Bible Verses to Get and Keep Joy

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
(Jas 1:2-4)

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving…!
(Ps 95:1-2)

Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
(Phil 3:1)

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
(Phil 4:4)

Being joyful during trials is not easy but it is a command. We can only do this with God’s divine power!
The verses below will help us.

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God is the Source of Joy

“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them.” (John 17:13)

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom 15:13)

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. (Jude 1:24)

You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. (Ps 16:11)

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. (Rom 11:36)

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Delighting in God Himself

 Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Ps 37:4)

Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation. (Ps 35:9)

Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God. (Ps 43:4)

Then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the LORD has spoken. (Is 58:14)

 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” (Neh 8:10)

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. (1 Pet 1:3-9)

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Delighting in God’s Word

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. (Ps 1:2)

 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. (Ps 19:8)

¹⁶ I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
²⁴ Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.
³⁵ Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.
⁴⁷ for I delight in your commands because I love them.
⁷⁰ Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law.
⁷¹ It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.
⁷⁷ Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.
⁹² If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.
¹¹¹ Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.
¹⁴³ Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands are my delight.
¹⁷⁴ I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight. (Ps 119)

Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding…seek them like hidden treasures…. Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair…. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy. (Pr 2:2-4, 9-10 NLT)

When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty. (Jer 15:16)

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Delighting in What God has Done

 For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands. How great are your works, O LORD, how profound your thoughts! (Ps 92:4-5)

Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious acts. (Ps 107:22)

Great are the works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them. (Ps 111:2)

 Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy. (Ps 126:2-3)

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly…. The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice. (Phil 1:12-14, 18)

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Delighting in What God Will Do

 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
…Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons…. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Heb 12:1-3, 7, 11)

Now if we are children, then we are heir—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. (Rom 8:17-18)

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (Rom 12:1-2 NLT)

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor 4:16-18)

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.

“Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.” (Luke 6:20-23)

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Delighting in Others

  I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:3-6)

You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. (1 Thes 1:6)

For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. (1 Thes 2:19-20)

How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? (1 Thes 3:9)

Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints. (Philemon 1:7)

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (3 Jn 1:4)

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. (2 Cor 4:7-15)

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Delighting that God Cares for Us

 Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. (Ps 86:4)

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (Ps 90:14)

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. (Ps 94:19)

 Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains! For the LORD comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones. (Is 49:13)

The LORD will surely comfort Zion and will look with compassion on all her ruins; he will make her deserts like Eden, her wastelands like the garden of the LORD. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the sound of singing. (Is 51:3)

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Delighting that Our Submission Pleases God

“If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love…. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (Jn 15:10-11)

Praise the LORD. Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. (Ps112:1)

For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. (Ps 149:4)

But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Sam 15:22)

I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Is 61:10)

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Other Verses

 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. (Rom 5:1-5)

I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. (Jn 16:20-23)

To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Cor 12:7-10)

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. So you too should be glad and rejoice with me. (Phil 2:14-18)

Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD. (Ps 27:6)

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. (Ps 28:7)

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy. (Ps 30:11)

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Ps 51:12)

“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zep 3:17)

It will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God…. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert…. And the ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. (Is 35:2, 6, 10)

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Helpful Resources
We Can Learn HOW to Delight in Our Suffering! (Part 1)
We Can Learn HOW to Delight in Our Suffering! (Part 2)
How to Deal with Pain God’s Way—Part 3: Joy Despite Pain
Finding Joy in Sacrifice
His Joy Will Be My Joy
What Does the Joy of the Lord is My Strength Mean?
Are You in a Pit—Perishing in Your Affliction?
What Does it Mean to Abide in Christ?
The Wonderful Cycle of Knowing God
Video Joy Despite Pain
Book: Trust God MORE: The Development of Belief, Faith and Trust