Lasting Joy

6 FEBRUARY

Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Proverbs 5:1-14

When God is reconciled to us, we have all things necessary for happiness. The phrase Thy presence (i.e., the countenance of God) may be understood both as God beholding us or our beholding God. The fatherly favor that God displays in looking upon us with a serene countenance precedes our joy and is the first cause of it. Yet this does not cheer us until, on our part, we behold it shining upon us.

David also uses this clause to distinctly express to whom those pleasures belong. God has in His hands such a full and overflowing abundance of pleasures that these pleasures are sufficient to replenish and satisfy the whole world. So why does a dismal and deadly darkness envelop the greater part of mankind? It can only be because God does not look upon all men equally with His friendly and fatherly countenance. And because He does not open the eyes of all men to seek joy in Him and nowhere else. 

Fullness of joy stands in contrast to the evanescent allurements of this transitory world. People who divert themselves with the miserable pleasures of the world will eventually find themselves unsatisfied, famished, and disappointed. People may excessively intoxicate and glut themselves with worldly pleasures, but instead of being satisfied, they will in time become wearied of them to the point of loathing.

The pleasures of this world will vanish like dreams. David says the only true and solid joy in which the minds of men may rest cannot be found anywhere else but in God. None but the faithful who are content with God's grace alone can be truly and perfectly happy.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: The pleasures of evil evaporate quickly and leave nothing but bitterness. So why are we so often lured by earthly things? Why do we look for happiness in ungodly entertainment? Do not be fooled by the promises of the world. Seek the joy that is pure and eternal.

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke