The Source of Joy

The LORD visited Sarah as He had said. . .. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.
GENESIS 21:1, 3
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The Source of Joy
Moses is very wordy in this passage. He repeats nearly all statements twice. Evidently it is his purpose to commend to us that most exuberant joy of the saintly patriarch. After awful misfortunes Abraham has not only found a safe place and a favorably disposed king, but Sarah becomes pregnant and bears him the son who is the heir of the promise. But if the joy of parents is genuine when children are born to them in the usual manner without a promise, how much more Abraham rejoiced over this his son for whom he had now waited so many years after he had been promised! Accordingly, what thus far has been an object of hope, and what he has believed, this is now a reality; and, if I may express it in this way, the promise has now been made flesh. We cannot come close to feeling this joy; for the things which thus far had been invisible and impossible, which Abraham had believed, are now visible and altogether possible—an example for us, that we may learn that there is no real joy in this world except that which the Word brings when it is believed.
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