The Spirit of Rejoicing
J. H. Jowett, M. A. Psalm 33:1-22 Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous: for praise is comely for the upright.… "Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous." It is the vital condition of all spiritual rejoicing that we are right with God. Our life must be adjusted to His will, and the adjustment must be made on every side. If our communion with the Lord is only partial, we shall not reach the condition in which joy becomes inevitable. I remember that some time ago an electric bell apparatus in my home got out of order and the bell ceased to ring. I made a careful examination, and I found that two or three of the strands, which together formed the one wire, had been broken, and along the remaining strands sufficient electrical energy could not travel to ring the bell. I rectified the severed members, and so adjusted them that they were every one in communion with the battery, and in the completed adjustment there was power enough to ring the bell. It appears to me to symbolize the condition of many a life which is partially in communion with the King. If is not that there is complete alienation; it is that. there are severed strands. There are departments in the life which are not connected with the Almighty, and along the imperfect communion sufficient power does not travel to ring the joy-bells. It may be that the strand between the Lord and our pleasures is broken, or between the Lord and our business, or between the Lord and some secret realm in our life which is not known to others. This severance will have to be put right, and every side of the life adjusted to the Divine will before we can become possessed by that fulness of power which will create bell-melody in the soul. And so I am not surprised that the psalmist is making his confident appeal to the "righteous," the rectified, those who are right on every side with God. (J. H. Jowett, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: Rejoice in the LORD, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. WEB: Rejoice in Yahweh, you righteous! Praise is fitting for the upright.