Enjoying True Pleasure (Psalm 84:10-12)

[For] a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. ¹¹For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. [¹²O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!] —Psalm 84:10-12

We live in a society that has overrated the enjoyment of the perishable, and even true believers can easily forget what is the source of our greatest and only lasting pleasure.

The reason God gives us legitimate temporal pleasures is to increase our appreciation for eternal pleasures. For our flesh cannot fully appreciate the benefits of the gifts our soul receives from God. Imagine that you are just a few feet away from the breathtaking view of Niagara Falls or the Grand Canyon, and a chill comes over your entire body. What should happen is that you think something like this: O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth. If you have granted me these pleasures on this side of eternity, how much more I will be impressed by contemplating the beauty of your Son.

But if we do not make that connection, we will soon be enjoying the perishable to the extreme, and seeking in God only “food for our souls.” Unknowingly, we shall reserve the word pleasure for those things that do not produce true or eternal pleasure. This will inevitably be disastrous; for let us remember that temporal pleasures are meant to increase our appreciation of heavenly pleasures. But there is another matter. Eternal pleasures are available in some measure in this life, and we enjoy them when we are intimate with God. Our flesh does not enjoy them, but our soul learns to enjoy them.

Satisfying our soul should produce pleasure, just as when we partake of a succulent banquet. Not only do we mitigate hunger, but we experience a sense of pleasure that must be greater than the feeling of fullness. If we did not experience pleasure, eating would be a tiresome task.

The same occurs with our soul. Only Christ is true food for our soul, and God has provided means to be filled with Him. If, however, these means are not a pleasant experience for our soul, we will soon keep them by mere tiresome practices; as the evangelist Mark rightly records Jesus’ words, “and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:19).

God’s goal is not that you fulfill godly duties. He expects you to truly enjoy being with Him and with His people. Listen to these words: “Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy” (Psalm 43:4a). And in our Psalm, “My soul longed and even yearned for the courts of the Lord” (Psalm 84:2a). Psalm 84 is the passionate sigh of a soul that truly enjoys the presence of God in the midst of His people.

Child of God, may your desire to be in God’s house flow from the recognition that it is best for your soul. Once you are in that place, do not allow your soul not to enjoy it. When disaffection appears, do not ignore it. Ask God to give you back the joy of your salvation. Only when God is your greatest source of pleasure on this earth will you have the assurance that nothing will turn you away from Him. Let the memory of times of true delight draw you back to God when you are far from Him. When you go through periods of spiritual dryness, the Holy Spirit will whisper, “You need not remain so; there are greater delights for you.” This is what happened to the psalmist:

These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go along with the throng and lead them in procession to the house of God, with the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival. (Psalm 42:4)

Child of God, do not allow yourself not to enjoy the house of God. Look back and remember.

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For Reflection

1. Why do you go to church?

2. What are the predominant feelings when you approach the house of God?

3. What will you do from today on when you discover that you do not enjoy God as you should?