This question came up, directly or indirectly, multiple times in our Clarus conference weekend:

How do we glorify God with our desires in those times when we can’t seem to feel the joyous affection for God and his Word that we should?

A section from Piper’s Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist (pp. 85-86 — well-worn pages in my copy of the the book) is one of the first things that comes to my mind in answering this question:

[The preceding comments in this chapter] might give the impression that we cannot come to God in real worship unless we are overflowing with the affections of delight and joy and hope and gratitude and wonder and awe and reverence. I do not believe this is necessarily implied in what I have said.

I see three stages of movement toward the ideal experience of worship. We may experience all three in one hour, and God is pleased with all three — if indeed they are stages on the way to full joy in him. I will mention them in reverse order.

1. There is the final stage in which we feel an unencumbered joy in the manifold perfections of God-the joy of gratitude, wonder, hope, admiration. “My soul is feasted as with marrow and fat and my mouth praises thee with joyful lips” (Psalm 63:5). In this stage we are satisfied with the excellency of God, and we overflow with the joy of his fellowship. This is the feast of Christian Hedonism.

2. In a prior stage that we often taste, we do not feel fullness, but rather longing and desire. Having tasted the feast before, we recall the goodness of the Lord-but it seems far off. We preach to our souls not to be downcast, because we are sure we shall again praise the Lord (Psalm 42:5). Yet for now our hearts are not very fervent.

Even though this falls short of the ideal of vigorous, heartfelt adoration and hope, yet it is a great honor to God. We honor the water from a mountain spring not only by the satisfied “ahhh” after drinking our fill, but also by the unquenched longing to be satisfied while still climbing to it.

3. The lowest stage of worship-where all genuine worship starts, and where it often returns for a dark season-is the barrenness of soul that scarcely feels any longing, and yet is still granted the grace of repentant sorrow for having so little love. “When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart, I was stupid and ignorant, I was like a beast toward thee” (Psalm 73 :22).

Worship is a way of gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of his worth. This is the ideal. For God surely is more glorified when we delight in his magnificence than when we are so unmoved by it we scarcely feel anything, and only wish we could. Yet he is also glorified by the spark of anticipated gladness that gives rise to the sorrow we feel when our hearts are lukewarm. Even in the miserable guilt we feel over our beast-like insensitivity, the glory of God shines. If God were not gloriously desirable, why would we feel sorrowful for not feasting fully on his beauty?

The book is available online for free. So, no excuses — if you’ve never read Desiring God immediately stop what you’re doing and read it. Give up all recreation, food, sleep, even hygiene, until you’re done.

We have just finished our annual Clarus conference weekend, and as a staff are both catching our breath for a few days as well as assessing the conference. So many people both said and wrote encouraging words. As an example of one comment card, “Thanks for another great conference. I like the format and appreciate the speakers and music ministry emphasis. The teaching/preaching is very challenging.”

This year’s topic was “The Convergence of Doctrine and Delight.” The various talks addressed the relation between truth and passion. As an example, Dr. Ray Ortlund spoke on the topic of “True Spirituality: Delighting in Truth,” looking at the convergence of truth and delight in Psalm 1. He encouraged us, as does the Psalm, to meditate on God’s truth, and not just do a quick read for information.

And as another example, Dr. Sam Storms spoke on, “Delighting Ourselves in the Lord: Why Joy in God Matters,” from Psalm 37:4. Dr. Storms noted four ways that we can delight ourselves in God. One is through intellectual fascination and another is through aesthetic adoration.

We will soon have all the talks up on the website for listening or downloading, so if you missed any, please check the website in a week. Also, as Pastor Ryan mentioned at the conference, our staff is always glad to answer any questions that came up during the conference, or later, as you listen to the talks or read through any of our speakers’ books.

I hope you’re planning on being with us tonight and tomorrow for some great singing, fellowship, and teaching/preaching in our Clarus weekend.

A few things to say before we begin tonight:

1. If you haven’t yet bought a ticket (or tickets), you can do so online here or in the church office, or you can buy them at the door when you come.

2. Please do come early. Doors will open at 5:45 PM. The singing begins at 6:15 PM (great songs, full band!). The first session with Dr. Ortlund begins at 6:30 PM.

3. I’m especially excited about the topics/titles for tonight’s two plenary sessions. They seem like such a fitting way to begin our weekend of exploring “The Convergence of Doctrine and Delight.”

• First, Dr. Ortlund will give an exposition of Psalm 1 – “True Spirituality: Delighting in Truth”
• Then, Dr. Storms will give us some insight into the historical example of “Jonathan Edwards and the Religious Affections: The Soul Set on Fire for God.”