Joy to the World … in March?
37 When He came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: 38 “Blessed is the King who comes in the Name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!” 40 “I tell you,” He replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:37-40)
 
Today is Palm Sunday, the day when Christians remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem five days before His crucifixion. When Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a colt, the multitude of His disciples welcome Him with shouts of praise, “Blessed is the king who comes in the Name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest!” But not everyone was pleased. Some Pharisees, apparently not all of the Pharisees, said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples!” Jesus, however, did not do what they had asked, answering, “I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
That was certainly a bold claim. Jesus was saying that the celebration of His Kingship and God’s glory is so necessary, so right, so inevitable that silencing the disciples wouldn’t stop the praise. Nature itself would continue the celebration.
The notion of nature praising God and the coming of God’s justice was not original to Jesus. It can be found at various places in the Hebrew Scriptures. For example, Isaiah 44:23 and 55:12. Psalm 98 is one of the most familiar Old Testament passages in which nature celebrates the coming of God. The whole earth is invited to “Shout for joy to the Lord” (Psalm 98:4). More specifically, the psalm writer says, “Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy; let them sing before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.” (Psalm 98:7-9). So, when Jesus comes to Jerusalem to complete the work of salvation, he echoes Psalm 98 in recognizing that praise is mandatory, if not from people, then from nature itself.
 
We are acquainted with the themes of Psalm 98 because they are engraved in our hearts through the words of the beloved Christmas carol “Joy to the World.” Isaac Watts wrote this song as a Christ-inspired interpretation of Psalm 98, adding it to a collection of Psalm-based hymns. Notice how praise from nature appears in these familiar lines:
Joy to the world! The Lord is come;
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.

So, it is appropriate to sing “Joy to the World” in Lent, especially on Palm Sunday. Whether or not we actually sing “Joy to the World” in this season of the year, we do welcome the coming King, indeed the King of kings and Lord of lords. We join with fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains, to repeat the joy of Jesus’s coming.
Yet we also recognize that His entry into Jerusalem set in motion the events that led to His crucifixion. In a few days, His Kingship will be mocked by “King of the Jews” posted on the cross above His head. So, our celebration on Palm Sunday is tempered by what lies ahead for Jesus, even as it will be surpassed by the joyous celebration yet to come on Easter.
In a season of Lenten reflection, our worship is often quiet as we acknowledge our mortality and our need for a Savior. But we still rejoice because of the goodness and grace of God in Christ. We can’t be silent, allowing the rocks to praise in our place. Rather, we join all creation in celebrating the coming of King Jesus. He came to Jerusalem to die for us that we might live now and forever in His Kingdom.

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14-15)
 
Mark 1:15 gives us a summary of the Good News preached by Jesus. Jesus proclaimed that the time of God’s salvation announced by the Old Testament prophets had come. The time was fulfilled.
After that, Jesus announced the “Good News of God” in a few words: “The kingdom of God has come near” (v. 15). What did Jesus mean? What is the kingdom of God? How can what Jesus proclaimed be Good News for us today?
When we hear the word “kingdom,” we tend to think of a place over which a king rules. But, in Aramaic, the primary language of Jesus, the word “mallku” (which could mean “kingdom”) pointed not so much to the place of royal rule as to that rule itself. Where we read “kingdom” in Mark, we might substitute “rule” or “reign” or “sovereign authority.” In other words, when Jesus said, “The malku of God has come near,” He was pointing to the coming of God’s authority and power. He was fulfilling the role of the messenger of Isaiah 52:7: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring Good News, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Of course, as it turns out, Jesus was much more than just the messenger of the kingdom. He was the One through whom the reign of God has come to earth.)
In my youth, I used to think that Jesus’ announcement of the Kingdom being near meant something like, “You can go to heaven after you die.” I still believe in eternal life beyond this life, but I realize now that I had missed Jesus’ primary meaning when He spoke of the Kingdom of God. Jesus' Good News is related to what happens after death, but it also has everything to do with this life and this world. In Jesus, God began to reign on earth in a new way, fulfilling the prophecy of the Old Testament. Under God’s sovereign authority, righteousness would triumph over injustice, and multifaceted peace would fill the earth.
Through Christ, you and I can live today under the reign of God, however incompletely. When we seek God’s agenda for our lives, when we work for God’s purposes and glory, when we bow before God in worship, and offer to God our daily work as worship, we are experiencing the Kingdom of God. God is reigning over us and making the Kingdom present on earth through us.
 
Reflection
How might I live differently if I were intentionally living under God’s reign at home, at work, and in my neighborhood?
 
Prayer
Gracious Lord Jesus, for opening up to me the possibility of living under God’s rule because of Your life, teaching, death, and resurrection.
Help me, Lord, to live each moment as a subject of the King of kings. Guide me, empower me, and use me for Your purposes. May the reality of Your Kingdom be real in my life every day. For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Read Isaiah 37:15-20
 
In Isaiah 36, we see God’s people in a dire situation. King Sennacherib and his menacing Assyrian army threaten to consume Jerusalem. Assyrian officials taunt God’s people with challenges that seemed quite logical. Why should the people of Judah expect to be delivered from the hand of Sennacherib, given the failure of so many other national gods (see Isaiah 36:18-20)?
In Isaiah 37, King Hezekiah of Judah turned to the Lord in prayer. Though he would ask the Lord to rescue Judah (Isaiah 37:20), he didn’t begin with this plea. Instead, Hezekiah focused, above all, on God’s unique and powerful nature, praising the Lord as the only true God and Creator of all things. He prayed, “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.” (v. 16).
Why did King Hezekiah begin his prayer with such praise? To be sure, it is always right to praise God. We don’t need a special reason to speak of God’s glories. The fact that God deserves our praise always provides a strong rationale for honoring God in this way. But I expect that Hezekiah began his prayer with praise for another reason. It strengthened his own confidence in the Lord. When faced with the apparently invincible Assyrian power, Hezekiah needed to remember the true King of the universe; the King who, in fact, created all things. In human terms, King Sennacherib’s power appeared to be unmatched. But it was nothing compared to the all-surpassing power of God.
The challenges of our lives may not be as dire as those of Hezekiah, but at times we all face apparently invincible problems. There are times when the challenges at work, at home, in our relationships, and in our own hearts seem overwhelming. In such circumstances, we are certainly free to pour out our fears and needs to the Lord. Yet, sometimes we need to do more than ask for God’s help. Sometimes we need to focus on God’s glory and power. By drawing our attention to God’s nature through offerings of praise, our hearts are encouraged, and our minds are uplifted. We remember that no problem is too great for God and that God is with us to help and comfort us.
Moreover, when we praise God as King over all other powers in the universe, we are reminded that God is also King over us. God is sovereign over our lives, our families, our workplaces, our communities, and our leaders. When we praise God as “King of kings and Lord of lords,” we surrender our presumption, our assumption that we can control our lives. As we offer ourselves to God as servants, we are embraced as God’s beloved children.
When we feel overwhelmed by life’s problems and challenges, let us learn from King Hezekiah’s prayer. When life is hard, let us praise God and experience the encouragement that comes from such praise!
 
Prayer
Gracious God of power and might, You are indeed enthroned between the mighty cherubim. The angels of heaven bow before You in joyful submission. Though not every earthly authority acknowledges You, nevertheless, You alone are King of kings and Lord of lords.
As we come before You in prayer today, we remember and celebrate Your unique power and glory. May we always remember who You are and trust You in all things. All praise be to You, O God. Amen.

21 Praise be to the Lord, for He showed me the wonders of His love when I was in a city under siege. 22 In my alarm I said, “I am cut off from Your sight!” Yet You heard my cry for mercy when I called to You for help.
                                                                                                                                                  (Psalm 31:21-22)
 
Have you ever felt far away from God? Perhaps your life was going along wonderfully, right on schedule and according to plan. Then, without warning, everything started to fall apart. You lost your job. Or you were diagnosed with an illness, cancer. Or your spouse asked for a divorce. Or . . . you name it. In desperation, you cried out to God, but it felt as if God didn’t hear you or didn’t care.
How did you respond in that moment of apparent disconnection from God? Perhaps you prayed as David did in Psalm 31:22: “In my alarm I said, ‘I am cut off from Your sight!’ Yet You heard my cry for mercy when I called to You for help.”
I love this verse. I am glad God heard David’s cry and answered his call. This reminds me that God does indeed hear us when we cry out. Such a reassuring truth! Moreover, David’s cry for mercy assumes that God is indeed “rich in mercy” (Ephesians 2:4). This explains why God responded positively to David even when David doubted God’s presence. David didn’t earn God’s favor with his exemplary faith. Rather, the favor of God was an expression of God’s matchless grace.
What I love most about Psalm 31:22 is David’s open admission: “In my alarm I said, ‘I am cut off from Your sight!’” Why do I love this? Partly because it is so honest. Here is David, the man after God’s own heart, who is freely admitting that, in fear, he said what he knew at other times was not true. Not only did David doubt God, but he also freely admitted it. He confessed it to himself, to God, and through this psalm, to us. Such honesty impresses me and encourages us to be truthful when we are struggling with our faith.
I also love the various meanings of the phrase “in my alarm.” The Hebrew word chafaz, translated here as “alarm,” can mean “fear.” But it can also mean “hurry.” David may well have meant, “I had said in a hurry, ‘I am cut off from Your sight.’” Taking this meaning reveals a close association between fear and hurrying. When I think of times in my life when I felt cut off from God, when I wondered if God had turned away from me, I was almost always impatient. I was rushing to judgment. I was demanding that God act on my hurried timetable. I was so busy that I had no time to sit before the Lord in quiet. Later, when I found time to step back, to reflect, to be silent, and to pray – when I stopped hurrying – my fear began to subside. I began to see God’s presence in my life, that which I had overlooked in my fearful scrambling.
In the season of Lent, Psalm 31:22 serves as a compelling reminder to us that when we feel cut off from God, not only will God be merciful to us, but we should also slow down. We need to take time to quiet our souls and remember that God is rich in mercy. God promises to be with us always, no matter how it seems to us. The God who drew near to us in Jesus Christ remains near right now. And, as Paul writes in Romans, nothing “in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39).
During this season of Lent, take time to intentionally slow down so that you might remember God’s mercy and become attentive to God’s presence.
 
Prayer
Gracious God, when bad things happen in my life, I become fearful that You have distanced Yourself from me, even cut me off. Forgive me, Lord, for doubting You.
Help me to trust Your presence even when I can’t sense it. Help me to stop hurrying and to slow down, and wait upon You, to reflect on Your mercy and faithfulness.
Thank You, Abba Father, for reaching out to me even when I doubt You. Thank You for your extraordinary mercy and amazing grace. Amen.

In Matthew 26:36–46, we are brought to a place that is profoundly quiet yet filled with tension—Gethsemane. It is not a public platform, nor the scene of miracles, but the moment before the cross when Jesus faced deep inner struggle alone. Darkness, solitude, and sorrow form the backdrop of this passage, revealing to us a deeply authentic picture of prayer.
There, Jesus did not hide His pain. He said to His disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” He also poured out His heart before the Father, saying, “If it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” This reminds us that true prayer is not about pretending to be strong or suppressing our emotions, but about coming before God as we truly are. God is not annoyed by our weakness; rather, He desires that we seek Him in the midst of it.
Yet the prayer in Gethsemane does not end with pouring out one’s feelings. In the midst of His struggle, Jesus fully entrusted His will to the Father, saying, “Yet not as I will, but as You will.” This was not merely a calm, rational conclusion, but a choice of trust made amid suffering. The cup was not taken away, and the cross still lay ahead, but through prayer, Jesus’ heart was strengthened and prepared to walk the unavoidable path.
This passage also reminds us that the purpose of prayer is not only to change circumstances, but to shape our lives. At times, we earnestly ask God to remove our difficulties, yet through prayer, God builds within us endurance, faith, and obedience. Prayer may not always bring immediate answers, but it often brings strength. It may not explain every “why,” but it assures us that we are not alone.
In contrast to Jesus’ watchful prayer, the disciples fell asleep in their weariness. Jesus warned them, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.” These words speak to us today as well. When we neglect prayer, it does not mean temptation will not come—it means we are not prepared to face it. Prayer is not an optional part of the spiritual life; it is the lifeline of our walk with God.
Dear brothers and sisters, if you are in a low point in life, facing confusion or pressure, do not stop praying. Even if all you can offer is a faint cry, God still hears. May we learn from Gethsemane: to bring our true selves before God, to place what we do not understand into His hands, and through repeated prayer, allow Him to shape our hearts so that our lives may gradually mature in trust and obedience. May the Lord guide us to experience His sufficient grace in prayer.