Does God know joy? Can you picture it?
I am reading these days the story of Jayber Crow*, a fictitious barber in small town Kentucky in the nostalgic past. He is the creation of Wendell Berry–author, nature-lover, and farmer. Berry is also a bit of a poet. I sat with my little lunch catching the sun before it disappeared around the back side of the house today, relaxing with a book of Berry’s poems. I’m not a fan of the ones that rant about progress and war and other human maladies, but this phrase caught my eye (Leavings,p.99)
…the maker’s joy in what is made,
the joy in which we come to rest.
In our last home group we were considering Ephesians 2:10: We are His workmanship. The Greek word here is ‘poiema’ from which we get ‘poem’. We are God’s creative expression, the crowning glory of His creation, created to bring Him praise, for ‘from Him, though Him and to Him are all things’ (Rom.11:36). What craftsman doesn’t find joy in his creation?
We also considered Exodus 31 in which God appoints the craftsmen that will create all the beautiful adornments for the tabernacle. He had given the pattern, then He provided the skilled workmen and filled them with His Spirit. It seems to me a fitting picture of what He has done for each of us who have come to know Jesus as Saviour and Lord. The pattern for living is His word, our bodies His tabernacle from which flow the gifts and abilities with which He has equipped each of us in order to display His glory to the world that we inhabit…
Our lives bring God joy as we live out the essence of what He has made, as we create, as we work, as we live in fellowship with one another and with our God…We bring Him joy! Much as a splash of paint rightly placed, a pantry displaying the season’s bounty all jarred, or a shapely loaf of homemade bread fresh from the oven bring their creator joy, so we, His creation, bring Him joy, first simply by virtue of being His creation and ultimately as His redeemed ones, now able to live as He designed us to from the beginning. This was the joy set before Jesus as He suffered to buy us back from the slave market of sin and present us to the Father “behold I and the children God has given me.” (Heb 2:13 ESV)
And it is the joy He holds as we live before Him doing all the day to day things He’s set before us…
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the LORD delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a young woman, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.—And I have given to all able men ability, that they may make all that I have commanded you—O LORD, you have searched me and known me!…For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well…How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you.
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Is. 62:3-5 ESV; Eph.2:10 ESV; Ex.31:6ESV; Ps. 139:1,13-14,17-18 ESV; Zeph. 3:16-17 ESV;
May we be aware today of God’s joyful oversight.
As we live out His design we bring our Maker joy!
–LS
I love you, Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship You
Oh, my soul, rejoice!
Take joy my King
In what You hear
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
In Your ear
–Petra
*For more of Jayber Crow visit my Quotes and Notes blog at:
https://dictationbydawn.wordpress.com
It’s been ages since I read Berry’s poems. Your post makes me want to sit down with a very large cup of tea and re-discover some of it. Maybe once we finish Jayber . . .
A poem here, a poem there, perfect with a cup of tea! They actually make a perfect accompaniment to Jayber!
Thank you for these thoughts about the Joy of God. This is perfect for today, as I look up to Him, and want to find more of HIS Joy! How amazing, no matter how many times I read it, is the fact that God takes joy and sings over us! Blessings to You!
Bettie, Why is ‘for the Lord delights in you’ so hard to fathom. It takes a lifetime. One reason may be the accuser’s voice. I saw it this morning in Job’s friend’s sharing of his terrifying vision (Job 4:12ff) He trembled with fear to hear the slithering accusation: “a hushed voice said, ‘Can a mortal be just and upright before God? Can a person be pure before the Creator?'” Thanks to Jesus, yes! (I wrote YES! in my margin and followed up with a reading of Ephesians 1:4!) And could Job have overheard God’s dialogue with Satan in Job 1 he might have known that this trial he was undergoing was indeed bringing God great glory…’ have you considered my servant Job…’ Job was a showcase of God’s goodness and a testimony to His worthiness to be worshiped. You are that as well, Bettie.
Might we imagine God saying…’have you considered my servant Bettie…’?
Blessings on your day!
Oh Linda, thank you for such encouraging words. He truly does see the end from the beginning, doesn’t He? And He is working all things together for our good, for those of us who love Him. Like Job, we just have such a hard time seeing that! May I tune my ears to hear Him singing!
I just came upon this quote which fits in so perfectly here. And so we fight on by faith!
“If we could be fully persuaded that we are in the good grace of God, that our sins are forgiven, that we have the Spirit of Christ, that we are the beloved children of God, we would be ever so happy and grateful to God. But because we often feel fear and doubt we cannot come to that happy certainty.
“Train your conscience to believe that God approves of you. Fight it out with doubt. Gain assurance through the Word of God. Say: “I am all right with God. I have the Holy Ghost. Christ, in whom I do believe, makes me worthy….”
“….Let us never doubt the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, but make up our minds that God is pleased with us, that He looks after us, and that we have the Holy Spirit who prays for us.” (Martin Luther Bible Commentary on Galatians)