175. God Rejoices in the Bride
Isaiah 62:5 For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as a bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee.
God continues the theme of rejoicing over us and of marriage to the bride. I am the Bride, the Church, a part of the people redeemed by Christ. The promise of God rejoicing over us is really quite remarkable. It is hard to believe that the Lord is happy over us, especially when we are not even happy with ourselves. If we could believe this promise, that God rejoices over us like a Bride, then our self-esteem would rise. We need to think about ourselves as God thinks about us.
The Lord is grieved over our sins, and at the same time, He is overjoyed over our faith and salvation. When we think like God thinks, we, too, are grieved with godly sorrow over our sins, and we rejoice greatly over the Christ who lives in us and becomes a part of us. When we see what God sees we repent; when we see what God sees we believe in Jesus and the joy of salvation is restored.
Most Christians strongly desire to be better people, to live a more holy life, and to actually be kind and loving. We are saddened when we don’t change as much or as quickly as we would like. But those very Christians also rejoice over the forgiveness of sins and the gift of righteousness. They cannot help but be overjoyed when they believe and see the life of Christ living in them. This Christ-in-us is what the Lord God in heaven sees all the time. And the Lord loves to forgive; He delights in showing mercy; and He yearns to share His life.
The metaphorical picture of a groom rejoicing over his bride is concrete enough for us to realize that that is how the Lord feels about us all the time. And by faith we see ourselves the same way. It would also be helpful if we could still rejoice over our spouses in the same way after years of marital bliss and strife. But we don’t rely on feelings, even feelings of joy and love, for emotions are fickle. We rest on the solid rock of God’s Word and promise. God says He is happy with us, and that is enough. If God grants the emotions to line up with the truth, then we thank God for the bonus. Rely on the promise: your God is rejoicing over you.