The Joy of God

A reminder

Another follow-up to my earlier post, "God in the Fire.” In that article I wrote, “The God of the Bible is a God of constant pain.” This is true for at least a couple of reasons.

First, as long as there is sin, He will hurt somehow, as parents hurt when their child goes astray. In the days before the Flood, “The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain” (Genesis 6:6).

Second, God is outside of time. He lives in the eternal now. In some sense, He’s always experiencing whatever has happened, is happening, or will happen.

One of the profound consequences of His being outside of time is that the Father and Son are always, eternally, forever, unremittingly living the grief of being separated from each other as Jesus hung on the cross bearing the sins of the world. And so I repeat, “The God of the Bible is a God of constant pain.”

But as I was working on that post, as I was pondering it even when I wasn’t sitting at my computer typing, something I read reminded me that He is also a God of joy. Deep, profound, unceasing joy. Joy beyond my understanding.

Of course I knew that, but I don’t often think of Him that way.

Joy and sorrow in the Old Testament

In the first few chapters of Genesis I see a God who creates a beautiful, perfect universe including an ideal paradise called Eden. He individually molds two unique human beings who bear His own image, and lovingly provides for their every need and desire. I can easily imagine Him being filled with joy as He views and interacts with His creation.

But then it all falls apart. Adam and Eve sin. The remainder of the book describes how every single person messes up, even His chosen ones. Exodus tells the history of Israel’s doubts and rebellions as God supernaturally frees them from slavery in Egypt, guides them by day and by night, and supplies all they need on their way to the promised land.

In the next three books, the Lord presents His perfect law for them to follow. He provides a sacrificial system as a way for those who stumble to return to Him. Even as they live daily with His miraculous signs and wonders, they constantly, repeatedly break that law and prove that they desperately need that system.

From Joshua through 2 Chronicles, God’s people have a few good moments, but they keep falling short, piling sin upon sin, until He punishes them by sending them into exile. The prophets reveal His broken heart as He warns Israel of the consequences of their disobedience.

Reading through the Old Testament, I find failure and judgment, but I rarely seem to catch a glimpse of a God of joy. In fact, the only direct reference I could find to God’s joy is Nehemiah 8:10, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Of course there are many indirect references. The delight He takes in Israel (Deuteronomy 30:9). Their sacrificing to Him and rejoicing because He’s given them great joy (Nehemiah 12:43). David’s statement that the Lord Himself will fill him with joy in His presence (Psalm 16:11). God’s promise in Isaiah 56:7 to give His people joy.

Joy and sorrow in the New Testament

It’s a little easier for me to remember God’s joy when I’m reading the New Testament. But how often do I think of Jesus as a man of joy? Isaiah 53:3 describes Him as “despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.” I tend to focus on this aspect of His experience because I feel closer to Him in His troubles than in His triumphs.

There are a few explicit references to Jesus’ joy, though. Luke 10:21 says He was “full of joy through the Holy Spirit.” When He was speaking to His disciples shortly before He was betrayed—knowing that His betrayal and sacrifice were coming soon—He used the words, “my joy” (John 15:11 and 17:13).

Still, I tend to think of Him as being dragged down by the weight of the world, rather than being continually filled with joy. During His years of ministry, I imagine Him grieving over suffering and injustice and hypocrisy and sin. In Matthew 26:36-44, I see Him deeply troubled by His upcoming crucifixion.

So I cherish this reminder that I just happen to stumble across as I’m going through each day with thoughts of His pain lingering in my mind. My God, the God of the Bible, the creator and sustainer of all that exists, the one who sacrificed His only Son for our salvation, is a God of eternal, unbounded, unremitting joy. Even in the midst of His constant sorrow.

My mistake is in assuming (although I don’t openly admit it) that the sorrow somehow diminishes His joy. I tried to think through this in my earlier post, with the analogy of my jug and His barrel. But the Bible gives me a better idea of how to understand a God who feels very real pain, yet is filled with overflowing joy.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4:17 that an eternal weight of glory far outweighs his suffering. His “light and momentary troubles” include imprisonments, severe flogging, and exposure to death again and again; receiving thirty-nine lashes five different times; being stoned once, shipwrecked three times, and beaten with rods three times; being constantly on the move; being in danger from rivers, bandits, Jews, Gentiles, and false brothers; being in danger in the city, in the country, and at sea; and being deprived of sleep, food, water, warmth, and clothing (2 Corinthians 11:23-27).

In addition, he had some kind of physical condition that he describes as a “thorn in the flesh,” tormenting him so badly that he repeatedly pleaded with the Lord for relief (2 Corinthians 12:7-8). Like Jesus, Paul also grieved constantly for the sin and rebellion among God’s people (Romans 9:3-4, 2 Corinthians 11:28-29).

Where does a mere mortal like Paul get the inner strength to be “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10), if not from a God who right now, right in this moment, and for all eternity, is doing the same thing? I need to remember that.