The Bible contains almost innumerable Names, Titles and Descriptions of our great God! And rightly so.

Books, many of which had to be published in multi-volume sets, have been written about Him!

By “Him” I mean the “Godhead;” the Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Each “Person” of the Divine Trinity is ineffable in depth of Character, in Essence, in His Being.

But astonishingly … late last night I think I may have found a fresh Title for our Lord!

I was reading Psalm 43 and this Phrase arrested my attention. The Psalmist literally called God “my exceeding joy!”

The whole Verse, Psalm 43:4 … “Then will I go unto the altar of God, UNTO GOD MY EXCEEDING JOY: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.”

(I think this precise wording, “my exceeding joy,” allows for other “joys” to be in one’s life. The joy of companionship with that best friend. The joy of a good meal with family. The joy of life, in its purest sense, itself. Now add a hundred more legitimate joys to the list, if you wish.)

But after everything else … let God be your EXCEEDING Joy!

The noun “joy” in our Text is spelled “giyl.” It means being so happy, delighted that a person “spins round and round!” It’s quite emotional, in that sense anyway!

And the adjective “exceeding” is “simchah,” which suggests “gladness, mirth, pleasure,” even “gaiety” says one Lexicon.

The Verse nearly says … GOD IS MY JOY JOY!  In Hebrew grammar doubling a term powerfully enhances the force of said word or words!

Now … it’s “test” time!

Do I, do you?

Do we live day by day in the reality that God is our exceeding Joy?

Is He the absolute Pinnacle of my emotional and volitional and intellectual life?

Paul said one day, “For me to live is Christ!”

That sounds a lot like Jesus was the Apostles “exceeding Joy!”

Derive joy from any (proper) place you choose, any (decent) source you can. After all … it is a sad, sinful world.

But reserve the Apex of you “joy” for the dear Lord!

If God is indeed our exceeding Joy … we will undoubtedly spend lots of time at an altar, and the remainder of time praising the Source of our joy … the Lord Himself. As our Text indicated … “Then will I go unto the altar of God, UNTO GOD MY EXCEEDING JOY: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.”

Are we passing this “exceeding joy” test?

I sure want to do so.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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