Rejoice in the Lord

“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, 

neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour 

of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield 

no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the 

fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: 

yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the 

God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:17, 18).

Observe, I entreat you, how calamitous a circumstance is here supposed, and how heroic a faith is expressed. It is really as if he said, “Though I should be reduced to so great extremity as not to know where to find my necessary food, though I should look around about me on an empty house and a desolate field, and see the marks of the Divine scourge where I had once seen the fruits of God’s bounty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord.”

Methinks these words are worthy of being written as with a diamond on a rock forever. Oh, that by Divine grace they might be deeply engraven on each of our hearts! Concise as the form of speaking in the text is, it evidently implies or expresses the following particulars: That in the day of his distress he would fly to God; that he would maintain a holy composure of spirit under this dark dispensation, nay, that in the midst of all he would indulge in a sacred joy in God, and a cheerful expectation from Him. Heroic confidence! Illustrious faith! Unconquerable love!–Doddridge.

Last night I heard a robin 

singing in the rain,

And the raindrop’s patter 

made a sweet refrain,

Making all the sweeter the 

music of the strain.

So, I thought, when trouble comes, 

as trouble will,

Why should I stop singing? 

Just beyond the hill

It may be that sunshine floods 

the green world still.

He who faces the trouble 

with a heart of cheer

Makes the burden lighter.

 If there falls a tear,

Sweeter is the cadence in 

the song we hear.

I have learned your lesson, 

bird with dappled wing,

Listening to your music 

with its lilt of spring

When the storm-cloud darkens, 

then’s the TIME to sing.

–Eben E. Rexford

Taken from today's entry of Streams in the Desert (emphasis mine)