If you’re not familiar with the term “Christian hedonism,” it’s the idea that our maximum joy comes from bringing glory to God. John Piper, the pastor and writer who came up with the concept, put it this way: “Christian Hedonism is the conviction that God’s ultimate goal in the world (his glory) and our deepest desire (to be happy) are one and the same because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
On a recent episode of his “Ask Pastor John” podcast, Piper answered a question about Psalm 43, specifically the last phrase in these verses:
Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling!
Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy.Psalm 43:3–4 (ESV)
Since the question centered on the phrase “exceeding joy,” Piper pointed out that the Hebrew for that phrase contains two words that mean joy, pleasure, or happiness. Another translation of that phrase is “joy of my gladness.”
Piper explored what that phrase means:
“The joy of my gladness” means, of all my gladness, he’s the best. And surely that’s right. I mean, at least it means that. God is supreme. God never made anything more valuable or more enjoyable than himself. So yes, God is our exceeding joy. That’s what it means to be God, I think, and that’s what it means to love God. But the question remains, Is that all the phrase means? Is there more implied in the phrase “joy of my gladness”?
To elaborate on the meaning of “joy of my gladness,” Piper quoted one of his sermons from 2006, just after he had surgery for prostate cancer.
“God, who in all my rejoicing over all the good things that he has made, is himself, in all my rejoicing, the heart of my joy, the gladness of my joy,” he preached then. “Every joy that does not have God as the central gladness of the joy is a hollow joy and, in the end, will burst like a bubble.”
Related: Sunday Thoughts: ‘The Bible Is Good Like That’
God has given us creation for our joy and for His glory. The Bible talks about engaging our senses to see how good God is.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
1 John 1:1-3 (ESV)
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Psalm 34:8 (ESV)
As long as we don’t sin when we do so, we can enjoy all of God’s amazing gifts. We can see a sunset or a mountain and thank God for it. We can hear our favorite songs or symphonies or listen to the ocean waves and appreciate those gifts from God. We can smell flowers and freshly gut grass and be aware of our Creator. We can taste an incredible hamburger or a beautiful piece of red velvet cake and thank God for them.
But Piper pointed out that we have to be careful not to make the creation into an idol that clouds our view of the Creator. He said:
What keeps our enjoyment of pizza or friendship from being idolatry? That’s the question. Now, you could answer, “Because we always enjoy God more than pizza, and we always enjoy God more than friendship, and that keeps it from being idolatry.” And that’s true and that’s crucial. God is our exceeding joy, supreme joy.
But I think God intends to be glorified not only by being enjoyed more than pizza and more than friendship, but by being enjoyed in the very enjoyment of pizza and in the very enjoyment of friendship.
The key, Piper said, lies in combining enjoyment with thankfulness. He cited Psalm 73:25 (and I added 26): “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”
Piper added, “‘I don’t want to enjoy anything,’ he’s saying, ‘which is not also an enjoyment of God.’ I want to enjoy God in friendship. I want to enjoy God in eating. I want to enjoy God in the pleasures of the marriage bed. I want to enjoy God in music and reading and rising early to see the dawn.”
We should enjoy the things in life that bring glory to God, and we should do so in a spirit of gratitude and worship. Piper urged his listeners to “enjoy the forgiveness of sins… [and] through that gift, let us know and enjoy God as our exceeding joy — yes, and as the gladness of all our joys.” That attitude will make our joy richer and our worship more precious.