C. S. Lewis got a bit closer to the Biblical meaning when he called joy an "unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction." That statement is a bit obtuse but Lewis then goes on to add that joy "must be sharply distinguished both from happiness and from pleasure". Ultimately Lewis' experienced joy when he discovered that Jesus was the wellspring of all joy.
Joy then is the deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the heart of the person who knows all is well between himself and the Lord. It is not an experience that comes from favorable circumstances but even occurs when those circumstances are the most painful and severe as Jesus taught His disciples declaring...
Psalms 2:11
Psalms 9:14
Psalms 13:4
Psalms 13:5
Psalms 14:7
Psalms 16:9
Psalms 19:5
Psalms 19:8
Psalms 21:1,
Psalms 30:1,
Psalms 31:7
Psalms 32:11
Psalms 33:21
Psalms 34:2
Psalms 35:9
Psalms 35:15
Psalms 35:19
Psalm 35:24
Psalms 35:26
Psalm's 35:27
Psalm 38:16
Psalms 40:16
Psalms 45:15
Psalms 48:11
Psalms 51:8
Psalms 53:6
Psalms 58:10
Psalms 63:11
Psalms 65:12
Psalms 66:2
Psalms 68:3
Psalms 70:4
Psalms 85:6,
Psalms 89:16
Psalms 89:42
Psalms 96:11
Psalms 97:1
Psalms 97:8,
Psalms 106:5
Psalms 118:24
Psalms 119:14
Psalms 119:162
Psalms 149:2
