Israel, let loose and enjoy your Maker.
Zion, simply enjoy your King.
Move your bodies,
Dancing your praise.
Play your piano and guitar,
Singing your praise.
Yahweh is delighted,
Thrilled with his people.
He hangs salvation around their humble necks
Like a costly necklace.
God-lovers, soak in his glory.
(Everyday Psalms, Psalm 149, page 333)
The Westminster Shorter Catechism starts with its most well-known question and answer:
Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.
Contrary to what many assume of God, the catechism assumes God is enjoyable. This dispels the image of a stern cop or neighborhood busybody who frowns at anyone having fun. No, God is enjoyable and enjoys being enjoyed.
As Creator, God is the author of all pleasures. He built in his creation the enjoyment of all good things. As C.S. Lewis has noted, “God whispers to us in our pleasures.” St. Paul writes that we needn’t chase riches because God “richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17).
God is the greatest giver of gifts. He is open-handed with his creation, smiling as his creatures receive what he gives them. He is Joy and the giver of joy.
Prayer is the practice of pausing the mad rush of life to enjoy it all and the one who is behind it all. We don’t always end up there, but when we’ve prayed through everything, when everything else is out of the way, what remains is joy. Joy is the greatest of all emotions. And the peace, the shalom, the wholeness God is bringing through his vast project of creating and saving is not for its own sake. This putting together of what is broken has a purpose: to create the conditions for joy.
Joy is what lies at the center of the Trinity — Father, Son, and Spirit enjoying one another from all eternity. The unity of the God who is One and the shared life of the God who is Three are both necessary for joy to be experienced. And that joy is what spurred the Trinity to create in the first place — the desire for us to join in the joy shared within the heart of God. When we experience joy in our praying, we take steps into the life of the Trinity. Yes, when we experience this joy, we are tasting the goal of all creation and salvation, we are catching the fragrance of where all of this is heading.
So where do you experience the most joy? How does prayer enhance it? And how might your praying enable you and God to engage with one another and share in joy together?
Prayer: Out of your joy, Father, Son, and Spirit, you created the heavens and the earth and everything and everyone in them. And as history moves toward your glorious conclusion, joy is where this whole story is heading. Lead me into joy along the way. Give me glimpses of your glory. Let me see beauty and experience love and hear truth. Let joy abound. In Jesus. Amen.