Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 32:11 

“Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.” – Psalm 32:11       

This verse points out a great and mighty truth that we as Christians should understand, for we have a relationship with the all-powerful, all knowing God of the universe.  That mighty truth is that we have a reason to rejoice no matter our situation.  And we must always be glad in Him.  And the main reason we have for rejoicing is stated in verse one and two.  “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven; whose sin is covered!  How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! ” Psalm 32:1-2

We have all sinned.  We have done what is wrong, and we were guilty of going against the commands of our creator.  And because of this we were separated from God because of our sins.  We did not have any way of making things right, therefore we were destined to eternal separation from the one who loved us.  However, God made a way.  “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”  John 3:16.  God sent His only begotten Son to earth to pay the penalty for what we did.  We were guilty and were destined to eternal death.  We could not pay the penalty, so Jesus did. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23.

God, in the form of a man in Jesus gave Himself for us.  He did not have to do this, but He wanted to. It was because of His love and mercy that He addressed our situation, and all we have to do is believe and accept the work Jesus did on the cross.  Do we really understand this?  The fact that the eternal God, creator of all things including the rebellious creatures called human beings, came and died in our place shows the immense love He has for us.  Do we deserve this love? No.  But He loved us just the same.  He made a way for us to be in fellowship with Him by imputing Christ’s righteousness on us, if we believe and acknowledge our guilt, not attempting to hide it from Him. “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.” Psalm 32:5

And because of all He did, we should rejoice and be glad for He saved us and made us His children and will soon take us home to be with Him for all eternity. There will be no sin, sorrow, weeping or dying.  It will be a place of constant joy and peace, where God reigns and we live in His presence forever.  This is why our lives should be a fountain of gladness, rejoicing and shouts of joy.  If what God did for us is not a cause of perpetual celebration and rejoicing, then we need to get on our knees and ask Him to show us again.  He gave us Himself, and there is no greater gift I can think of. 

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.