I was struck recently in my Bible devotions with a few verses in Psalm 16. I have always found Psalm 16 to be a source of sweet encouragement to my faith, but something stood out to me in it that I hadn't seen clearly before. David contrasts the ever-increasing sorrow of unbelievers with the ever-increasing joy of believers.
With the recent suicide of the famous comedian Robin Williams, the recent drug overdose of famous actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and the recent admission of famous NFL quarterback Tom Brady that "there has to be more than this", it seems abundantly clear that the pathway to ever-increasing joy is not the pathway to ever-increasing fame, power, and wealth in this world. Fallen society presents us with plenty of influential people that we are expected to idolize and follow with our lives who are anything but joy-filled and the overwhelming assumption given is that fame, power, and wealth is the way to find fullness of joy.
So if we "wake up and smell the coffee" and realize that true joy is not found in the pursuit of God-substitutes, then where can this true joy be found? I've heard it said that everyone is in pursuit of this joy, even those who commit suicide, so we would be lying to say we're unconcerned about finding true joy. Lets examine what King David, the shepherd king of Israel has to say…
"The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips. The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot…I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
Wow. First David tells us that not only is the world's way to joy a dead-end road, but it is actually the pathway to ever-increasing sorrow. What does he mean running after another god? When Scripture speaks of small "g" gods, it is not saying that there are a multitude of gods out there that are worthy of our worship; rather, Scripture teaches there is only one true God and that all other gods are no gods at all. These gods are only gods in the sense that we live our lives "running after" them and thus we choose to make them our gods. So if anything we run after is a god to us, then the ultimate question is: what are you pursuing in life? Pleasure, fame, wealth, power, or a life free from the stresses of a sin-cursed world? All of these things become your gods if you pursue them ultimately. David for one has discovered that pursuing these other gods only leads to a multiplication of sorrow in one's life. Sorrow is the result of unsatisfied pursuit. If fame is your god, when will you be fully satisfied? When all your peers idolize you or when the nation idolizes you? If wealth is your pursuit, how much money is enough? If pleasure is your god, how many sexual encounters is enough? If stuff is your god, how many new boats or beach houses are enough? These things leave us sorrowful because we never feel satisfied. So what is the answer to true joy?
After David expresses his hatred of this sort of lifestyle, he describes the pursuit that brings ever-increasing joy: pursuing the Lord Jesus. David describes the Lord as his "chosen portion", his "cup", and says he always sets the Lord before him. Much different from those who run after other gods, David runs after the one true and living God. He says, "All you other small god-pursuers are only increasing your sorrow. I however already have a glad heart and my whole being rejoices because I pursue the only true God".
David tells us the location of ever-increasing joy is in God: "in your presence" and "at your right hand". In verses 10 and 11 David describes what the New Testament authors later reveal as a reference to Jesus' death and resurrection. The gospel was not fully revealed to David, but he knew this "holy one" would come to die and rise again to new life. Jesus is the source of ever-increasing joy. How can we pursue Jesus for this joy? By setting the Lord Jesus always before us. How can we do that? By meditating on Jesus' perfect life, substitutionary death in the place of sinners which atoned for their sins before a holy God, his victorious resurrection, his glorious ascension, and his current intercession before the Father on our behalf. Because Jesus has lived the life you could never live and died the death you deserved and his nail-scarred body now stands as witness before this holy God that our atonement is accomplished, we can find true joy in him alone.
The joy of the Christian life is not like a dump truck that is all poured out on us at conversion. Although an abundance of joy is given to God's people in the new birth, the joy of believers is a joy that increases through the trials of life that drive us to Jesus and the length of time we study his Word and come to know his grace more fully. Prince of preachers Charles Spurgeon once said that he has learned to kiss the waves that press him against the Rock of Ages. We must also consider the obvious for eternal souls like ours: the sorrow of the wicked will only be ever-increasing in hell, but the joy of God's children will be ever-increasing in heaven. In 10,000 years our sorrow or joy will still be multiplying wherever our soul may be. If you have yet to find joy, stop running after these other gods and turn in broken-hearted repentance and faith to the Lord Jesus. David's joy was not really in the pursuing of Christ, but in Christ himself. David's joy wasn't in the life and future that Christ offered either, but in Christ alone. David rejoiced and had fullness of joy in his earthly life because he had come to know God, who would reveal himself later in Jesus. If you have found this joy in Christ, don't give into the same lie of the evil one in the garden who tempted our first parents with the thought of being our own gods.
19th Century prayer warrior and advocate for orphans in England, George Muller, once made the remark that his daily ambition was to make his soul "happy in the Lord". Make that your pursuit today: to be happy in the Lord Jesus and all that he has so graciously done to save you from and to our awesome God.
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