Chapter 7

Chapter 7 The joy of believing in God

Since the joy of the Christian has its foundation in God, the reader’s attention may very properly be directed to some particular aspects in which this position is illustrated. The first which shall be noticed is a very simple one, namely, the habitual and practical conviction of the Divine existence. I am not disposed, in these pages, to enter upon any formal argument against atheism; but would remark simply, that while the avowed atheist is rarely to be met with, there is, among many who style themselves Christians, a vast deal of practical atheism. The effect, in this latter case, on the happiness of man is very little less than where the disbelief of a God is openly avowed. If the soul is wholly absorbed from day to day, for a series of years, in the mere business or pleasures of the world, it is leading, so far, an atheistic life. The fact, that no profession of this monstrous doctrine is made, abates but in a small degree the influence which the practice of it exerts over the moral affections. There is indeed this point of difference; in the one case the individual feels but little check upon an unrestrained indulgence of the evil passions; while in the other, there is the power of conscience strengthening its rebukes by a vague impression of future retribution.

Now we admit that, until the soul can have some reasonable hope that God is its Friend and Portion, the habitual conviction of the Divine existence can hardly be supposed to produce pleasure, much less joy. If the individual is conscious that his course of conduct is such as God would not approve; or if his desires are such as he is unwilling to lay before the Omniscient Eye, it must be evident that, instead of finding in the idea of God’s eternal existence anything agreeable, it will be the source of much disquiet and alarm. Hence it is said of such in the Scriptures, that they desire not the knowledge of his ways, Job 21:14. But while the idea of God is shut out intentionally from the minds of those who may be termed practical atheists, whose attention is confined to the gifts, while it is impiously withdrawn from the Giver, the pious soul delights in the very thought of God, and finds in this grand fundamental fact a substantial foundation of joy. The conception of God—inadequate as it must of course be, even where the Bible has taught it—is nevertheless one so well adapted to the soul’s nature and desires, that it produces a powerful augmentation of its happiness. This, I repeat, is the case only where the soul has some reasonable hope that the great Creator has become reconciled to it through Jesus Christ. The truly pious therefore have, in the habitual conviction of the Divine existence, a sublime and glorious conception lying before their mind at all times, and operating upon its powers to enlarge them, and upon its desires to purify and ennoble them. Here is an advantage in favor of piety which is not often contemplated. Other men may talk of their belief in God; but so long as they aim to keep this grand idea away from their thoughts it does not exert even its natural effect to enlarge and ennoble the powers. The Christian is in the daily contemplation of this fact. The grand conception is operating perpetually, and must hence give dignity and compass to the soul’s faculties, while at the same time the moral affections are awakened and purified.

Every pious man delights in the idea of the Divine existence. It not only enlarges but rejoices his heart. There is the accompanying conviction that God is his Portion, his Father, and his Friend. This filial spirit abates the overpowering impression of so great a truth, and enables him to mingle holy love with reverential fear. It is with the godly man a habitual, pervading impression. God is "in all his thoughts." The universe is to him illuminated with the Divine presence. He has lifted his contemplations above the region where they used to dwell, and finds himself searching for God in every event of his life, and marking his footsteps in all the changes that take place in this mutable sphere. Who cannot see that such a thought must necessarily afford a ground of exultation to the Christian? Let any mind, now buried amid earth’s low cares and pleasures, making all its calculations, and laying all its plans without a recognition of God, or even a thought of his presence and government—let this mind come fully and habitually under the belief of a God, and begin to acknowledge him in all its ways, what a calm confidence will at once overspread it, and how soon will it evince a dignity to which it was before a stranger!

There is something sublime in the idea of an ever-present, all-pervading God. It gives the soul that holds it a stability which no vicissitudes of earth can undermine. It plants the feet upon a rock. It enables the devout man to sing, and to rejoice even when the prospect is otherwise appalling. He goes forth, too, among the works of this great Creator, and holds converse with everything which God has made. Every such object has a tongue and a voice which ministers instruction to the soul. Where the poet sees only some fine combination in nature, he adds to it the vital breathings of the present and glorious God. While the philosopher exults in the newly discovered analysis, the Christian says, "Here is the finger of God." Multitudes, "with brute unconscious gaze," are dwelling only on the intrinsic value of nature’s gifts; the contemplative Christian adds a new and moral charm by connecting them with that hand, which "opens to satisfy the desire of every living thing." Is there no advantage in all this? Has not the pious soul a greater and more sublime source of joy than those groveling minds who, while they deny not the being of God in words, do practically exclude Him from their thoughts! Atheistic conduct may exist where an atheistic creed is not adopted; but to have a full perennial fountain of joy, we must have the habitual conviction, that there is a God, that he is ever present, and that he is our Friend and Portion.