A Joyquake! Earth-splitting Joy! (Chapter 4A)

Wednesday Chapter of Joy in Spite of Stoopidity

Joy in the Word

1 Kings 1:40 ESV

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.

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All the people went up after him, and they were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth shook and seemed to burst open with their [joyful] sound. (AMP)

And all the people followed Solomon into Jerusalem, playing flutes and shouting for joy. The celebration was so joyous and noisy that the earth shook with the sound. (NLT)

Has anyone been part of a group of people whose joy was so great their expression of it shook the earth? If you’ve ever been to a Seahawks game circa 2011 or 2013, you may have been! Fans were so joyful at points scored they produced a "fanquake." They registered on the Richter Scale! That is some crazy joy!!

Two groups of people are feeling joyful in 1 Kings 1. The first group, led by Adonijah (David’s son) are having a grand feast. I picture his followers fawning over him, showing honor to their “king.” Little do they know that his attempt to usurp the throne has been thwarted.

Cue group two. A mother, a prophet, a priest, and a bodyguard walk into a bar…just kidding. They walk into an old, dying king’s bedroom. King David’s to be exact. He is informed of Adonijah’s claiming the throne and swiftly acts to name Solomon his successor. And the party afterward definitely got Adonijah’s attention!

So, joy that is expressed with instruments and dancing and shouting and singing that shakes the earth! I honestly can’t imagine that – but man! to be a part of it! Or even to just feel it…I don’t know if I have. We’ve seen twice now where the joy within people was pure, uncontainable, felt and expressed with the whole being. And shared with the world! And it was genuine. Unforced.

We all have a song or two, or 800, that when it comes on, we can’t help dance to it. Could be in the car, at a grocery store, at home. And it may start slow, just a foot tap, but eventually (and most likely at home) you’re in full dance mode.

My heart is beginning to feel a conviction that my expression of joy rooted in King Jesus needs to match that energy.

Let’s dance, Friends, so the whole earth feels the joy…Kristin

(1 Kings 1:40 ESV) 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.

It stinks getting old! If afforded the opportunity, many people make decisions that will reach far into the future to affect those that live on after us. King David is getting old and his sons are also thinking about their future without him. Adonijah tries to crown himself king without permission from his father, King David. The mother of son Solomon, Bathsheba, and the prophet Nathan remind David of his own promise that Solomon should be the next king. David must take quick action to keep his promise and orders a royal parade to make it official.

Solomon rides on King David’s mule. A mule? That seems degrading in today’s world. Wouldn’t a strong stallion be more appropriate? In ancient Isreal, a mule was special because in Leviticus 19:19 the law forbade crossbreeding, so the mules were imported and expensive. Common folks rode on donkeys and the mules were reserved for royalty.

The trumpets sounded to alert the people. Solomon riding on a mule in and of itself was a message to the people that King David had made his decision to declare the next king. Solomon was anointed by the priest and prophet as king in proper style!

The people followed Solomon on the mule to be crowned and then to sit next to King David, all the while exuding excitement! The open display of JOY came forth with the sound of piped music and JOYFUL voices. The joy was such a loud noise that it was EARTH-SPLITTING JOY! Literally! Now that is loud! The more excited we are, the louder we tend to get, and the same could be said for JOY. JOY exuding from the heart has no chance at a whisper. Spontaneous JOY turns up the volume without thinking.

Can you imagine the look on Adonijah face when he hears the uproar and realizes the real king has just been crowned! Oh, the shock and fear that must have run through his body as his feast turned into a royal oopsie. Adonijah runs to the altar, grabs it, and begs Solomon not to have him executed. Wise Solomon declares that if Adonijah behaves worthily, there will be no problem, but if he causes trouble again, then his death will be on him. Solomon’s reign begins with trumpets, drama, mercy and wisdom.

I ponder what a splitting earth means and first consider an earthquake. However science sense tells me earthquakes do not usually happen due to noise, but rather pressures of plates moving against each other deep inside the earth. I know glass can shatter at a certain pitch of sound.

I settled on the idea that rocks are considered earth, and that possibly enough noise could split a rock similar to a shattering glass. Or maybe that is not it and the truth is that it is just God’s doing.

The thought of an earth-splitting JOY being a God thing made me recall, Matthew 27:50-51, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.”

When on the cross Jesus let His Spirit go and He died, God things happened then too as a curtain in the temple was torn, the earth shook, and rocks were split. It is-what-it-is because God did those amazing things upon Jesus’s birth, so why is it difficult to accept it as-it-is when the earth splits when God’s people turn up the volume of JOY?

Please pray with me, Lord, thank You for those life moments when I am so excited and full of JOY that I jump up and down and turn up the volume of my voice. Those are the best moments! I tend to remember those and they are a gift from You. Amen.

The King James Version of the concordance has 93 references in 89 verses to this certain word for “joy” as reference H8057. שִׂמְחָה is pronounced simchâh (sim-khaw) an relates to a religious or festival blithesomeness (cheerful disposition) or glee, which is fitting for this scene. H8057 is also translated in other Bible verses as exceeding(ly), gladness, joy(fulness), mirth, pleasure, rejoice(ing).

Cheryl’s writing is posted here on her website.

Quotable

The author of this exact quote is unknown as far as Google is concerned, however “suddenly, I’m dancing” does appear in lyrics by Florence & The Machine, song Choreomania. It is better to be safe than sorry when it comes to legality and figuring out what is considered fair use. This song does not align with our intentions here on Joy in Spite of Stoopidity, and therefore is not endorsed by the authors.