Come, Let Us Spite the Devil

The apostle Paul commands the redeemed of the Lord to "rejoice always" (1 Thess. 5:16). And seeing the importance of this, he urges this upon believers regularly (e.g., Phil. 3:1; 4:4). Now for the religiously minded person, this is troublesome. That person says, "Just tell me what program or ritual to perform. Tell me where to show up, what motions to push through. Don't give me any of this feelings or emotions business. I can't generate that. And certainly not 'always.'" Exactly. You must be born again to obey such commands. You must be born again to be a Christian!

But if you are born again, rejoicing always should be at the top of your scale of priorities. And obeying the command to rejoice in the Lord always really ought not to be so hard for the regenerate. There are innumerable inducements to be joyful. But we miss them. We look right beyond them. So often we prefer to groan over some trifle that, in eternity, will prove to be like an irksome gnat that bothered you for two minutes on a bright, cool summer day off in the distance.

So C. H. Spurgeon says a good word about this privilege of every believer. It is one of our most potent weapons against Satan's stratagems. Let's hear it, and take it to heart:

It is the privilege of the true believer to be "singing all the time." Joy in God is suitable to our condition. Joy in the Lord is more injurious to Satan's empire than anything. I am of the same mind as Luther, who, when he heard any bad news, used to say, "Come, let us sing a psalm, and spite the devil."

—C. H. Spurgeon, Pictures from Pilgrim's Progress (Pasadena: Pilgrim Publications, 1992), 86-87.