“You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. ”
On the road of life, I am approaching a major intersection. After 13 years on the SRC Highway (the last ten plus as the Senior Pastor), Shannan and I are merging onto a new lane of ministry. Come February 1, I will be serving as the President of Lancaster Bible College|Capital Seminary & Graduate School.
If anyone should be throwing confetti, it is me! I am the guy with the “dream job” who is going to the “dream job.” Looking in the rear-view mirror, I have had the great privilege of serving Spanish River. I have been well-loved, well-supported, and well-staffed. We have watched God do some truly great things. Looking at what’s to come, I can only say, “Wow! I get the privilege of doing this?!”
Yet, despite the delight of the good “old” days and the expectation of the exciting “new” days, my joy level was off for a number of days. Were my joy helium, there wasn’t enough to lift a balloon.
What gives?
When it comes to my life, the reason for my lack of joy was not as important as the solution — which David addresses and I experienced.
You see, David was enjoying a good mood of the soul despite his bad circumstances. Read Psalm 4. Look closely and you will find all the things David did NOT need to bring him joy. David did not need more stuff, better surroundings, or a different set of circumstances.
Why was this? Because God was enough.
When I analyze my joy lapse, David’s solution was my problem: God was not enough for me. Oh, you wouldn’t know it on the outside. I was saying all the right things, but on the inside I was looking for more . . . .
I suspect I am not too different from most people. Think about it. When we feel different conditions or better circumstances or more of X, Y, or Z will boost our joy, are we — at a deeper level — believing that God has not given enough? Or to put it differently, does my joylessness subtly communicate that someone or something can ultimately satisfy me more than God.
When God said, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3), this was not a prohibition from a petty and jealous God, but rather the dictate of a loving Father who knew that his good gifts could never take the place of him.
When we swap praising God for complaining or comparing it is probably because we have replaced the One who gives more with the "more" He gives. In short, we have set up an idol. Martin Luther addresses what it means to replace God with a “god” (an idol):
Therefore I repeat that the chief explanation of this point is that to have a god is to have something in which the heart entirely trusts... Thus it is with all idolatry; for it consists not merely in erecting an image and worshiping it, but rather in the heart, which stands gaping at something else, and seeks help and consolation from creatures, saints, or devils, and neither cares for God, nor looks to Him for so much good as to believe that He is willing to help, neither believes that whatever good it experiences comes from God. Ask and examine your heart diligently, and you will find whether it cleaves to God alone or not.
When I examine my heart diligently I find that I often cleave to the gifts of God (whatever form they may take) than my God who provides it. Anytime that happens I will inevitably start comparing what I have with what someone else has. But when my heart is fully focused on and satisfied in God, there is no need to look elsewhere. As David points out -- nothing can "out-joy" God.
“Complaint and comparison are symptoms that I have replaced the One who gives more with the “more” He gives. ”
So now it's our turn to fill in the blank. Resting in God we can say, "You have put more joy in my heart than they have when _____"
When their team wins the championship.
When they get the kuddos I secretly desire.
When their work is better than mine.
When they pick up that new car.
When they get the promotion.
When their health is strong and stable.
When their kids "outshine" mine.
When they seem to have the bigger blessing.
When . . .
The fact is -- and this is sometimes easier to write than to believe -- God is enough and more than enough for me. Knowing this and resting in this brings joy.
God's joy is light years beyond any possession, achievement, or position others may claim, so I need not be jealous of them.
God's joy impacts my waking and my sleeping. This is why David concludes his song by saying,
“In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety. ”
God gives more joy . . . in the middle of the day or in the middle of the night. Knowing this, I can rest secure in his love. Philip Bennett Powers captures this so well:
There is something here which should be inexpressibly sweet to the believer, for this shows the minuteness of God's care, the individuality of his love; how it condescends and stoops, and acts, not only in great, but also in little spheres . . . .
God gives more joy . . . because He is enough and he really does love you more.
I am learning to rest in that truth, I am learning to rest in God. And in that rest, I am finding more joy.
_________________
Notes:
"Therefore I repeat . . . " comes from an excerpt from Luther's commentary on the first of the Ten Commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3). You can read Luther's writing online. Thanks to Mars Hill Church for this quote.
Philip Bennett Power's 'I Wills' Of The Psalms in The Treasury Of David