It’s one of the most adamant words in the New Testament, and it is addressed to a community of people in Philippi, “Rejoice in the Lord always.” To, make sure they get it, the writer continues, “I will say it again: Rejoice!” (Philippians 4:4)
Paul, the person who wrote that challenging word, did so from jail. If anyone had a right to complain, it was Paul. He tried to do something good for others and that’s one of the reasons he is in jail. He had collected an offering from the Gentile churches and brought it back for the poor in the church in Jerusalem. He came to Jerusalem out of a sense of compassion and duty but is now in jail, paying for what he had done. He could rightly be complaining, yet he challenges the Philippians, “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice!”
Paul’s charge calls to my mind the folk song, How Can I Keep from Singing? Even though it’s 250 years old, I began to hear it a lot in the protests of the 1960s.
The lyrics could have been written today, or at almost any time in history. It talks about problems in the world. trouble, strife, the tyrants. The inspiration and challenge of it is that, at the end of each verse, it simply says, how can I keep from singing.”
My life goes on in endless song
Above earth´s lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear its music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?
Paul’s challenge, Rejoice in the Lord always,” is the perspective of the Bible. It doesn’t take much honest reflection to conclude that life is a gift. We don’t have to live too many years to know that the Giver of life, God and God’s creation, is dependable.
We don’t deserve it. Though we are unfaithful, God remains faithful. So,
While though the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the truth, it liveth.
And though the darkness ’round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I´m clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?