have such a wonderful Savior?
▫️The Lord Himself would sow light and joy for us as we walk in His ways and take joy in God our Savior. He would produce His joy and His light in our lives.
▫️We would rejoice and be glad in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4).
▫️Our hearts would be filled with thankfulness and we would reap joy and gladness because our hearts are tuned to His praise.

May the Lord do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, for His glory and our good. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 


Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All right reserved.


Photo credit to benwhitephotography

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