Sermons on Deuteronomy 28:47

Deuteronomy 28:47 Interpretation:

Delighting in God: The Pursuit of True Joy (Desiring God) interprets Deuteronomy 28:47 as one of the “scariest warnings in the Bible,” emphasizing that God is so intent on being served with joy that He threatens severe consequences for joyless service. The sermon’s unique insight is its focus on the object of joy—insisting that the pursuit of joy must be in God Himself, not in the experience of joy or in any other object. Piper uses vivid analogies, such as comparing God to the Grand Canyon or a supernova, to illustrate the overwhelming delight that should characterize the believer’s relationship with God, and he insists that the demand for joy in God exposes the true state of the heart, not just outward obedience.

Joy in God: A Command and Delight (Desiring God) interprets Deuteronomy 28:47 as a grave warning that joyless service is not only insufficient but damning, and that God’s threat to send enemies is a direct result of failing to serve Him with gladness. Piper’s notable insight is his argument that the command to serve with joy is not “icing on the cake” but the very essence of obedience, and he uses the metaphor of “brackish water in the gutter” versus “pure mountain spring water” to illustrate the folly of seeking satisfaction anywhere but in God. He also draws a parallel between the nature of faith (as described in Hebrews 11:6) and the necessity of seeking joy in God, arguing that faith itself is defined by coming to God for reward and satisfaction.

Pursuing Joy in God: A Biblical Mandate (Desiring God) interprets Deuteronomy 28:47 as a direct command from God that His people are to serve Him with joy and gladness, not merely as a suggestion but as a requirement of obedience. The sermon uniquely frames the verse as evidence that God not only desires but demands our happiness in Him, and that failing to pursue joy in God is tantamount to disobedience, unbelief, and sin. The preacher draws a sharp line between joyless duty and true virtue, arguing that defining virtue as mere duty without joy is a distortion of biblical teaching. The sermon also references the original language by emphasizing the force of the command ("serve...with joyfulness and gladness of heart") and uses the phrase "God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy," which is attributed to Jeremy Taylor but grounded in this passage, highlighting the seriousness with which God regards joy in service.

Delighting in God: The Path to Eternal Joy (Desiring God) interprets Deuteronomy 28:47 as making explicit the connection between the absence of joy in serving God and the threat of suffering or punishment. The sermon offers a novel perspective by addressing a listener’s analogy between God’s command for joy and a human husband’s demand for love, ultimately rejecting the analogy due to the infinite worth and beauty of God compared to any human. The preacher carefully distinguishes between the relational dynamics of God and humanity, emphasizing that God’s demand for joy is rooted in His supreme value and the created purpose of humanity to find joy in Him. The sermon also explores the emotional and linguistic framing of God’s command, contrasting caricatures of God’s demand for joy with a more biblically faithful, gracious, and redemptive invitation.

Deuteronomy 28:47 Theological Themes:

Finding Joy in God: The Essence of Christian Hedonism (Desiring God) introduces the theme that joy in God is not merely a byproduct of obedience but is itself commanded and essential to glorifying God. Piper’s distinctive theological contribution is his assertion that God’s own passion for His glory is expressed in His demand that we find our deepest satisfaction in Him, and that joyless service is a fundamental opposition to God’s purposes. He also develops the idea that Christian Hedonism is not a license for self-indulgence but a call to align our desires with God’s glory, making the pursuit of joy in God the highest form of obedience.

Delighting in God: The Pursuit of True Joy (Desiring God) adds the theme that the pursuit of joy must be specifically in God, not in the experience of joy itself or in any created thing. Piper’s fresh angle is his insistence that the demand for joy in God is what truly exposes the heart’s allegiance, and that mere doctrinal correctness (even at the level of Satan’s knowledge) is worthless without delight in God. He also highlights the role of desire and affection as the root of all true obedience, moving beyond external conformity to the law.

Joy in God: A Command and Delight (Desiring God) presents the theme that the command to serve God with joy is as binding as any other biblical command, and that failure to do so is a serious sin with dire consequences. Piper’s unique contribution is his argument that the nature of faith and conversion is defined by the pursuit of satisfaction in God, and that even self-denial is ultimately about seeking greater joy in God rather than mere asceticism. He also explores the paradox that true love for others is only possible when it is rooted in the pursuit of joy in God, challenging the notion that self-denial and the pursuit of joy are mutually exclusive.

Pursuing Joy in God: A Biblical Mandate (Desiring God) presents the distinct theological theme that the pursuit of joy in God is not only permissible but is a moral imperative—obedience to God is inseparable from the pursuit of happiness in Him. The sermon adds the unique facet that joyless service is not neutral but is actively disobedient, unbelieving, and sinful, reframing the nature of sin as the forsaking of God as our pleasure and the essence of faith as seeking satisfaction in God.

Delighting in God: The Path to Eternal Joy (Desiring God) introduces the nuanced theological theme that the command to delight in God, and the consequences for failing to do so, are justified by God’s infinite worth and the created purpose of humanity. The sermon adds a fresh angle by addressing the emotional and rhetorical ways in which God’s command can be presented, arguing that the tone and context of the command (as a loving, redemptive invitation rather than a harsh ultimatum) are crucial for understanding its justice and goodness.

Deuteronomy 28:47 Historical and Contextual Insights:

Finding Joy in God: The Essence of Christian Hedonism (Desiring God) provides historical context by referencing the development of Christian attitudes toward pleasure, tracing the institutionalization of “forsaking pleasure as a virtue” back to figures like Immanuel Kant and critiquing the church’s historical tendency to elevate joyless duty. Piper situates Deuteronomy 28:47 within a broader biblical and historical narrative in which the loss of joy in God leads to spiritual decline and judgment, and he notes the original Hebrew’s dual meaning of “serve” as both worship and labor, highlighting the holistic nature of the command.

Delighting in God: The Pursuit of True Joy (Desiring God) references the Puritan era, noting that earlier generations of Christians were deeply concerned with the assurance of salvation and the affections of the heart, rather than mere external conformity. Piper uses this historical backdrop to argue that the demand for joy in God is not a modern innovation but a recovery of biblical and historical Christianity’s emphasis on the heart.

Joy in God: A Command and Delight (Desiring God) does not provide explicit historical or cultural context for Deuteronomy 28:47 beyond its biblical setting, focusing instead on the theological and practical implications of the command.

Delighting in God: The Path to Eternal Joy (Desiring God) provides historical and contextual insight by explaining that the analogy of a husband demanding love from his wife is not appropriate in the biblical context because, unlike any human relationship, God is the source and sum of all that is good, true, and beautiful, and His commands are rooted in His unique, infinite value. The sermon also notes that biblical commands regarding marriage (such as the prohibition of divorce on the grounds of lack of delight) further distinguish the divine-human relationship from human analogies, highlighting the cultural and covenantal differences between ancient Israel’s understanding of God and contemporary human relationships.

Deuteronomy 28:47 Cross-References in the Bible:

Finding Joy in God: The Essence of Christian Hedonism (Desiring God) references several passages to support and expand on Deuteronomy 28:47: Psalm 37:4 (“Delight yourself in the Lord”) and Psalm 32:11 (“Be glad in the Lord and rejoice”) are cited as explicit commands to pursue joy in God, equating them in weight with the Ten Commandments. Hebrews 11:6 is used to argue that faith itself is defined by coming to God for reward, reinforcing the necessity of seeking joy in God. Piper also alludes to Isaiah 55:1-3 as a summons to “feed upon” God, and to Ecclesiastes 12 as a summary of fearing God and keeping His commandments, which he interprets as including the command to delight in God.

Delighting in God: The Pursuit of True Joy (Desiring God) cross-references Deuteronomy 28:47 with the biblical commands to “delight yourself in the Lord” and “rejoice in the Lord,” arguing that these are not optional but central to true obedience. Piper also references the Tenth Commandment (“Thou shalt not covet”) to show that the root of all sin is misplaced desire, and he contrasts this with the biblical demand for joy in God.

Joy in God: A Command and Delight (Desiring God) groups several cross-references to reinforce the argument: Psalm 100:2 (“Serve the Lord with gladness”), Philippians 4:4 (“Rejoice in the Lord always”), Psalm 37:4, and Psalm 32:11 are all cited as commands to joy. Hebrews 11:6 is used to define faith as coming to God for reward, and Jeremiah 2:12-13 is referenced to define evil as forsaking God as the “fountain of living waters” in favor of “broken cisterns.” Matthew 13:44 is used to illustrate conversion as the joyful pursuit of treasure in Christ, and Mark 8:34 and John 12:24 are cited to show that self-denial is ultimately about seeking greater joy in God. Acts 20:35 (“It is more blessed to give than to receive”) is used to argue that true love for others is rooted in the pursuit of joy in God.

Pursuing Joy in God: A Biblical Mandate (Desiring God) references several passages to support and expand on Deuteronomy 28:47: Psalm 37:4 ("Delight yourself in the Lord"), Psalm 32:11 ("Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice"), Philippians 4:6 ("Rejoice in the Lord always"), Hebrews 11:6 (faith as seeking reward in God), and Jeremiah 2:12-13 (forsaking God as the fountain of living waters). Each passage is used to reinforce the idea that joy in God is commanded, that faith is defined by seeking satisfaction in God, and that sin is the rejection of God as our source of pleasure.

Delighting in God: The Path to Eternal Joy (Desiring God) cross-references 1 Corinthians 16:22 ("If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed") to show the link between lack of love (and by extension, joy) in God and divine punishment. It also references 2 Thessalonians 2:10 ("they refused to love the truth and so be saved") to further establish that cherishing, loving, and delighting in the truth (and in God) is essential for salvation, and that the absence of such delight leads to perishing. Deuteronomy 28:47 is explicitly cited as making the connection between joylessness and punishment clear.

Deuteronomy 28:47 Christian References outside the Bible:

Finding Joy in God: The Essence of Christian Hedonism (Desiring God) explicitly references several Christian thinkers in relation to Deuteronomy 28:47: C.S. Lewis is cited for his insight that God threatens “terrible things if we will not be happy,” a phrase originally from Jeremy Taylor, which Piper connects directly to Deuteronomy 28:47. Piper also mentions Daniel Fuller, Jonathan Edwards, and Blaise Pascal as influences in developing the concept of Christian Hedonism, though their specific comments on Deuteronomy 28:47 are not detailed. The use of Lewis and Taylor is particularly notable, as Piper credits them with alerting him to the seriousness of the biblical command to joy.

Delighting in God: The Pursuit of True Joy (Desiring God) references C.S. Lewis’s autobiography “Surprised by Joy” to illustrate the distinction between the pursuit of joy itself and the pursuit of joy in God, quoting Lewis’s realization that true joy is always about something outside oneself—namely, God. This literary reference is used to reinforce the sermon’s interpretation of Deuteronomy 28:47 as a command to pursue joy in God, not merely in the experience of joy.

Joy in God: A Command and Delight (Desiring God) references C.S. Lewis’s famous analogy of children making mud pies in the slums because they cannot imagine a holiday at the sea, using it to illustrate the folly of seeking satisfaction in lesser things rather than in God. Piper also credits Lewis with shaping his understanding of self-denial as the rejection of “brackish water” for the sake of “pure mountain spring water,” reinforcing the argument that the pursuit of joy in God is the essence of biblical self-denial.

Pursuing Joy in God: A Biblical Mandate (Desiring God) explicitly references Jeremy Taylor, an old theologian, who is quoted as saying, "God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy." The sermon notes that this statement, while clever, is biblically grounded in Deuteronomy 28:47, and uses Taylor’s phrasing to underscore the seriousness with which God regards joy in His service.

Deuteronomy 28:47 Illustrations from Secular Sources:

Finding Joy in God: The Essence of Christian Hedonism (Desiring God) uses the analogy of people in Minnesota going off to their cabins for short-lived pleasures as an example of how Christians settle for “second-rate, short-lived, unsatisfying pleasures” instead of pursuing the deeper joy found in God. Piper also references the cultural shift toward viewing the forsaking of pleasure as a virtue, tracing it back to philosophical figures like Immanuel Kant, and critiques this as a secularization of Christian ethics that has led to the elevation of joyless duty.

Joy in God: A Command and Delight (Desiring God) employs a vivid secular analogy by comparing the pursuit of joy in God to choosing “pure mountain spring water” over “brackish water in the gutter,” and he uses C.S. Lewis’s metaphor of children making mud pies in the slums instead of imagining a holiday at the sea to illustrate the poverty of seeking satisfaction in anything less than God. Piper also humorously references the “foam at the top of the beer” as an illustration of how some Christians treat joy as non-essential, though he quickly acknowledges the inappropriateness of the analogy for his audience.

Joyful Obedience: Glorifying God Through Delight (Desiring God) uses several detailed secular analogies to illustrate the meaning of Deuteronomy 28:47 and the nature of joyful obedience. The sermon compares glorifying God to enjoying a beautiful painting in a museum—not by trying to improve it, but by delighting in it and inviting others to see it. Another analogy is drawn from the experience of eating an excellent meal: one glorifies the cook not by trying to add to the meal or pay them back, but by enjoying the food and expressing delight. The sermon also uses the example of trusting the strength of a new alloy in a bridge: one honors the alloy by confidently driving across the bridge with family, not by propping it up with extra supports. Finally, the preacher likens glorifying generosity to receiving a lavish gift from a rich friend—not by trying to repay the gift, but by allowing gratitude to well up spontaneously. Each analogy is used to show that joyful delight, not burdensome effort, is the true way to honor and glorify the giver, whether it be God, an artist, a cook, or a benefactor.