The Fullness Of Joy

Bible Reading: Psalm 16

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

Be truthful with yourselves. Has this Psalm ever rung in your heart? Has it ever been the expression of your heart’s desire and praises? 

David was a man who feared the Lord and walked with Him intimately. In the Psalms, we see the heart of the Christian. We see their desires, values, perspective on life, and way of making sense of trouble and tribulation. There is a lot to learn from the Psalms. As we grow in our faith, our way of thinking, affections, and wills will slowly be sanctified, conformed to Christ. Gradually, as great men feared the Lord, we will learn to fear the Lord and walk in Christ’s footsteps too. 

How could David sing, “in your presence there is fullness of joy”? What was the “path of life” that was made known to Him? 

The path of fullness is found in a life of fully-devoted worship to God. God’s purpose in all creation was to bring glory to Himself. But, that does not mean that God is an egocentric attention seeker. In His holiness, He is of infinite worth and value. He is separate from all things, and His glory is the beauty of His holiness. Therefore, when He calls us to worship Him, it is because in praising what is of infinite Worth, we find our truest satisfaction. 

C.S Lewis pointed out, “enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise…It is not out of complement that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are, the delight is incomplete till it is expressed.” What Lewis implies is that when we praise God, our joy is made complete. Therefore, the best thing in the whole world is to worship God. Therefore, the ultimate aim of God in this universe is to bring us to praise and glorify Him. This is the perfect expression of God’s love. 

This is the path that David understood. This is the fullness of joy and the everlasting pleasures He discovered. David found that giving all up for God, placing “The LORD [as his] choson portion and [his] cup”, was the all-satisfying, ever-joyful path of life. 

Have we ever experienced the fullness of joy that the psalmists did? We all seek joy in all the things that we do. We seek joy in our friends, family, relationships, hobbies, work, study. God created us to be happy. So wouldn’t it make sense that God is the one who knows the best way to make us happy? 

God calls us to turn from our sin. To give all to Him, to worship Him, to live full-out for Him, because that is the path of life, that is the fullness of joy, and those are our pleasures forevermore. 

Lord, reveal Your truth to us. Have mercy on us, for we are lost. The darkness of this world has blinded us, and we cannot see Your light. It is only by Your mercy that our eyes might be opened to see You and Your glory as David and the psalmists did. Lord, give us the experience of the fullness of joy that You gave to those that came before us. Teach us what it truly means to glorify You and be satisfied in You. We ask in Jesus’ name, amen.