"Repeat the Sounding Joy"
Cherry Hills Neighborhood
WHERE: The wide-open roads around Cherry Hills Village
This view is at Piedmont Drive and S. Holly Street.
The wide-open roads to walk are between Holly and El Camino Drive and Belleview and E. Charlou Drive
WHEN: Anytime, the views are just spectacular
BLESSED SPOT: Go to the intersection of Piedmont Drive and S. Holly Street. Just stop, rest against the fence and read the message.
Walk the streets around Cherry Hills Village, they are wide-open and have some of the most spectacular views of the mountains!
Eventually find the intersection of Piedmont Drive and S. Holly Street. Lean against the fence and take in this view!
“Let's hear it from Sky, With Earth joining in, And a huge round of applause from Sea. Let Wilderness turn cartwheels, Animals, come dance, Put every tree of the forest in the choir” —Psalm 96:11-12
“Repeat the Sounding Joy”
We are all in our 4th week of quarantine we are probably all feeling disheartened at the C19 numbers that keep rising, and the bickering that is increasing, the kids that are pushing our buttons, the rants on FB and Nextdoor, and the endless boring meal making—and this ground hog day that just keeps repeating itself over and over.
At our house we were feeling a bit overwhelmed and decided to watch a Flatirons Church sermon called “Forsaken” and it was gritty and real—but joyful! But, what lingered in my mind was the song lyric from their worship service. It was a nod to the Christmas song “Joy to the world” and the line “repeat the sounding joy” stuck out in my mind. Why the heck have we been singing this for all these years? Why had I not ever really listened to what I was saying. I thought on it for a few days and read the lyrics with some intention.
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare Him room
And heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing
And heaven, and heaven and nature sing
Joy to the world, the Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy, repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy
I was in awe thinking about fields, water, rocks, hills and plains repeating the sounding joy—singing and praising their maker. There are many verses that speak to the idea that the earth, and animals, and nature are joyful and offer praise.
“All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” —Psalm 66:4
“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” —Psalm 19:1
“Let's hear it from Sky, With Earth joining in, And a huge round of applause from Sea. Let Wilderness turn cartwheels, Animals, come dance, Put every tree of the forest in the choir” —Psalm 96:11-12
“Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the mountains sing together for joy” —Psalm 98:8
Whoa, that is really cool.
The earth worships God
The heavens declare the glory of God
The sky proclaims his handiwork
The sea applauds
The wilderness turns cartwheels
Animals dance
Trees are in choir
Rivers clap their hands
Mountains sing for joy
The animals, and the earth, and nature are doing exactly what they were designed to do—their response can only be perfect joy. They don’t worry about anything but fulfilling their destiny and praising their maker over and over. Funny to think of inanimate objects or critters responding to God, but I believe they do—He made them after all.
What is joy?
I believe that pure and complete joy is a gift and we have all been given this gift. But sometimes it seems to elude me and I can’t do anything to muster it up. I can try to be positive, or offer a smile, or act happy—but it doesn’t bring forth that deep emotion I so desire. I came across the definitions below and it helped me get context…
“Joy remains even amidst the suffering. Joy is not happiness. Joy is an emotion that’s acquired by the anticipation, acquisition or even the expectation of something great or wonderful.” I really like this definition—it is total belief that something wonderful will come.
“Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright, and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.” The idea of settled assurance, quiet confidence, and determined choice—we do have a part to play in joy—we are choosing to believe, trust, and praise God.
“Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the holy spirit, as he causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world.” Joy comes from the holy spirit—so when we see the beauty around us and read a stirring verse it is joy in action.
Repeat the sounding joy (maybe the sound of joy)
Ultimately I think joy takes practice and repetition. As the song suggests—we should be like the earth, like nature, like the critters and repeat our sounding joy. Repeat the words, the sounds, the smells, the tastes, the sights, the feelings…
I believe God gave us the mechanisms to practice joy—in the repetition of these things:
Ask him every day “put more joy in my heart” (Psalm 4:7)
Repeated prayers and petitions
Music and song lyrics
A positive mantra
Memorizing verses
Meditations
Sounds
Beautiful places
Dancing
Singing
Going to your sacred space outside
Declaring a place in your home as sacred—your “prayer closet”
Pray everyday at 2:17pm
Hooting and howling at 8pm
And….. of course laughter (these are worth repeating)
Rejoice, again I say rejoice
215 times joy is mentioned in the bible. And the word “rejoice” shows up in 155 verses in the bible—that is a lot. God repeats these words to underscore the importance of joy and happiness in our lives. I love that the word rejoice is a blend of “again” and “joy” hinting at this notion of repeating joy. Maybe we can alter the course of our endless “Ground hog C19 days” and create something worth repeating—something that increases and reinvigorates our joy.
Let’s practice by repeating a positive mantra, listening to an inspiring song over-and-over, memorizing a verse, even just repeating the name of Jesus when it all feels too heavy. And, give ourselves that needed break and watch that movie over and over that makes you bust a gut, or repeat a line from a great TV show, or share a silly joke. As we wash our hands dozens of times a day—take that time to repeat your sounding joy.
This space is declared joyful…
This amazing space in Cherry Hills Village is a unique. I had to stop several times to in take the expansive views as I walked the lanes. It was so nice to see so much sky, so much open space, a wonderful vantage point to turn my head to the right and left and not run out of mountains! This is the place to get a new perspective. I felt a bit of my joy restored as I absorbed the scene in front of me! As you take in this view imagine the mountains are singing, the sky is proclaiming his handiwork, the animals are dancing, the trees are in choir, and the streams and rivers are clapping over-and-over!
As you stand here, I am praying that your joy begins to show up again. I am praying for joyful memories to flood your mind. I am praying that you feel anticipatory and expectant of the wonderful things to come. I am praying you are able to praise God in spite of all the things we are facing. I am praying that you find one thing you can repeat over-and-over that will increase your joy. C.S. Lewis stated that “Joy is the serious business of heaven.”
Pray this prayer out loud right now….
“LORD God you are in MY midst, you are mighty and will save ME; you rejoice over ME with gladness; you quiet ME with your love; you exult (to be extremely joyful) over ME with loud singing.” —Zephaniah 3:17
This spot has been prayed for:
Your joy to be palpable right now
You to be surprised by joy in the midst of all the struggles and sadness
You would choose to trust, believe, and praise God in every situation we come up against
You would have a posture of expectancy—that wonderful things are to come
That you would be aware of the wonderful things that are happening right now
Things you can do:
Write a comment, prayer, or request below
Create a list of repeatable things you can do everyday
Set aside a time every day to repeat that verse, or mantra, or lyric….
When you wash your hands dozens of times a day repeat your mantra, your prayer, your verse, or sing the first 2 verses of “Joy to the World”
Pray this verse: LORD God you are in MY midst, you are mighty and will save ME; you rejoice over ME with gladness; you quiet ME with your love; you exult over ME with loud singing. —Zephaniah 3:17
Listen to the Flatirons message “Forsaken”
Remember God is bigger than C-19 and this too will pass!
My Favorite Meme of the Day
