"There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells." Ps. 46:4

One of our translators said, "I want to teach you a song." And he sang to me: "Joy like a river, joy like a river, joy like a river in my soul. Joy like a river..." I laughed at him and said, "that's not a song, that's just a sentence." But it has been echoing over and over in my head, sounding very much like a song.

The poet Rumi writes,

"Birdsong brings relief to my longing.

I am just as ecstatic as they are

But with nothing to say!"

That little sentence of a song -for me it is as close as I can get to birdsong. Why this joy? I hardly know, I haven't the words, but still I would like to sing. There is "joy in my soul" just as "there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God." The city of God -someday it will be a real place - but for now the Most High dwells inside of us. We are the city, make glad by his presence, made holy because he is willing to flow through us like a river.

Isaiah 55 says:

"As the rain and snow come down from heaven to water the earth and do not return to it without watering the earth to make it bud and flourish so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

This is part of that river of joy. Even when we don't see the budding or flourishing or we can't imagine the miracle of what a seed will become, we can believe in God's promise that his purposes and the things he desires will be accomplished. His promises, his words, are like rain and snow that fall on the land and flow down to the sea, only to be taken up again into the clouds to once again fall like blessings. His promises are good, and they are endless, persistent, like rivers carving out deep canyons, slowly changing landscapes. They are rivers of joy, streams that gladden.

Even when what we see doesn't look joyful, we are still called to rejoice. Paul says, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4). It is a strange command, and, incidentally, no more eloquent than my one sentence song.

Rejoice! Even when you do not have words, sing this little birdsong with me: "Joy like a river in my soul." It's a river; you don't have to understand where it comes from to let it make you glad. Rejoice! if only because the Most High longs to dwell within you.