Psalm 32:11 Be glad in the Lord; and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all that are upright in heart.
Joy is our response to God, His goodness, His gospel, His mercy, and His love. Inner joy is the hallmark of the Christian. It is a deep, abiding joy, that nothing and no one can take away from us. Joy is produced by the Holy Spirit as a fruit. It is a given. It is earned and granted by Jesus by grace in His death and resurrection, and implanted personally in the heart by the Holy Spirit through the faith created by Him.
We are told to “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I will say, rejoice [Philippians 4:4].” The key phrase is “in the Lord.” We will find no lasting joy in our self, which is dead in sin, nor in the world, which is passing away. But in Him we have joy. And that possession is “always,” all the time, no matter what is going on, no matter the circumstances, and no matter what our emotions are feeling. Emotions are fleeting. The joy of faith is eternal.
We draw on God’s implanted joy, and we are glad and shout for joy. And we rejoice by faith, not because we feel good, but because it is true. God said it. God gives it. And I believe it. The command to rejoice does not mean make it up or put it on. It means to respond to the inner truth of God’s abiding love. Rejoice by confessing sin, receiving forgiveness, and then thanking Him all through the day, no matter the outward circumstances that try to rob you of true, spiritual joy. Rejoice by faith, for it is really true, and let that joy affect your feelings in time. Then we can give a shout. For we are righteous in Him.