These verses contain three actions to fill you with joy. Why should we have joy? We should have joy because as Christians we are blessed by God and He surrounds us with His shield of overwhelming love.

Three ways to have joy in God

•We take refuge in God

•We sing God’s praise

•God protects us because we love His name

Old Testament Bible reference~Psalm 5:7-8

Because of your unfailing love, I can enter your house;
I will worship at your Temple with deepest awe.
Lead me in the right path, O Lord,
or my enemies will conquer me.
Make your way plain for me to follow.

3 great truths

•God’s love is unfailing and immeasurable toward us!

•God is awesome! He deserves nonstop praise!

•When we ask, He leads us in amazing ways!

Old Testament Bible reference 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Two short verses in the Old Testament are packed with big meaning. They’re kind of hidden away. A decade or so ago they became famous when someone wrote an entire book about them and people began praying them for their own lives. I prayed them too. God blessed our young family with an extra $1000 that year.

Currently, as of yesterday, I need new transportation! My car had radiator issues and will cost more money than it’s worth to repair. I pray these words already thanking God for His goodness toward me. I’m trusting Him. Besides He created everything anyway. He owns cattle on a 1000 hills and more! The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.  Thank you God for providing me with this tiny insignificant need when compared to how you care for everything already. I boldly trust in your provision.

1 Chronicles 4:9-10

9 And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.

10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.

New Testament Bible Reference~Acts 23:11-24

God told Paul the apostle he would preach the truth about Jesus in Rome.

A group of Jews gathered themselves together and made a vow that they would not eat until they had killed Paul. They would ambush him on a road as he traveled to a Roman court. Paul had a nephew who overheard the conversation and went and told his uncle and the Roman commander who was in charge of Paul while he was currently in prison for telling people about Jesus. 

Acts 23:11-24

11 That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”

The Plan to Kill Paul
12 The next morning a group of Jews[a] got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty of them in the conspiracy. 14 They went to the leading priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves with an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 So you and the high council should ask the commander to bring Paul back to the council again. Pretend you want to examine his case more fully. We will kill him on the way.”

16 But Paul’s nephew—his sister’s son—heard of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul. 17 Paul called for one of the Roman officers[b] and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has something important to tell him.”

18 So the officer did, explaining, “Paul, the prisoner, called me over and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

19 The commander took his hand, led him aside, and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”

20 Paul’s nephew told him, “Some Jews are going to ask you to bring Paul before the high council tomorrow, pretending they want to get some more information. 21 But don’t do it! There are more than forty men hiding along the way ready to ambush him. They have vowed not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are ready now, just waiting for your consent.”

22 “Don’t let anyone know you told me this,” the commander warned the young man.

Paul Is Sent to Caesarea
23 Then the commander called two of his officers and ordered, “Get 200 soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea at nine o’clock tonight. Also take 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops. 24 Provide horses for Paul to ride, and get him safely to Governor Felix.”

Bible reference 2 Kings 21:16-22:1-2

Josiah was a king of Jerusalem.

His grandfather, Manasseh, did very evil deeds to the people.  The Bible says he murdered many innocent people until Jerusalem was filled from one end to the other with innocent blood and he caused the people of Jerusalem to sin and do evil in God’s sight. (2 Kings 21:16)

Ammon was Josiah’s father.  He began to rule Jerusalem when he was 22 but he was king for only two years.  He did evil deeds also and refused to follow the ways of God. He was assasinated by the hands of his own officials. Then the people of Jerusalem killed the conspirators and made Josiah king when he was a mere eight years old. 

Josiah’s mother, Jedidah, who was most likely devastated by her husband’s death, helped raise Josiah to be a good king like King David, (God called him a man after His own heart.) 

2 Kings 22:1-2

Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. His mother was Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath. 2 He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight and followed the example of his ancestor David. He did not turn away from doing what was right.

Bible reference 2 Kings 21:1-16

In the Old Testament many of the Kings of Israel and Judah did evil in the sight of God. God didn’t want Kings but his people did. In the Promised Land many places worshiped idols. Most of the kings let their idols remain. One type of idol statue was the Asherah Pole. King Manasseh became the ruler of Jerusalem and was the son of Hezekiah. Manasseh did not honor God during his reign. Details of Manasseh’s life are told in 2 Kings 21.

21 Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-five years. His mother was Hephzibah. 2 He did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, following the detestable practices of the pagan nations that the Lord had driven from the land ahead of the Israelites. 3 He rebuilt the pagan shrines his father, Hezekiah, had destroyed. He constructed altars for Baal and set up an Asherah pole, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. He also bowed before all the powers of the heavens and worshiped them.

4 He built pagan altars in the Temple of the Lord, the place where the Lord had said, “My name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” 5 He built these altars for all the powers of the heavens in both courtyards of the Lord’s Temple. 6 Manasseh also sacrificed his own son in the fire.  He practiced sorcery and divination, and he consulted with mediums and psychics. He did much that was evil in the Lord’s sight, arousing his anger.

7 Manasseh even made a carved image of Asherah and set it up in the Temple, the very place where the Lord had told David and his son Solomon: “My name will be honored forever in this Temple and in Jerusalem—the city I have chosen from among all the tribes of Israel. 8 If the Israelites will be careful to obey my commands—all the laws my servant Moses gave them—I will not send them into exile from this land that I gave their ancestors.” 9 But the people refused to listen, and Manasseh led them to do even more evil than the pagan nations that the Lord had destroyed when the people of Israel entered the land.

10 Then the Lord said through his servants the prophets: 11 “King Manasseh of Judah has done many detestable things. He is even more wicked than the Amorites, who lived in this land before Israel. He has caused the people of Judah to sin with his idols. 12 So this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I will bring such disaster on Jerusalem and Judah that the ears of those who hear about it will tingle with horror. 13 I will judge Jerusalem by the same standard I used for Samaria and the same measure[c] I used for the family of Ahab. I will wipe away the people of Jerusalem as one wipes a dish and turns it upside down. 14 Then I will reject even the remnant of my own people who are left, and I will hand them over as plunder for their enemies. 15 For they have done great evil in my sight and have angered me ever since their ancestors came out of Egypt.”

16 Manasseh also murdered many innocent people until Jerusalem was filled from one end to the other with innocent blood. This was in addition to the sin that he caused the people of Judah to commit, leading them to do evil in the Lord’s sight.

Bible reference~Proverbs 18:8, 26:22

When I was in my twenties I decided I was really going to live for God. So one of the most important things I did was to read the Bible through. I didn’t really have a plan, I just started at the beginning in the Old Testament in Genesis and read it regularly until my eyes were blurry! This is not the greatest plan but God’s Word does not return void! I began my journey discovering  more of God!  One of the interesting details I discovered was sometimes in Psalms and Proverbs the verse repeat. Those verses must have added importance since they are in there twice.

Proverbs

26:22 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.