The Heart of the Just
Man will Rejoice in the Lord
The just man will rejoice in the Lord and put his hope in him; the
hearts of all good men will be filled with joy. We
must surely have sung these words with our hearts as well as with our voices.
Indeed, the tongue of the Christian expresses his deepest feelings when it
addresses such words to God. The just man will rejoice, not in the world, but in
the Lord. Light has dawned for the just, Scripture says in another place, and joy
for the upright of heart. Were
you wondering what reason he has for joy? Here you are told: The
just man will rejoice in the Lord. Another
text runs: Delight in the Lord, and he will give you
your heart’s desires.
What are we
instructed to do then, and what are we enabled to do? To rejoice in the Lord.
But who can rejoice in something he does not see? Am I suggesting that we see
the Lord then? No, but we have been promised that we shall see him. Now, as
long as we are in the body, we walk by faith, for we are absent from the Lord. We walk by faith, and not by sight.
When will it be by sight? Beloved, says John, we
are now the sons of God; what we shall be has not yet been revealed, but we
know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, because we shall see him as
he is. When this prophecy
is fulfilled, then it will be by sight.
That will be the
great joy, the supreme joy, joy in all its fullness. Then we shall no longer
drink the milk of hope, but we shall feed on the reality itself. Nevertheless,
even now, before that vision comes to us, or before we come to that vision, let
us rejoice in the Lord; for it is no small reason for rejoicing to have a hope
that will some day be fulfilled.
Yet already we have
the first fruits of the Spirit, and have we not also other reasons for
rejoicing? For we are drawing near to the one we love, and not only are we
drawing near – we even have some slight feeling and taste of the banquet
we shall one day eagerly eat and drink.
But how can we
rejoice in the Lord if he is far from us? Pray God he may not be far. If he is,
that is your doing. Love, and he will draw near; love, and he will dwell within
you. The Lord is at hand; have no anxiety. Are you puzzled to know how it is that
he will be with you if you love? God is love.
“What do
you mean by love?” you will ask me. It is that which enables us to be loving.
What do we love? A good that words cannot describe, a good that is for ever
giving, a good that is the Creator of all good. Delight in him from whom you
have received everything that delights you. But in that I do not include sin,
for sin is the one thing that you do not receive from him. With that one
exception, everything you have comes from him.
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of
Readings
From a Sermon by Saint Augustine
Image taken from Wikimedia Commons
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