The Happiness of God

The ultimate ground of Christian Hedonism is the fact that God is uppermost in his own affections: the chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy himself forever.

The reason this may sound strange is that we are more accustomed to thinking about our duty rather than God’s design. And when we do ask about God’s design, we are too prone to describe it with ourselves at the center of God’s affections. We may say, for example, that his design is to redeem the world. Or to save sinners. Or to restore creation. Or the like.

But God’s saving designs are penultimate, not ultimate. Redemption, salvation, and restoration are not God’s ultimate goal. These he performs for the sake of something greater—namely, the enjoyment he has in glorifying himself. The bedrock foundation of Christian Hedonism is not God’s allegiance to us but to himself.

If God were not infinitely devoted to the preservation, display, and enjoyment of his own glory, we could have no hope of finding happiness in him. But if he does, in fact, employ all his sovereign power and infinite wisdom to maximize the enjoyment of his own glory, then we have a foundation on which to stand and rejoice.

Can you imagine what it would be like if the God who ruled the world were not happy? What if God were given to grumbling, pouting, and depression, like some Jack-and-the-beanstalk giant in the sky? What if God were frustrated, despondent, gloomy, dismal, discontented, and dejected? Could we join David and say,

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (Ps. 63:1, ESV)

I don’t think so. We would all relate to God like little children who have a frustrated, gloomy, dismal, and discontented father. They can’t enjoy him. They can only try not to bother him or maybe try to work for him to earn some little favor. Therefore, if God is not a happy God, Christian Hedonism has no foundation. For the aim of the Christian Hedonist is to be happy in God, to delight in God, to cherish and enjoy his fellowship and favor. But children cannot enjoy the fellowship of their Father if he is gloomy and unhappy. Therefore, the foundation of Christian Hedonism is the happiness of God.

But the foundation of the happiness of God is the sovereignty of God:

Our God is in the heavens;

he does all that he pleases. (Ps. 115:3, ESV)

If God were not sovereign, if the world he made were out of control, frustrating his design again and again, God would not be happy. Just as our joy is based on the promise that God is strong enough and wise enough to make all things work together for our good, so God’s joy is based on that same sovereign control: he makes all things work together not only for our good but for his glory.

If so much hangs on God’s sovereignty, we should make sure the biblical basis for it is secure.

God is absolutely sovereign:

Our God is in the heavens;

he does all that he pleases. (Ps. 115:3, ESV)

Therefore, he is not frustrated. He rejoices in all his works when he contemplates them as colors of the magnificent mosaic of God-governed history. He is an unshakably happy God—what the old theologians called the “divine blessedness.”

His happiness is the delight he has in himself. Before creation, he rejoiced in the image of his own glory in the person of his Son. Then the joy of God “went public” in the works of creation and redemption. These works delight the heart of God because they reflect his glory. He does everything he does to preserve and display that glory, for in this his soul rejoices.

All the works of God culminate in the praises of his redeemed people. The climax of his happiness is the delight he takes in the echoes of his excellence in the praises of the saints. This praise is the consummation of our own joy in God. Therefore, God’s pursuit of praise from us and our pursuit of pleasure in him are the same pursuit. This is at the heart of the great gospel! This is the foundation of Christian Hedonism.