Sometimes we speak about “joy” as if it were something the Christian was just “supposed to have”. We tell people to be joyful. We speak about “joy in the Lord.” Then we say something along the lines of, “Joy can be independent of circumstances.” But I do not think that is a fair statement of the way “joy” is discussed in the Bible.

The trouble with that statement is that it fails to account for the fact that our circumstance may be complex: there may be multiple frames of reference.

Hebrews 12:2 speaks of Jesus enduring the cross: that is was not “joyful”. That is one frame of reference. But there is a second frame of reference, what would come after the cross, “the joy set before him.”
The encouragement to joy in the midst of difficulty (1 Thess. 1:6) is not because the immediate circumstance does not bring sorrow or pain, but rather that the immediate circumstance is not the only circumstance.

The encouragement to joy does not deny the immediate pain which may be present, “Weep with those who weep.” Rom. 12:15 Your companionship in another’s loss is part of the ground for their ability to find a second context for understanding their present circumstance. (Personal friendship and love is not at all divorced from joy; it is often a basis for it.)

Joy is not divorced from circumstance: it is because of circumstance. But the most immediate circumstance is not the full story. “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Ps. 30:5 Your presence with another in their sorrow is a basis for their hope and thus their joy.

joy

The references to joy typically come in the context of convent fulfillment: (a) The rescue God had performed (such as bringing them into the land, or the delivery from an enemy); or (b) The rescue God will perform. The nature of this delivery changes somewhat at the inauguration of the New Covenant. 

Below, the verses are quoted with reference. Beneath the quoted verse, there is a brief comment.

Deut 16:15
For seven days you shall keep the feast to the LORD your God at the place that the LORD will choose, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you will be altogether joyful.
This is a celebration of the Feast of Booths. Notice the reason they are to rejoice: “Because the LORD your God will bless you.”

Deut 28:47
Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things,
The failure to fulfill the covenant, which includes rejoicing. Cf. Rom. 1:21, they did not give thanks.

Judg 19:3
Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back. He had with him his servant and a couple of donkeys. And she brought him into her father’s house. And when the girl’s father saw him, he came with joy to meet him.
The joy at military victory and a safe return home.

1 Sam 18:6
As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
Military victory

1 Kings 1:40
And all the people went up after him, playing on pipes, and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth was split by their noise.
This was a short-lived joy.

1 Kings 8:66
On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king and went to their homes joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had shown to David his servant and to Israel his people.
God keeping his covenant with Israel & with David.

1 Chron 12:40
And also their relatives, from as far as Issachar and Zebulun and Naphtali, came bringing food on donkeys and on camels and on mules and on oxen, abundant provisions of flour, cakes of figs, clusters of raisins, and wine and oil, oxen and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.
The enthronement of David.

1 Chron 15:16
David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy.
The Ark being brought to Jerusalem.

1 Chron 16:27
Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.
This is a song of praise for the Lord who has kept covenant, created the world, and rules over all.

1 Chron 16:33
Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.
To come to judge the earth.

2 Chron 7:10
On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people away to their homes, joyful and glad of heart for the prosperity that the LORD had granted to David and to Solomon and to Israel his people.
Keeping is covenant with David and with Solomon (because you have not asked for ….)

2 Chron 20:27
Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the LORD had made them rejoice over their enemies.
Military victory

2 Chron 30:26
So there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.
Celebrating Passover: God’s rescue from Egypt.

Ezra 3:12
But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy,
Returning the people to Jerusalem, as God as promised.

Ezra 3:13
so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away.
Same

Ezra 6:16
And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy.
Same.

Ezra 6:22
And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy, for the LORD had made them joyful and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, so that he aided them in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel.
Same.

Neh 8:10
Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Same. Also reading the Law (the terms and content of the Covenant)

Neh 12:43
And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away.
This is the dedication of the wall around Jerusalem.

Esther 5:9
And Haman went out that day joyful and glad of heart. But when Haman saw Mordecai in the king’s gate, that he neither rose nor trembled before him, he was filled with wrath against Mordecai.
He thinks he is going to have victory over his enemy.

Esther 5:14
Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him, “Let a gallows fifty cubits high be made, and in the morning tell the king to have Mordecai hanged upon it. Then go joyfully with the king to the feast.” This idea pleased Haman, and he had the gallows made.
Same.

Esther 8:16
The Jews had light and gladness and joy and honor.
Victory over their enemies.

Esther 8:17
And in every province and in every city, wherever the king’s command and his edict reached, there was gladness and joy among the Jews, a feast and a holiday. And many from the peoples of the country declared themselves Jews, for fear of the Jews had fallen on them.
Same

Ps 4:7
You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound.
Delivery from enemies.

Ps 5:11
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.
Refuge

Ps 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Eschatological: with you.

Ps 19:5
which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
Metaphor

Ps 20:5
May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!
Receiving from the Lord salvation. Verse one: delivery and protection from enemies.

Ps 21:6
For you make him most blessed forever; you make him glad with the joy of your presence.

Eschatological
Ps 27:6
And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.
Triumph over enemies.

Ps 30:5
For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
Eschatological

Ps 32:11
Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
Forgiveness of sins.

Ps 33:1
Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.
Praise for creation and God’s rule over the world.

Ps 35:27
Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the LORD, who delights in the welfare of his servant!”
Victory over enemies

Ps 43:4
Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
Verse 1: vindicate me.

Ps 45:15
With joy and gladness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king.
The establishment of the victim and the presentation of the bride. Typologically, this is eschatological

Ps 47:1
Clap your hands, all peoples! Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
God’s victory over all his enemies.

Ps 48:2
beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King.
Eschatological/covenantal.

Ps 51:8
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Forgiveness of sin.

Ps 51:12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Forgiveness of sin.

Ps 63:5
My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
Rejoicing in the promised delivery of God.

Ps 63:7
for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
Same
Ps 65:8
so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
Joy at God’s rule over the earth.

Ps 65:12
The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy,
Same

Ps 65:13
the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy.
Same

Ps 66:1
Shout for joy to God, all the earth;
Joy for God’s rule and victory over his enemies.

Ps 67:4
Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth. Selah
Joy in God’s judgment; eschatological.

Ps 68:3
But the righteous shall be glad; they shall exult before God; they shall be jubilant with joy!
v. 1, “His enemies shall be scattered.”

Ps 71:23
My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.
Rescue

Ps 81:1
Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob!
Rescue

Ps 84:2
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Rescue; eschatological

Ps 92:4
For you, O LORD, have made me glad by your work; at the works of your hands I sing for joy.
v. 1 “Oh LORD, God of vengeance.”
Ps 95:1
Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Delivery

Ps 95:2
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
Delivery.

Ps 96:12
let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
God’s rule. “He will judge” Eschatological

Ps 97:11
Light is sown for the righteous, and joy for the upright in heart.
God will triumph over his enemies. V. 10, he will delivery his people.

Ps 98:4
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
The Lord has and will judge his enemies.

Ps 98:6
With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!
Same

Ps 98:8
Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together

same
Ps 100:1
Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Covenantal/eschatological

Ps 105:43
So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.
Delivery

Ps 107:22
And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!
Delivery

Ps 119:111
Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
This is part of a prayer for deliverance. (v. 107) It is personal but it is also covenantal.

Ps 126:2
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”
“When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion” v. 1 Delivery, covenantal

Ps 126:5
Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
same

Ps 126:6
He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
same.

Ps 132:9
Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your saints shout for joy.
This is a prayer for delivery, based upon the covenant with David. We will rejoice when you fulfill your promise.

Ps 132:16
Her priests I will clothe with salvation, and her saints will shout for joy.
Same

Ps 137:6
Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!
A prayer for delivery.

Ps 149:5
Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds.
v. 4, “He adorns the humble with salvation.”

Eccles 2:26
For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.
It is a gift.

Eccles 3:12
I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;
To be thankful.

Eccles 5:20
For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.
A gift.

Eccles 7:14
In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.
Joy is a property of prosperity.

Eccles 8:15
And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.
Thankfulness

Eccles 9:7
Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.
Thankfulness

Isa 9:3
You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
Delivery.

Isa 12:3
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Delivery.

Isa 12:6
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”
Delivery

Isa 16:10
And joy and gladness are taken away from the fruitful field, and in the vineyards no songs are sung, no cheers are raised; no treader treads out wine in the presses; I have put an end to the shouting.
Joy is a gift; therefore, it can be taken away. This is sorrow at a loss.

Isa 22:13
and behold, joy and gladness, killing oxen and slaughtering sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine. “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
A foolish joy.

Isa 24:11
There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished.
No joy.

Isa 24:14
They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west.
Delivery.

Isa 26:19
Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.
Eschatological

Isa 29:19
The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.
Delivery.

Isa 32:14
For the palace is forsaken, the populous city deserted; the hill and the watchtower will become dens forever, a joy of wild donkeys, a pasture of flocks;
Ironic.

Isa 35:2
it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the majesty of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the majesty of our God.
Eschatological.

Isa 35:6
then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. For waters break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert;
Eschatological.

Isa 35:10
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Eschatological.

Isa 42:11
Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the habitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the top of the mountains.
Because God will conquer his foes.

Isa 48:20
Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, “The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!”
Delivery

Isa 49:13
Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
Delivery.

Isa 51:3
For the LORD comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
Delivery

Isa 51:11
And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
Delivery

Isa 52:8
The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the LORD to Zion.
Delivery; covenant.

Isa 55:12
“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Because of God’s victory.

Isa 56:7
these I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”
Eschatologial

Isa 60:15
Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age.
Eschatological

Isa 61:7
Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy.
Eschatological.

Isa 64:5
You meet him who joyfully works righteousness, those who remember you in your ways. Behold, you were angry, and we sinned; in our sins we have been a long time, and shall we be saved?
Eschatological delivery

Isa 65:18
But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.
Eschatological: I will create a new heavens (v. 17)

Isa 66:5
Hear the word of the LORD, you who tremble at his word: “Your brothers who hate you and cast you out for my name’s sake have said, ‘Let the LORD be glorified, that we may see your joy’; but it is they who shall be put to shame.
A false joy.

Isa 66:10
“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her;
Eschatological delivery

Jer 8:18
My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me.
Lost joy

Jer 15:16
Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of hosts.
Hope for delivery.

Jer 31:13
Then shall the young women rejoice in the dance, and the young men and the old shall be merry. I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow.
He will deliver them in the future.

Jer 33:9
And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.
In the future, I will deliver and rebuild.

Jer 48:33
Gladness and joy have been taken away from the fruitful land of Moab; I have made the wine cease from the winepresses; no one treads them with shouts of joy; the shouting is not the shout of joy.
There is no joy when you have been conquered.

Jer 49:25
How is the famous city not forsaken, the city of my joy?
Loss has no joy.

Jer 51:48
Then the heavens and the earth, and all that is in them, shall sing for joy over Babylon, for the destroyers shall come against them out of the north, declares the LORD.
Joy at victory over an enemy.

Lam 2:15
All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at the daughter of Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?”
Lost joy

Lam 5:15
The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned to mourning.
Lost joy.

Ezek 7:7
Your doom has come to you, O inhabitant of the land. The time has come; the day is near, a day of tumult, and not of joyful shouting on the mountains.
Lost joy.

Ezek 24:25
“As for you, son of man, surely on the day when I take from them their stronghold, their joy and glory, the delight of their eyes and their soul’s desire, and also their sons and daughters,
Lost joy

Ezek 36:5
therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Surely I have spoken in my hot jealousy against the rest of the nations and against all Edom, who gave my land to themselves as a possession with wholehearted joy and utter contempt, that they might make its pasturelands a prey.
Ironic

Joel 1:16
Is not the food cut off before our eyes, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Lost joy

Hab 3:18
yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Delivery

Zech 8:19
“Thus says the LORD of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.
Kept covenant, delivery.

NOTE: WITH THE COMING OF THE MESSIAH, THE NATURE OF THE DELIVERY AND HOPE CHANGE SOMEWHAT. RATHER THAN IT BE NATIONAL ISRAEL CONQUERING AN ENEMY; IT IS LARGELY A SPIRITUAL DELIVERY A DELIVERY FROM SIN; WITH A HOPE OF THE ESCHATOLOGICAL KINGDOM. BUT THE JOY IS NOT ABSTRACTED FROM HOPE; NOR EVEN THE COVENANT (NOT THAT THE MESSIAH IS A PROMISE OF THE DAVIDIC AND NEW COVENANTS)

Matt 2:10
When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
The coming Messiah.

Matt 13:20
As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy,
Because it is good news.

Matt 13:44
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Normal emotion.

Matt 25:21
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
Eschatological.

Matt 25:23
His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
Eschatological

Matt 28:8
So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
Resurrection.

Mark 4:16
And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.
Because it is good news.

Luke 1:14
And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
The birth of a promised child.

Luke 1:44
For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
The Messiah is here!

Luke 2:10
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
Delivery, covenant promised fulfilled.

Luke 6:23
Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
Eschatological.

Luke 8:13
And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.
Good news.

Luke 10:17
The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”
Delivery over demons.

Luke 15:7
Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Joy in heaven.

Luke 15:10
Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Joy in heaven

Luke 19:6
So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully.
Jesus is here.

Luke 24:41
And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
Resurrection

Luke 24:52
And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
Resurrection,

John 3:29
The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete.
The Messiah is here.

John 15:11
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
It is a promise of delivery and perseverance through trial: you will abide.

John 16:20
Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
Resurrection.

John 16:21
When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
Personal joy.

John 16:22
So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.
Because delivery is certain; death has been overcome.

John 16:24
Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
The promise has been fulfilled.

John 17:13
But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
The promised delivery.

Acts 8:8
So there was much joy in that city.
Good news had come.

Acts 12:14
Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.
Personal joy at Peter’s delivery.

Acts 13:52
And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
At the work God was doing.

Acts 15:3
So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and brought great joy to all the brothers.
Good news.

Rom 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
What causes this joy in the Holy Spirit? It is being contrasted with the conflict between the people over food. It is the in-breaking of an eschatological kingdom.

Rom 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Joy tied to hope

Rom 15:32
so that by God’s will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.
The joy of personal greeting.

2 Cor 1:24
Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.
His goal is their joy.

2 Cor 2:3
And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all.
Joy of personal relationship.

2 Cor 7:4
I am acting with great boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.
The joy is based upon hope.

2 Cor 7:13
Therefore we are comforted. And besides our own comfort, we rejoiced still more at the joy of Titus, because his spirit has been refreshed by you all.
The joy in personal greeting – there is also thanksgiving.

2 Cor 8:2
for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part.
Hope.

Gal 5:22
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
It is a work of the Spirit.

Phil 1:4
always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy,
Because God is working: delivery and conquering have moved from

Phil 1:25
Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith,
Eschatological perseverance,

Phil 2:2
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Phil 2:29
So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men,
Personal greeting

Phil 4:1
Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.
Because of what God has done for them. In 4:4 “rejoice always” has content and basis. V. 3, your name is written in the Book of Life (eschatological delivery). V. 5, “the Lord is at hand.”

That God has delivered them from their former life. The working out of God’s sanctification is fitting them for an ultimate delivery. “The phrase reminds the readers again of the imminent coming of the Savior from heaven to transform humiliation into glory.” (Hansen). “AMBROSIASTER: “The Lord,” he says, “is at hand.” They must be prepared and wakeful in prayer, giving thanks to God and putting away every worldly care, so as to hope and have before their eyes what the Lord promises. What he promises is, as he teaches, the reason for giving him thanks.”

That joy is the product of a deliberate eschatological posture

Col 1:11
being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy;
This joy is pointed toward the end and is based upon the delivery. You have been rescued by God and are being brought to Eschatological Kingdom.

1 Thess 1:6
And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit,
This is probably the most on-point verse when it comes to joy in the midst of suffering. But notice the context: It springs from their salvation: they have been delivered from their bondage to sin. V. 9, you turned from idols. V. 10, you now are eagerly expecting the victorious return of the Lord. Notice the language of delivery, “Who delivers us from the wrath to come.” The OT language of delivery from an enemy is picked up, and interestingly, the ultimate enemy will be God coming in judgment.

The Thessalonian believers were undergoing persecution at this time and are here assured not only of their own liberation (1 Thess. 5:9) but also of the judgment of God that will come upon those who afflict them (2 Thess. 1:6–10). Whatever the agony and shame of the present, in the end God will reverse their fortunes. Those who are without power now will participate in the final victory, while those who have power over them now will have to meet the Judge, the God of the Christians

Gene L. Green, The Letters to the Thessalonians, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: W.B. Eerdmans Pub.; Apollos, 2002), 111.

1 Thess 2:19
For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
Eschatological

1 Thess 2:20
For you are our glory and joy.
Personal and eschatological

1 Thess 3:9
For what thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God,
Personal and eschatological
2 Tim 1:4
As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.
Personal

Philem 7
For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.
Personal

Heb 10:34
For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.
Because of what will happen.

Heb 12:2
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Eschatological delivery – after loss.

Heb 13:17
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
Personal

James 1:2
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
Because it will bring about spiritual transformation

James 4:9
Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Loss of joy in repentance.

1 Pet 1:8
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
Eschatological,

1 John 1:4
And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
The advancing of the Kingdom.

2 John 12
Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
Personal

3 John 4
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Personal; the Kingdom’s advance.

Jude 24
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
Eschatological