Shouts of Joy and Victory

Shouts of Joy and Victory

Ps. 118:15 says, “Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous.  The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things.  The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things.  I will dot die, but live, and proclaim what the Lord has done.

As I looked up many of the scriptures that had the word “shout” in them, I began to find that shout was not merely a loud sound made with the mouth.  I began to see that shouting, more often than not, has to do with a sound of victory, coupled with joy.  Some of the meanings were: to split the ears with sound; i.e. shout with alarm or joy, destroy, make a joyful sound.  It could also mean acclamation of joy, battle cry, especially the clangor of trumpets, joy, jubilee, loud noise; rejoicing.  In almost every instance, I found that you cannot have a shout of victory, without a shout of joy.

In Ezra 3:11, the people shouted with joy, as the foundation of the temple was laid.  Psalm 47:5 indicates that God has ascended amid shouts of joy (amid shouts of jubilee).  As we keep the sound of victory in our own tent, it causes God to arise.  As we shout in joy, God reigns over us and is allowed to be seated on His holy throne.  I think of the little chorus we used to sing, “Joy is the flag flown high from the castle of my heart, when the King is in residence there.”  Joy is the evidence of the reality of the eternal life working in me.  The Bible says that the kingdom of God is known, or marked by, righteousness, peace and joy.

As I allow the joy of the Lord to have sway in my life, I give witness to a higher kingdom at work.  Joy is something that is imparted to me as I contemplate God.  He reveals who He is, and I am awed that Almighty God desires relationship with me; not just relationship alone, but covenantal relationship.  He has pledged Himself to me.  He is a faithful God and keeps covenant to a thousand generations.  I rest in that reality and receive peace.  I choose to walk in righteousness before Him; to stand rightly before Him, equally embracing holiness and rejecting evil.

Joy is a Third Day or a Third Dimension necessity.  Joy is the keeping power of the Father.  It is the distinguishing mark of God’s people.  It is the portion of the remnant.  It is the sound that will attract God’s attention. 

This came home to me very clearly in the story of Baalam and Balak.  The story is found in Numbers 22-23.  In a nutshell, Balak wanted Baalam to come and curse the Israelites for him so he could gain military victory over them.  Baalam, a man who may have been a true prophet at one time, but had turned to the power of divination to influence events and people, recognized that it would be unprofitable to curse the Israelites unless God was cursing them.  He sacrificed animals and inquired of the Lord three times, but each time he said, “I cannot curse them.”  The final time he said, “I have received a command to bless; He has blessed and I cannot change it.”  In Numbers 23:21-26, it says of the Israelites, “No misfortune is found in Jacob, no misery observed in Israel.  The Lord their God is with them; the shout of the King is among them.”  This is the reason Baalam could not curse the Israelites!  The shout of the King was in their midst.  Balaam had to agree with the sound coming from their camp.

There is a dimension of prayer that is assured of results.  When we come into agreement with what God is saying about a situation, there is a power, an energy, a creative force that occurs.  It is a cataclysmic synergy between the heart of God and our declaration that creates something new.  We see this in Ezekiel 37; the “dry bones” scripture.  When Ezekiel understood the word of the Lord for those dry bones, he agreed with God and spoke it forth.  God used Ezekiel’s words to bring to pass His intention. 

There is another dimension beyond that, where the Glory of the Risen Lord, His Victory, and Kingship is being declared in joy and confidence.  It is a place where the Covenantal purpose of God is recognized and released.  That sound gets the attention of God, so to speak.  God looks over at that and says, “What is that sound I hear?  That sounds a lot like Me.  Let Me just step a bit closer and have a look.”  It is the sound of victory calling to the Victor.  It is the sound of confident assurance, calling to the One it is assured of finding.  It is the sound of the Son coming from a people.  God cannot resist that sound.  It causes Him to move closer.  As He does, he brings all that He is.  He brings redemption and deliverance.  He brings healing and strength.  He brings victory and more joy.

When we release this sound, God Himself, comes into agreement with the sound He hears emanating from our camp.  He is coming to meet Himself as he is coming out of us.  This is a dimension beyond passively trusting.  It is a dimension above prayer.  It is the dimension Jesus talked about in John 17.  (That all of them be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.  May they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent Me.  I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as we are one.  I in them, and You in Me.  It is the dimension where Jesus and the Father become co-mingled in the victory and joy of oneness of understanding, oneness of purpose and oneness of expression.  It is a place accessible by choice. 

We can choose joy.  In that choosing, time and time again, to remain in the place of joy, we release a power like no other.  We are invincible because the power of God floods in to transcend earthly situations and release the kingdom purposes of the Father.  I believe the martyrs of yesterday and the martyrs of today know that place.  Those who are being pressed on every side, are coming to know that place.  Those whose faith is being tested must come to know that place.  Those with a Divine calling will need to live and operate from that place.  Difficulties challenge us to come into that place.  I pray that we all will embrace the Joy that is within, come to experience Joy in a transforming way, and begin to refuse to operate in anything less than the full shout of victory.