God's Good Mood
…in your presence there is fullness of joy…
Psalm 16:11
In his outstanding book, The Knowledge of the Holy, A. W. Tozer offers solid theology as it relates to the attributes of God. He writes of God’s omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience. Of God’s sovereignty and immutability. Of God’s justness, kindness, love and mercy.
And then Tozer gives this great line: “What comes to our mind when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
To be sure, this includes those attributes noted earlier. However, Mark Batterson takes this a step farther…an important step farther. He writes…
“What comes to mind when you think about God? What expression is God wearing on His face? Is He frowning? Or are there smile lines around His eyes? How about posture? Are His arms crossed, retreating? Or are His arms wide open, inviting? Is God in a good mood or a bad mood?”
I realize that it’s not easy to reduce the Almighty to one freeze frame. But I have to wonder if that snapshot isn’t an important key to how or even if we approach Him.
For example, if we picture the Lord as aloof and apart, we might well think, “He can’t be bothered by me. Unless, of course, my need is really important." So, we don’t share our needs with Him or ask for His intervention in the “little things.”
If we imagine the Lord as stern and demanding, we might conclude that we better work really hard for Him and sacrifice mightily for Him. He is best represented as a hard to please boss. And after all, we would never want to face His displeasure.
If our view of the Lord is of one who is ongoingly frustrated and disappointed with how things are going, we might conclude that there’s a scowl on His face. And if He sees us enjoying ourselves or simply acting happy that we’re upsetting Him by not sharing His negative mood.
Yet, the fact is, such views of God are not only untrue, they are demeaning. Batterson notes that there are those who think of God as a cosmic killjoy, but nothing could be further from the truth.
He quotes Dallas Willard who said, “God leads a very interesting life. Undoubtedly, He is the most joyous being in the universe.”
Our Joyous God
Consider this. At the end of each day of creation, God’s reaction was recorded: “And God saw that it was good.”
The English word, “good” is the Hebrew word tov. Tov isn’t just good; it’s better than good. It’s as good as it gets!
Tov is the original emotion. It’s equal parts unadulterated pleasure, pure delight, and unspeakable joy. It was then…and it is now.
Again, from Dallas Willard: “All of the good and beautiful things from which we occasionally drink tiny droplets of soul-exhilarating joy, God continuously experiences in all their breadth and depth.”
All that to say this: God is in a good mood. Is that a naïve denial of the pain and suffering that afflicts His broken creation? Absolutely not. Far more than anyone, the Lord is displeased at the corruption and deterioration of His original intent.
But that does not diminish His tov. He not only relished it when all was created, He anticipates with relish the redemption and recreation of re-creation.
And it’s this view of God that we need to not only understand but live in light of. For though we were once rebels, we have been redeemed. Though once we were sin-stained, we have been washed clean. Though once we were aliens and strangers, we have been adopted into God’s eternal family.
How does God view this? Zephaniah 3:17 says: “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing.”
The word, “rejoice” here can be translated as: to spin around (under the influence of any violent emotion). Spinning around because you’re overwhelmed by emotion? Sounds like dancing to me!
So now, Zephaniah 3:17 says “[God] will [dance] over you with singing.”
Not only does he sing…he dances! Have you ever taken time to imagine the Lord so thrilled with your redemption and your renewal that He sings and dances for joy?
God is indeed the most joyous being in the universe.
Sharing His Joy
In light of this, how should we then live? Would it not be to access His joy by spending time with Him? Psalm 16:11 says that “in Your presence there is fullness of joy.”
How might your Bible study become more of a personal word from your Father to you? How might your prayer time become more of a dialogue than a monologue? How might a time of solitude morph into a divine meeting?
Beyond this would it not be to join in His joy through our worship? Would it not be to seek to amplify His joy through our obedience? Would it not be to magnify His joy through our commitment to extending His Kingdom?
Heaven is going to be one non-stop celebration. It will be a party that will never end. And it’s our privilege to join in even now.
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