Man’s Chief End as Enjoying God: What About the Fear of God?

Hopefully, my readers will agree that the Puritan and Piperian depiction of man’s chief end as the enjoyment of God is Scripturally warranted (see below for all seven parts of this series). There is, however, yet one more potential objection I need to address. I’ve argued that it’s biblical to reduce our biblical duty toward God into a concise all-embrasive statement. Examples include texts like Psalm 27:4, Philippians 1:21, and, last but not least, Matthew 22:37. The last of these three texts identifies “love toward God” as the “greatest commandment.” I’ve already shown in a previous post how “love” is, in this case, virtually synonymous with “enjoyment” or “delight.”

The End of the Matter

But what about Solomon’s all-embrasive summary of the believer’s duty toward God?

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man (Eccl. 12:13).

That seems to settle it! Solomon reduces the believer’s heart motivation for keeping God’s commandments to one idea: “fear God.” I don’t see how anyone can deny that Solomon’s engaging in a kind of reductionism, at least the biblical kind (see Part 4). I can see, however, where Piper critics might latch on to this verse and say, “See, ‘fearing God’ is our chief end, not ‘enjoying God.’” Admittedly, “fear” and “joy” at first glance seem to be opposites. But a proper view of what the “fear of God” means for a believer should dispel that notion.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Fearing God for the believer refers to heart-felt devotion and is not antithetical to love for God but simply a way of viewing the same affectionate admiration from another perspective. Hence, Moses can say to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 10:12-13:

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you,
but to fear the LORD your God,
to walk in all His ways
And to love Him,
To serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today
for your good?

Once again, we have a bit of reductionism going on. Moses doesn’t list all the myriad of biblical virtues that the Bible employs to express a godly disposition and a godly outward action. He uses concise language to summarize. Fearing God and loving God describe the motive God desires in this people to fuel their service. And here’s the connection: when one puts awe (“fear”) together with affection (“love”), he gets admiration. Or, to borrow the language of Psalm 2:11, he gets “rejoicing with trembling.” I think this is what Piper has in mind by encouraging believers to find their highest satisfaction in God. I’ll borrow an illustration he offers to describe the kind of happiness in God he’s commending:

Our fatal error is believing that wanting to be happy means wanting to be made much of. It feels so good to be affirmed. But the good feeling is finally rooted in the worth of self, not the worth of God. This path to happiness is an illusion. And there are clues. There are clues in every human heart even before conversion to Christ. One of those clues is that no one goes to the Grand Canyon or to the Alps to increase his self-esteem. That is not what happens in front of massive deeps and majestic heights. But we do go there, and we go for joy. How can that be, if being made much of is the center of our health and happiness? The answer is that it is not the center. In wonderful moments of illumination there is a witness in our hearts: soul-health and great happiness come not from beholding a great self but a great splendor.1

In other words, the “enjoyment,” “joy,” “satisfaction,” etc., that Piper (and the Puritans) commend is not shallow and superficial “giddiness.” It runs deep. It’s the kind of devotion that includes the components of reverence, awe, and admiration. With this in view, the enjoyment of God as man’s chief end is virtually synonymous with love for God, includes the fear of God, and issues forth in faith (orthodoxy) and obedience (orthopraxis).

In summary, then, we conclude that the Puritans and Piper have it right. It’s biblical to view man’s chief end as the enjoyment of God. The more you and I place our satisfaction in God the more we declare and show forth his glory and infinite worth. May the Lord grant us, in this respect, to be not merely hearers but doers of his Word!

B.G.

Links to the entire series:

To Enjoy God: Puritan Hedonism?
To Enjoy God: Puritan Hedonism Supported
Man’s Chief End as Enjoying God: Too Man-Centered?
Man’s Chief End as Enjoying God: Reductionistic?
Man’s Chief End as Enjoying God: What About Faith and Obedience?
Man’s Chief End as Enjoying God: What About Loving God?
Man’s Chief End as Enjoying God: What About the Fear of God?

1. God is the Gospel (Crossway, 2005), 13. [↩]