Paul Gerhardt, a pastor in Germany during the 17th century, had every reason not to be glad. His wife and four of his children died; the Thirty Years’ War brought death and devastation across Germany; church conflict and political interference filled his life with distress. Yet despite great personal suffering, he wrote more than 130 hymns, many of them characterized by joy and devotion to Jesus Christ.

One of Gerhardt’s hymns, “Holy Spirit, Source Of Gladness,” contains this verse:

Let that love which knows no measure
Now in quickening showers descend,
Bringing us the richest treasures
Man can wish or God can send;
Hear our earnest supplication,
Every struggling heart release;
Rest upon this congregation,
Spirit of untroubled peace.

Because God’s abounding love is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 5:5), is there any situation in which we cannot experience the joy He gives?

During a time of great personal hardship, the apostle Paul described his experience as being “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Cor. 6:10).

Pain and sorrow are inescapable facts of life. Yet the Holy Spirit is our source of gladness, “bringing us the richest treasures man can wish or God can send.”  — David C. McCasland