Gladness of God

Beholding the Gladness of Jesus

To Beholding The Glory Of God’s Emotions (gladness), we take Scriptures and take them to God (John 5:39-40).  We ask Father God to reveal the truths of God through the Spirit.  Writing revelation, singing, saying, and praying it.  Eph 1:18 He enlightens the eyes of our understanding to percieve Him.

But we all, beholding…the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor. 3:18)

1. The “beholding and becoming” principle – whatever we behold (meditation unto revelation) in God’s heart towards us becomes awakened in our heart back to God (transformation). Beholding God’s heart refers to studying about it until we understand it more and thus encounter Him.
2. There is a corresponding impartation to what we understand about God’s heart to our emotional transformation. As we change our mind (understanding) about God, then He changes our emotions (heart) and unlocks our hearts. Wrong understanding about God damages our hearts. Wrong ideas about God’s personality and heart leads to blocking our intimacy with Him.
3. When God wants to empower us to be lovers of God, He reveals Himself as a lover to us. What ever we study about God is what is made alive in our hearts towards God.

We love (enjoy, pursue) Him because He first loved (enjoyed, pursued) us. (1 Jn. 4:19)

1. In 2 Cor. 3:18, Paul was specifically referring to the situation in Moses’ life in which he cried out to behold God’s glory. The greatest manifestation of God’s glory is His emotions.

Moses said, “Please, show me Your glory.” 19 Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you…” (Ex. 33:18-19)

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth…”(Ex 34:6)

1. The emotion of God that is easiest to grasp is His gladness. We will not comprehend His affection for us until we have a foundational understanding of His gladness towards His people. God’s capacity for gladness is infinite in measure and eternal in duration. God designed the human spirit in His image, with great capacity for gladness. This is a great gift to us.
2. As we become students of God’s emotions, we grow in revelation of His tender mercy, then His gladness then His affection. In this understanding of God, we will run to Him with confidence even in our weakness instead of running from Him in condemnation and shame.
3. The paradigm most common today is that of a God who is mostly mad or mostly sad when we relate to Him.  There is much unclear and fuzzy thinking about God’s gladness. How does God feel most of the time?  How does He feel when He looks at you?  This question is one of the most important questions in our spiritual journey.  Our view of God’s emotions affects how we approach God, especially in our weakness. This impacts the way we feel about ourselves.
4. The revelation of a God with a smiling heart awakens a smiling heart in us. This revelation of God releases security in us with a free spirit instead of being dominated by condemnation.
5. It seems like heresy to some to believe this. I asked two theologians who rejected the idea of God’s gladness a series of questions. Is God ever glad? How much of the time is He glad? With whom is He glad? Is He ever glad with people on earth? At what point of maturity does God become glad with them? On what basis is He glad with the weak? Who is mostly responsible? The theological logic is that if God does not smile, then He can not smile at me.

What Scripture says about Jesus’ personality

God has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. (Heb. 1:9)

• Jesus walked in the anointing of gladness more than any man in history (Heb. 1:9; Ps. 45:7). He had a free spirit filled with gladness that radiated out of His countenance.

Jesus was strengthened with gladness and joy to help Him endure the cross.

• Looking unto Jesus…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…(Heb 12:2)

Gladness and joy are at the center of Jesus’ personality. Jesus imparts His joy to His people through feeding on His Word unto transforming their emotions so that it becomes their joy.

• These things I spoke…that My joy may remain in you…that your joy may be full. (Jn. 15:11 )

Jesus spoke of His gladness over people immediately when they repented (without probation).

• He rejoices more over that sheep than over the 99 that did not go astray. (Mt. 18:13)

Peter quoting Ps. 16:8-11, described Jesus as having a rejoicing heart, with glad speech.

• “…for He (Father) is at My (Jesus’) right hand, that I may not be shaken.  26.  Therefore My (Jesus’) heart rejoiced, and My tongue was glad…(Acts 2:25-27).

1. Jesus’ heart rejoiced – His primary disposition is gladness not anger or sadness.
2. Jesus’ tongue is glad – His primary speech comes from His gladness.
3. Jesus is full of joy – His primary posture of heart and leadership style is gladness.
4. David, the theologian of God’s gladness, described God’s heart as full of joy and pleasures.

In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Ps 16:11)

Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and gladness are in His place. (1 Chr 16:27)

You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures. (Ps 36:8)

The rejoicing God

Prophetic promises for blessing have their foundation in God’s heart of rejoicing.

• The LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand…for the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers…(Deut 30:9)
• Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.  (Jer 32:41)

God’s End-Time restoration of His people flows from His heart of rejoicing and gladness.

• The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.  (Zeph 3:17)

Happy holiness: God rejoices in context to holiness

• God has spoken in His holiness: “I will rejoice; I will divide Shechem and measure out the Valley of Succoth.” (Ps 60:6; 108:7) 

• His (Jesus’) delight is in the fear of the LORD…(Isa 11:3)

God’s delight in His works

• May the LORD rejoice in His works. (Ps 104:31)
• Then I (Jesus as God’s wisdom) was beside Him as a master craftsman; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him…(Prov 8:30-31)

God has gladness, delight and joy in His people.

• You shall no longer be termed Forsaken…but you shall be called Hephzibah…for the LORD delights in you….as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you. (Isa 62:4-5)
• See the King…on the day of His wedding, the day of the gladness of his heart. (Song 3:11 )
• But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy. (Isa 65:18-19)

The angels experience joy and gladness. 

• There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. (Lk. 15:10)
• The morning stars (angels) sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? (Job 38:7)

We will experience the fullness of joy when we are in God’s presence.

• Now to Him who is able to keep you…and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy…(Jude 1:24)

Gladness and Joy release strength to the heart

• For the joy of the LORD is your strength.  (Neh 8:10)

Jesus was strengthened before the cross.

• Looking unto Jesus…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…(Heb 12:2)

Jesus’ joy is imparted to His people through feeding on His Word.

• These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.  (Jn. 15:11 )

The voice of the Bridegroom empowered John to experience joy in the wilderness.

• The friend of the bridegroom…rejoices greatly because of the Bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled…(Jn. 3:29)

The people of God will be empowered with joy in the wilderness like John the Baptist.

• I will allure her, will bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfort to her.  I will give her …the Valley of Achor as a door of hope; she shall sing there…(Hos. 2:14-15)

God’s evaluation (judgment) of believers. 

Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will BOTH bring to light the hidden things of darkness AND reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God. (1 Cor. 4:5)

1. God’s evaluation (judgment) of believers: Paul surprises us with this view of judgment in context to the carnal Corinthians.
2. Judge nothing – do not draw final conclusions about your life or others before God because we have an inability to accurately evaluate what God thinks.
3. Counsels of heart – the movements of our heart will be revealed on the last day.
4. God will reveal both the negative (hidden) and positive (counsel of our heart) issues of our heart.
5. Praise will come to those who resisted darkness. Jesus sees it and it is dear to Him. It is amazing what God remembers and what God forgets. God defines us by the movements of our heart towards Him, not just our failures.
6. The litmus test to determine if we understand God’s heart of gladness, is what we would feel if we knew that Jesus was to appear to us today to evaluate our heart.

Emotions of the Bridegroom

Foundational Theology – God’s Gladness, Happiness and Pleasure. The common paradigm in the church today is that of a God who is mostly mad or mostly sad. This greatly affects how we approach God.

“How does God feel most of the time?” This question is one of the most important questions in our spiritual journey. How does He feel when He looks at you? This impacts the way we feel about ourselves.

I. JESUS’ PERSONALITY 

“You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions. All Your garments are scented with myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, by which they have made You glad.” (Ps. 45:7 -8)

• We know from Hebrews this verse is about Jesus.  He is the happinest Man who has ever lived, anointed with gladness by the Holy Spirit.  Our inheritance is this same anointing, but we must keep asking for it in faith

In Acts 2, the Apostle Peter describes Jesus from Ps. 16.  Jesus’ heart rejoices, His tongue is glad and He is full of joy.

“…for He is at My right hand, that I may not be shaken. Therefore My heart rejoiced, and My tongue was glad…. You …will make Me full of joy in Your presence.” (Acts 2:25-28)

In Ps 16:8-11 we see that Jesus’ heart is glad, His glory rejoices, He is full of joy and experiences God’s pleasures.  Scripture is meant to be prayed, we can ask, Father I ask for Your presence, and your Joy!  

“…because He is at My right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore My heart is glad, and My glory rejoices …in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Ps. 16:8-11)

II. THE PLEASURES OF GOD

“In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Ps 16:11)

“Honor and majesty are before Him; strength and gladness are in His place.” (1 Chr. 16:27)

Joy of the angels before God.

“Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10; Matt 18:13; Job 38:7)

The saints in fullness of joy in God’s presence.

“Now to Him who is able to keep you…and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,” (Jude 1:24)

In God’s presence are pleasures forever more.

“You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.” (Ps 36:8)

III. THE GLADNESS OF JESUS

Jesus is described as possessing the anointing of gladness more than any other man in history

“Your God, has anointed You with the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” (Heb. 1:9).

“Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, ‘I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes.’” (Luke 10:21)

Gladness is at the very center of God’s personality (the voice of the Bridegroom speaks to release joy in His people).

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11 )

IV. THE REJOICING GOD

The first reference to God rejoicing. There is no contradiction within God’s heart when He releases blessing or judgment.

“And it shall be, that JUST AS the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land.…” (Deut. 28:63)

Prophetic promises are related to the revelation of God’s heart of rejoicing.

“The LORD your God will make you abound in all the work of your hand…and in the produce of your land for good. For the LORD will again rejoice over you for good as He rejoiced over your fathers,” (Deut. 30:9)

“‘Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.’” (Jer. 32:41)

God’s redemption is related from a heart of rejoicing and gladness.

“The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zeph. 3:17)

Psalms 60:6, “God spoke in His holiness. God said, ‘I will rejoice.”

A Closer Look

At Your right hand is fullness of Joy and pleasures forevermore.  (Psa 16:11.)

There are three different ways to behold His glory and His emotions in those three directions. Beholding the emotional makeup of God and understanding it is a very powerful reality.  Psalms 16:11, which is Davidic revelation of God’s joy. The very crowning glory of King David’s revelation begins in Psalms 16. This is the entry point. We want to make it a priority to encounter the God of gladness. In the church there is an unspoken and sometimes a very clearly spoken sentiment that God is mostly mad or sad. It is spoken very clearly in some camps.

By and large it is not articulated, but it is there. It is ever present. It is that God’s emotions are mostly mad or mostly sad. The truth of scripture is that God’s emotions are mostly glad. It is very opposite. It is not an accident that the church that is worshipping a God who is mostly sad or mostly mad is the very church that is also mostly mad or mostly sad who worships a God like that. There is a direct correlation in the image that we have of God’s emotions and our own emotions. There is a direct correlation between the two. It is the idea that holiness is understood with a certain somber, morbid sadness.

It is that holiness is equated with quietness and sadness. It is like “Shhh, it’s holy in the atmosphere. This is in the sanctuary.”  InPsalms 60:6, David is writing. He says, “God spoke in His holiness. God said, ‘I will rejoice.” In holiness God speaks. He speaks, though not always, but often in a tone of rejoicing. When He speaks out of His holiness He speaks with gladness motivating what He says. He gives about 10 or 12 prophetic declarations in Psalms 60. He speaks out of His holiness with a heart of gladness. Ultimately gladness and holiness are one and the same thing. I am talking about holy gladness. There is carnal and sinful gladness, but I am not talking about that. The gladness in God’s heart and the holiness in God’s heart are not contradictory, but identical.

He does not always speak in gladness, but He often speaks in gladness. Gladness is not a contradiction to holiness. It is an expression of holiness when the gladness comes from God’s heart.

At Your right hand is fullness of Joy and pleasures forevermore.  (Psa 16:11.)

The apostle Peter under the anointing of the Spirit applies this passage by the revelation of the Spirit to Jesus who is the true David. The little David, that is King David, is talking about himself, but under the anointing he is talking about the greater David. He is talking about His heart. In verse 8 King David says, “I have set the Lord always before me.” Again, Peter is going to let us know that it is Jesus speaking about God the Father. “Because He is at my right hand I will not be moved.” Verse 9, “Therefore my heart is glad. My glory rejoices.” Verse 11, “You will show me the path of life. In Your presence is the fullness of joy and at Your right hand are pleasures forever more.” It is Jesus speaking to the Father. I want to highlight one point here. David understood this about the Father. Jesus understood this about the Father.

It is one of the most dynamic and magnificent statements about the throne of God. Verse 11 says, “In Your presence is the fullness of joy.” Instead of the word “joy” put the word “enjoyment.” You can often put the word “enjoy” or “enjoyment” for the word “joy.” You can put the word “gladness” if you want. It is the twin sister of joy. It is joy and gladness. They are normally put together in the scripture. Of course, in verse 9 the word “gladness” is there, but joy is the word in verse 11. Here is what I want you to picture. Sometimes we picture “In the presence of God is fullness of joy” an anointed worship service. It is true. There is joy in the presence of God in an anointed worship service, but that is not what David is talking about. David is talking about Revelation 4 and 5, which is the throne of God and the heavenly symphony.

The Throne

The nearer you get to the throne of God in the eternal city the more overwhelmed you will be about the gladness that radiates and flows out of that throne. It is not just talking about an anointed worship service on the earth. It is talking about the very essence and the very being of God in the center of His throne. David says that this is a revelation that goes far beyond what Moses saw. He says, “I know something about You. In Your immediate presence there is fullness.” That is a literal word. David was not exaggerating. He was under the anointing of the Spirit. There is fullness of gladness. Why? What does that mean? When we go up to the eternal city in the resurrection we will get close. There will be the 24 elders. They are bowing down. Of course, this will never happen this way, but let us just say that we kind of kneel down right there and say, “Sir, I know you are engaged, but I really need to ask you something.” As you look at them bowing down and I will tell you something that might surprise you. You will find a smile on their faces of adoration. There is fullness of joy the nearer you get to the throne. We are expecting them to be in utter anguish, such as, “Aaahh!” or something like that. It is God.

The elders are nearer to the glad heart of God than any other of the saints. Although it will not really happen this way, we will move a little closer. We will go to the seraphim. Their faces are covered. They are awestruck with the splendor and majesty of God’s holiness. We will find a smile on their awestruck face. We will get near to the throne. Jesus is at the right hand beaming with a radiant smile that you could never imagine. I do not mean that He smiles every moment of every day, but God’s predominant emotion is gladness and enjoyment. He has this radiant countenance of gladness.

We do not go to Him and say, “I hate to disturb You.” What is God’s countenance like? It is filled with gladness. The Father and the Son have gladness because the Father is filled with gladness. His presence is filled and it is saturated with gladness and happiness. All those that are near the throne of God have gladness flowing through their being. I do not mean that it is unbroken gladness where there can never be any other emotion. The predominant emotion in eternity is gladness. David goes beyond that and says, “It is more than gladness. At Your right hand there are pleasures. Near Your throne there are pleasures.” The 24 elders and the seraphim, which are the 4 living creatures, are filled with pleasure. I am sure this will not happen, but we say, “How do you like your new ministry assignment?” “Oh, I love it!” “You do? Is it a good assignment?” “I love to love Him! I love this! I would not have any other job in all of the eternal city.” There are eternal pleasures forever and ever. There are unending, inexhaustible pleasures in the hearts of those closest to the being of God in eternity forever. Psalms 84 says, “How lovely is Thy dwelling place.”

Again, it is okay to think of the dwelling place of God as the worship service when the Spirit is present with “How lovely is it when Your anointing is flowing.” That is true, but the sons of Korah are not thinking of the anointed worship service. They are talking about the dwelling place. It is the lovely dwelling of God around the throne. The throne of God is not only filled with pleasure and enjoyment.  Revelation 4 Describes the sea of Glass like Crystal, and the emerald Rainbow.  Revelation 22 talks about the New Jerusalem city, which will be connected to the throne of God, ie. the sea of Glass like Crystal.

The throne of God is stunning in its beauty. It is totally lovely. When we get near the throne for the first time face to face we are going to say, “This is absolutely fantastic!” When Dorothy came across that corner and saw Oz the first time, the Emerald City, she said, “Whoa! Toto look at that.” She looked at that Emerald City. I remember when I was about 6 years old I said, “Whoa! Look at that!” I had no idea. I cried when they pulled back that curtain and that little guy was back there. It shattered me. When the veil is pulled back in eternity He is the Almighty, the Ancient of days. It is the real deal. When we come around that corner, whatever corner it is that we come around and see that emerald rainbow, the radiance of the lovely dwelling place and God the Father and His Son whom He has made King of kings filled with gladness, filled with pleasure, the lovely dwelling place, which is the very center of government of every created thing, we are going to say, “This is good! I knew it! It is smart that I did this thing hard on the earth.”

It is not that we will just have pleasure when we get there. There is an impartation. There is a transformation that we partially experience in this age. It is related to gladness, pleasure and beauty. Turn to Acts 2:25. Let us look at Peter under the anointing of the Spirit interpreting this psalm. As he interprets it he says, “Well, David was talking about himself in truth, but it was mostly revealed to David so that we would have insight into the God-Man and what He experienced at the resurrection.” Acts 2:25, “For David says concerning Him, Jesus, ‘I foresaw the Lord always before My face,” this is Jesus speaking, “for He, the Father, is at My right hand. I will not be shaken. Therefore My heart rejoiced and My tongue was glad.” Jesus is filled with gladness. He is filled with rejoicing. It was not a momentary gladness that broke out in the resurrection. Psalms 45:7 tells that Jesus was anointed with gladness more than any other man and of any of His fellows or companions. The idea is that Jesus has more gladness than any other fellow human being. Jesus was anointed with the Father’s gladness more than any other man that ever walked on planet earth and far more than David. When Jesus said, “My heart rejoiced and My tongue was glad,” undoubtedly He was talking about the resurrection. It is over and He comes through. Jesus has this million dollar smile and says, “It is great! It is awesome!”

The seraphim, the elders and all the angels of heaven see that radiant, smiling, glad heart that they were so accustomed to seeing. He now has a new dimension. He is now fully human. His gladness did not begin with His humanity. God’s gladness is rooted in the reality of who He is. It was expressed in His humanity. Forever He will be glad as a man and as God. The very core of God’s heart is gladness. He is not mostly mad and mostly sad. He is mostly glad. He can be angry without every contradicting His gladness. In verse 28 Jesus is talking to the Father. “Father, You have made known to Me the ways of life. You will make Me full of joy in Your presence.” What does it mean for the second Person of the Trinity to be full of joy in the presence of uncreated joy, which is His Father? What does it mean for the second Person of the Trinity to be made in His humanity full of joy forever in the presence of His Father?  Gor some reason Peter does not quote the last part of Psalms 16:11. Acts 2:28 is Psalms 16:11.

There are three lines in Psalms 16:11 and Peter only quotes two. Line one is “Make me know the path of life.” Line two is “Make me full of joy.” He did not put “and at Your right hand are pleasures forever more,” but we know from Psalms 16 that is related to Jesus. Jesus is there. It is not Dorothy going to Oz. It is something far more powerful. Jesus is there. He has always been fully God, but now He is fully man. “I love it, Father! Here I am! It is over!” He is filled with gladness in the presence of uncreated gladness, which is His Father. Beloved, this is what this thing is about. In Psalms 45:7 it says that Jesus was anointed with the oil of gladness. How do you know Psalms 45:7 is about Jesus? It is because Hebrews 1:9 tells us it is Jesus that Psalms 45 is talking about. In Psalms 45:7 you think it is the psalmist, but Hebrews 1:8-9 assures us that it is Jesus who is the one that is filled with joy. He is anointed with the Father’s joy. The joy does not start with Jesus in His humanity. The joy starts with the Father. It is the Father’s joy that Jesus walked on the earth with. It is a fantastic reality.

Jesus’ Joy

When Jesus walked into town all the kids made a beeline right to Him. They loved Him. They loved being in His presence. The kids loved this 30-year-old Man from Nazareth. They loved this carpenter who was a new preacher. You can not fake out kids. The kids went running. They stopped and looked at the disciples and said, “Maybe yes, maybe no.” They are running and they look at them. There is Peter, James and John. They have this new badge. They are the main guys. It is the first time they have ever had a badge. The first time you ever get a badge typically you use it wrong. What do you do but show it off and you do the macho thing for a few minutes until you find out it is stupid. Anyway, they say, “Okay, everybody get back. The Man of God is coming through. Kids, get out of the way.” Jesus says, “Put your badge away. I like these kids. I like these kids as much as I like you. As a matter of fact, I like all kinds of people in this city. I love coming to this city.” They said, “We love being with You, Jesus.”

The kids see the disciples and they say, “50/50, maybe 70/30, but probably not. No, I am not going to run to you. You will get me and be mean to me.” They run pass the disciples. They look at the Pharisees and say, “Those Pharisees, no way.” It is that old cranky holiness stare that says, ‘We are holy.” The kids say, “Mommy, it is a monster.” They want nothing to do with the Pharisees, no way. There is no more connection in those kids’ hearts between those Pharisees holiness and the holiness of God. They go right past them and go right to Jesus. I can just imagine them with arms around His neck. They say, “We like Him.”

Afterwards the mother says, “Why do you like Him?” They say, “We can tell He likes us. We know He likes us.” She says, “How do you know He likes you?” They say, “When He came in town all of the big shots were there. He looked over at me and looked me right in the eye. I know He likes me. I do not know this Man very well, mommy, but He likes me. I can tell He likes me.” They went past all of those sacred boundary lines that religious systems put up and went and hugged Jesus. They did not care about the fact that He was in the middle of healing crusade. It did not matter. They said, “He likes me. This is awesome!”

Gladness of God’s Heart part II