Practical Steps to Unshakable Joy

Dannah Gresh: If you’re feeling spiritually shaky today, let this word from Missy Schrader challenge and encourage you.

Missy Schrader: We don’t stumble into holiness. It is on purpose. On purpose he fixes his eyes on the Lord, and with his perspective there, focusing on what he knows about God and experiences in Him—that God is his refuge, his treasure and his Lord. Then guess what? He gets what he wants. He gets what he prayed for at the beginning of Psalm 16, safety and security. With God near him, he is not shaken.

Dannah: This is the Revive Our Hearts podcast with Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, author of A Place of Quiet Rest, for June 4, 2026. I’m Dannah Gresh.

This program is brought to you in part by members of the Revive Partner team. Here’s Summer, a partner from Virginia.

Summer: Revive Our Hearts has encouraged me, challenged me, and convicted me in my walk with the Lord. I've gained a greater understanding of God's Word, and therefore a greater love for Scripture and for the God of Scripture. It is a privilege to be a Revive Partner and to share in the support of this ministry that is transforming lives, including my own.

Dannah: Thank you so much, Summer. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your regular support. And thank you for passing the word on to others about Revive Our Hearts.

Now, today’s episode is for the woman who’s ready to run after joy. We’re listening to part two of Missy Schrader’s message on Psalm 16, and there is so much we can learn from David’s example. It’s time to get practical about pursuing unshakable joy. Here’s Missy to help you. 

Missy Schrader: 

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance. (Psalm 16:6)

I notice two beautiful things about David here: gratitude and surrender. Do you hear his gratitude? What God has assigned him, he is thankful and content.

My mom used to say, “What I have is what I want.” And David surrenders, trusting God’s heart that his situation is what God has ordained for his good. David has the faith in God’s lordship in his life. I love those two together: gratitude and surrender.

David knows that the boundary lines that the Lord has assigned to him are what He says is best, and David trusts his Lord. I want to be like that.

Remember how David knew the fate of the wicked? That their sorrows would increase, and they would suffer more and more? This is a complete contrast to that. He knows that his future–what does it say in that verse? His future is delightful. This brings him hope.

The King James Version, I would like to know, maybe you’ve spent an afternoon with someone who speaks King James, but it says, “Surely I have a goodly heritage.” Goodly is beautiful and pleasing, and what is coming for us is beautiful for sure.

Paul prayed that the believers in Ephesus would have this same hope, and he prayed that they would know that their inheritance is delightful and goodly and beautiful. Here’s what it says: 

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. (Eph. 1:18)

And what is His inheritance? What is our inheritance? Eternity with Him.

Tim Keller says this about heaven: “You can’t imagine how happy you’ll be.”

In my favorite devotion book, New Morning Mercies, Paul David Tripp encourages readers to live with the hope of what is to come. And here’s what he says: (It’s long, but I couldn’t not read it.)

We say we believe in the hereafter, but we often live like eternity amnesiacs. We get so focused on the here and now that we lose sight of what’s to come. The fact is, you cannot make sense of life unless you look at it from the vantage point of eternity.

If all God’s grace gives us is a little better here and now, if it doesn’t finally fix all that sin has broken, then perhaps we have believed in vain. There has to be more to God’s plan than this world of sin, sickness, sorrow, and death. There has to be more than the temporary pleasures of this physical world.

Yes, there is more! And when you live like there’s more to come, you live in a radically different way. When you forget eternity, you tend to lose sight of what’s important. [Anybody know what he’s talking about?] Then you live for what is temporary, and your heart seeks for satisfaction where it cannot be found, which leaves you spiritually empty and potentially hopeless. Meanwhile, you’re dealing with all the difficulties in this fallen world with little hope that things will ever be different.

So, it’s important to fix our eyes on what God has promised will surely come. Let the values of eternity be the values that shape your living today and keep telling yourself that the difficulties of today will someday completely pass away. 

Hallelujah! Belief in eternity can clarify your values and renew your hope. Pray that God, by His grace, will help you remember forever right here, right now.”

The Jesus Story Book Bible talks about one day that Jesus will make all the sad things come untrue. And that’s the truth.

On Sunday I went to my aunt’s funeral. Wow, going to a funeral gives you an eternal perspective, doesn’t it? Everyone who shared at the funeral talked about how my aunt loved Jesus. She was always laughing. She loved people. Nobody talked about her body. Nobody talked about how much money she had. Nobody talked about her decorating. None of that.

She had a hard life, too. She had a wayward child. She had a daughter who got divorced. She had cancer. But she lived with such an eternal perspective. In fact, in the last weeks before she died, she called it “count down to liftoff.” She was so excited to meet Jesus. Isn’t that so cute? So she lived with an eternal perspective. She knew surely I have a goodly heritage.

How often do you meditate on your beautiful, delightful inheritance? How does that promise of eternity with Him bring you hope in trouble, like Paul Tripp said, that knowing what’s to come does shape my here and now?

David is moving from feeling troubled to being joyful by knowing and experiencing God as his refuge, his treasure and his Lord. Let’s keep reading. Verse 7:

I bless [you could say, “I praise”] the LORD who gives me counsel; 
   in the night also my heart instructs me. 
I have set the LORD always before me;
   because he is my right hand, I will not be shaken.” (vv. 7–8)

At this point in our psalm, a troubled David has asked for protection. He has declared in faith that God is his refuge, his treasure, and his Lord. In light of all that he knows and experiences, we see him make two decisions.

First, he praises God. What does he praise Him for? I love this! He knows that God is his counselor. Walking with Him, he trusts God at all times. Even in this hard time, God is his refuge, his treasure, and his Lord, and he knows that God will direct his paths.

We know this verse:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
   and lean not on your own understanding.
In all your ways, submit to him [as Lord, and He will counsel]
   and he will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:5–6)

David’s first decision is to praise the Lord as he trusts His guidance.

And then he makes another decision. Oh my goodness. I love this verse! Verse 8: 

I keep my eyes always on the LORD. 
   With him at my right hand, I will not be [what?] shaken.

Where’s his focus? Always on the Lord. The ESV says, “I have set the Lord always before me.” His eyes are fixed on purpose.

We did a Bible study one year in community group, and the pastor said, “We don’t stumble into holiness. It is on purpose.” And that’s what this makes me think of. On purpose he fixes his eyes on the Lord.

And with his perspective there, focusing on what he knows about God and experiences in Him, that God is his refuge, his treasure, and his Lord; guess what? He gets what he wants. He gets what he prayed for at the beginning of Psalm 16—safety and security. With God near him, he is not shaken.

Oh my goodness, I could find so many verses on fixing your eyes on the Lord. I have had to have total self-control on only picking one! Psalm 119:14: 

In the way of Your testimonies,
I delight as much as in all riches.
I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your word. (vv. 14–16 ESV)

I love this! Do you see David is delighting in Him and in His Word as his treasure? He’s fixing his eyes on Him and on His leading.

How would making these two decisions to praise the Lord and to fix your eyes on Him change your day to day? Let’s keep reading.

Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
   my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
   nor will you let your faithful one see decay. (Psalm 16:9–10)

Remember how David started Psalm 16? Troubled and asking for safety and protection. 

He has rehearsed. He has talked to his soul about what he knows and experiences about God. 

He has declared in faith—tell me and say this with me—that God is his refuge, his treasure, and his Lord. 

He has contrasted the wicked’s future with his delightful inheritance. 

He has made the decision to praise God and fix his eyes on Him.

And now we come to the word “therefore.” Because of all of this, his heart is glad and his tongue rejoices. He’s completely secure. He is experiencing what he prayed for. He is experiencing joy. He moved from feeling troubled to experiencing joy because he had faith that God is his refuge, his treasure, and his Lord.

Now look at verse 10. This is a little tricky because it seems like David is saying he won’t die. I like how Tim Keller explains this. He said: 

These verses would be remarkable. David is saying, “The love I have, the friendship and fellowship I have with God, His love for me is so strong. I can’t believe that even death can strip it from me. God won’t let death come between us. I will see Him face to face.”

Knowing that one day David will be in His presence, his delightful inheritance is sure. We come to the final verse. I feel like I want to go WOO HOO! It’s the this-is-it moment. Are you ready? Verse 11:

You make known to me the path of life;
   you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Ultimately, no matter what is causing insecurity and fear, David declares where his true life is found: it’s in Him.

Jesus says this of Himself, “I am the way, the truth and the life” (John 14:6). Some translations will say, “In Your presence is fullness of joy.” Overflowing, filled to the brim.

You could translate this verse, as Tim Keller says, “In Your face is joy upon joy upon joy.”

David knows the only way to be unshakable is to run after and pursue God. He says, “I believe in You. You are my joy and my meaning. You are my all. You are my hope. You are the only thing I can’t lose.”

Although David began his psalm feeling very troubled, he ends it feeling what? True, full, abundant, overflowing joy because he experiences God nearness. And he has the hope that one day he will actually be in His presence, face to face with God forever.

So, ladies, what does this psalm mean for us today?

Let’s go back to our question: How can I experience joy when I’m in distress?

And here was our answer. Like David, I can move from feeling troubled to being joyful when I know and experience Him as my refuge, my treasure, and my Lord, both in His nearness now and in the hope of His presence forever.

In Acts 2, on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came in power, Peter preached a bold sermon. We’re going to look at it because guess what psalm he preached? Here we go:

Fellow Israelites. listen to this: [I feel like I should read it like this] Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead [Hallelujah!], freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep a hold on him. [You ready?] David said about him: 

I saw the Lord always before me.
Because He is at my right hand, 
I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest in hope
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
you will not let your holy one see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in Your presence.

Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that one of his descendants would be on his throne. Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. (vv. 22–33)

David didn’t know it, but he was pointing to Jesus. Because of Him, we can know and experience Him in an even more rich and more intimate and beautiful way because the Holy Spirit is in us. We can live experiencing the goodness of His nearness always.

When we’re troubled, we can have faith that God is our refuge, and we can rest in Him with trust. We can know and experience God as our treasure, and we can delight in Him with gratitude.

We can know that God is our Lord, and we can fix our eyes on Him, surrendering as He guides and counsels us. His presence is our good. His nearness is our good. And ultimately, ladies, His nearness is the answer to all we’ve been studying in our study. His nearness calms our fears, gives us patience in our waiting, comforts us in our lamenting, satisfies our longings, gives us contentment, and brings us joy. His joy, complete in us.

Jesus said of His joy, “No one can take it from you” because it’s rooted completely in His nearness now, because of His Spirit, and in the hope of our beautiful inheritance to come when, as Jude 24 says, “He will present us before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.”

The familiar song, “Great is Thy Faithfulness” (I was so excited about this) says, “pardons.” I want to sing it. (singing)

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide.
Strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine and ten thousand beside.

(“Great is Thy Faithfulness” by Thomas Crisholm)

Do you see what the hymnwriter knew? It’s exactly what we’ve been chatting about this morning. His dear presence gives us joy and leads and guides us as our Lord. He knows we can experience strength for today, because of His nearness, as I look forward with hope for our bright tomorrow—our greatest inheritance! Surely He is our treasure. Blessings all mine and ten thousand beside—too abundant to count.

In this world we will have trouble. Jesus promised we may feel like we’re playing hopscotch with the big kids, and we don’t know how to play. We may feel insecure, unsettled, and fearful. Like I ran to hear my mom’s voice, we can run to our heavenly Father. Knowing who He is, and knowing that He is near, calms and settles us and allows us to experience true, overflowing joy.

Like David, we can make a decision to praise Him and fix our eyes on Him and have an eternal perspective of hope. Ladies, we have a delightful inheritance. We experience Him in us now by the power of the Holy Spirit, and one day we will be with Him face to face, and we will experience joy upon joy upon joy.

Will you read verse 11 with me?

[Jesus,] You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we often find ourselves troubled, but we are longing for true joy. You have shown us in Your Word that it is possible to experience joy that no one can take away. It is joy in Your presence. Your nearness is our good, Lord. Help us to hide in You as our refuge. Help us to treasure You above all else. Fill our hearts with praise. And, Father, help us to surrender to Your Lordship in our lives, knowing that our inheritance is delightful.

One day we will be overcome with joy as we live face to face with You. Until that day, Lord, be near. Holy Spirit, fill us with Your joy as we abide in You. We love You.

Dannah: Amen. Missy Schrader on God’s nearness—the only thing that leads to unshakable joy.

What a wonderful two days it’s been unpacking Psalm 16 together. If you missed the first half yesterday, you can find that at ReviveOurHearts.com. 

Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth is just as passionate about God’s nearness as Missy. She shared some practical thoughts about walking closely with the Lord, drawn from the story of Enoch. 

Nancy: Walking with God doesn’t mean to be a recluse or a monk. It doesn’t mean that you pull away from society, from culture, that you have this godly, spiritual life, and then, you walk with God. No.

Enoch lived a normal life with normal cares, normal responsibilities. He had a family; he had kids, as we’ve seen. But he walked with God as he was carrying out other responsibilities, interfacing with neighbors, coworkers, and family members.

So walking with God doesn’t mean you just pull out of this world. It does mean an intentional decision.

Amos 3, verse 3 says in the ESV, “Do two walk together, unless they have agreed to meet?” Walking with God doesn’t just happen. It requires a conscious, deliberate choice. We agree we’re going to walk with each other. You don’t just slip into it; you don’t just slide into it; it doesn’t happen by osmosis.

You don’t say, “Oh, I want to be a godly, old lady. I hope I’m walking with God when I’m old.” Look, if you’re not walking with God now, you probably won’t be walking with Him when you’re old. It’s a choice, an intentional decision.

It’s also a consistent, continuous way of life. It’s a cultivated habit. Enoch walked with God for three hundred years! This was not just an occasional nod to God or an occasional emotional or religious experience. This was not a hot-and-cold relationship, off-and-on, fits-and-starts.

This was a relationship, a walk with God, that affected and impacted every area of Enoch’s life . . . as it will ours. It impacts our relationships, our family, our work, our hobbies, our free time—everything!—what we eat, what we drink, where we go, what we say, what we think. A walk with God is a cultivated habit—a continuous, continual, consistent way of life.

And then, a walk with God suggests a close friendship. Enoch knew that God was with him and he considered God to be a friend.

Years ago, for several years, I had a walking partner. We didn’t know each other very well when we started walking together, so at first, conversations were a little awkward. We didn’t know much about each other, about each other’s backgrounds, but we started to walk and talk. That’s what women do when they walk, right? We talk! Over the eight years that we walked together, we became really close friends.

We’d be there not in any way you’d want to ever have pictures taken or posted. Just who we were—no makeup, sweats. In the cold weather, hot weather, walking and talking, big things and little things. We got to know each other. We walked through different seasons in each other’s lives.

We would talk about the things that were troubling us, the things that were bothering us, things that were going on in her family, things that were going on in my life and ministry as we were starting up Revive Our Hearts in those early years. Our problems, our concerns, we shared our lives with each other. We walked, and we talked.

And He walks with me and He talks with me,
And He tells me that I am His own.
And the joys that we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known!

(“I Come to the Garden Alone” by Anne Murray)

None other . . . except others who’ve walked with God.

You see, this was not an occasional visit that Enoch and God had. My walking partner and I didn’t have just an occasional walk together. We did it regularly. It was a close friendship that got cultivated because we were spending time with each other regularly.

There’s a nearness that comes with God—an intimacy with God—that’s cultivated through time spent walking with Him and cultivating a friendship with Him. You become interested in what interests God.

Dannah: His nearness really is our greatest good! It’s been sweet to consider that this week.

To encourage you to continue drawing near to the Lord, we’re offering Nancy’s book Dwell: 30 Days with God in the Psalms. This newly updated devotional guides you through thirty psalms to quiet your heart and refocus your soul on Him.

When you support Revive Our Hearts with a gift of any amount this month, we’ll send it your way. It’s our way of saying “thank you.”

To donate and request your copy of Dwell, visit ReviveOurHearts.com, or call us at 1-800-569-5959.

Do you ever feel like a wandering pilgrim, weary from journeying through this crazy world of ours? If so, tomorrow is for you. Nancy’s walking us through Psalm 137, a song of lament for exiles. It’s one of the most unique and honest prayers in Scripture. Please be back for Revive Our Hearts. 

This program is a listener-supported production of Revive Our Hearts in Niles, Michigan, calling women to freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

All Scripture is taken from the NIV unless otherwise noted.

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