Two hundred years ago this month, on May 7, 1824, German composer Ludwig van Beethoven debuted his famous Ninth Symphony. In the symphony’s fourth movement, he used as lyrics an 18th-century poem best known in English as “Ode to Joy.”
Then, in 1907, hymn writer Henry Van Dyke used Beethoven’s tune to praise the God of all joy. His famous lyrics are beautiful and timely: “Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love,” the hymn begins. Turning from praise to petition, it adds, “Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!”
This hymn calls Christians to live and worship joyfully. Scripture, likewise, commends joy. Since we live in a cynical era, which has been dubbed an “age of anxiety,” we need to heed the words of the apostle Paul (Phil 4:4), penned from imprisonment in Rome: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!”
In 2015, the late evangelical theologian J.I. Packer admitted in an article in Christianity Today that he had to overcome, especially during his youth, a cynical temperament. He goes on to explain that he exorcised his “youthful cynicism” and learned to “live joyfully” through what many of us might call the most unlikely of biblical books: namely, the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes.
After all, dozens of times throughout Ecclesiastes, the biblical author – often referred to by scholars as Qoheleth (that is, “the Teacher”) – declares that everything is “vanity” (Eccl 1:2), a futile “chasing after the wind” (Eccl 1:14 ). At first glance, this message seems far from joyful. But, according to Packer, this apparently cynical perspective does not drive Qoheleth to bitter despair, because his teaching on “vanity” is undergirded by a “strong theology of joy” (as displayed in Eccl 2:24-26; 5:19; 8:15; 9:7-10).
Benjamin Hawkins, editor of The Pathway
Writing some years ago, C. Hassell Bullock discovered the same message of joy in Ecclesiastes, and he helpfully summarizes the book’s theology of joy:
“While Qoheleth struck his theme of vanity on numerous occasions, he nevertheless insisted that it was possible to extract joy from life,” Bullock writes. “It is not what we call ‘fun,’ but it is a deep sense of pleasure and satisfaction at being a participant in the activities of living. Ironically enough, and often contrary to our ‘weekend’ mentality, it is found in the routine of life, in eating and drinking and working.”
Despite the “adversities and injustices of the world,” the author of Ecclesiastes insists that life itself is a gift of God and that the ability to enjoy life is a gift of God. As such, we should take pleasure in life. With open hands and grateful hearts, we should enjoy our families and friends, our work and possessions. After all, as Packer writes, “Being too proud to enjoy the enjoyable is a very ugly shortcoming, and one that calls for immediate correction.”
According to Packer, Ecclesiastes “lays the right foundation” for joy, but the New Testament theology of joy goes farther. In the New Testament, we find the joy that the apostle Paul commended (Phil 4:4); the joy that grows in the Christian’s heart by the power of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22); the joy for which Christ Jesus, the Man of Sorrows, “endured the cross, despising the shame” (Heb 12:2); the joy promised to us by our Savior, if we abide in Him: “I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11).
The 17th-century poet George Herbert often wrote with astounding honesty – worthy of the writer of Ecclesiastes – about the difficulties and heartaches of life. But in his Easter poem, “The Dawning,” he calls us to lay aside our sorrow and find consolation in the risen Christ. “Thy Savior comes, and with Him mirth,” he writes, “Awake, awake: And with a thankful heart His comforts take.”
Pagans and unbelievers merely fiddle with a shallow frivolity and mirth, G.K. Chesterton once wrote. This isn’t so with Christians, for whom “joy is the fundamental thing,” while sorrow is “superficial” and fleeting.
Scripture confirms these truths: “For our momentary light affliction,” the apostle Paul writes, “is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor 4:17). Sorrow shall pass, for the Lord will wipe every tear from our eyes. (Rev 21:4). Because of such hope, we can rejoice even amid tribulation (Rom 5:1-5; James 1:2-4).
In his own life and teaching, according to George A. Buttrick, the Lord Jesus “makes joy a dominant note.”
“Has the world,” Buttrick asks, “ever fully understood the gladsome mood of Jesus?” Even amid His own suffering, Jesus knew a “a joy so intense that pain itself became sacramental – the lower octave of a rapturous song!” And even though He calls Christians to deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow Him, Jesus offers them lasting joy: “So you also have sorrow now. But I will see you again. Your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you” (Jn 16:22).
In a world filled with heartbreak, disillusionment and discouraging headlines, we all need a “strong theology of joy,” built on the truths of Scripture and fed by the gigantic, rapturous joy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is our “wellspring of the joy of living.”