Enjoying God: Part 2 (4)
“And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious.” Isaiah 11.10
And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-LORD-Is-My-Banner… Exodus 17.15
God’s banner
The idea of God raising a banner over His people occurs with some frequency in the Scriptures, especially in the Old Testament.
His banner flies over the people who fear His Name (Ps. 60.4).
He drapes a banner of love over His Bride (Song 2.4).
He intends the nations of the earth to see His banner and be drawn to it (Is. 5.26; 11.10; 13.2).
Over us is a banner of salvation for God’s people (Zech. 9.16, 17) and it proclaims the goodness, beauty, and bounty of the Lord.
As is perhaps obvious, the banner God raises over us His people is the banner of His own Name, His dwelling with and among us to make us into a powerful nation, characterized by righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Is. 18.3-7; Rom. 14.17, 18).
In the truest possible sense, the Lord Himself is our banner, that which proudly waves by us, over us, and ahead of us as we seek the Kingdom and righteousness of God.
Thus, necessarily, that banner represents the joy we have in the Lord and signals to the world that, far from dreading the consequences of fearing and submitting to God, we actually enjoy Him Who has made us and saved us, and Who daily abounds toward us in every good thing.
The role of banners
Occasionally, when I was a kid, my dad would take his sons to a baseball game at old Busch Stadium on Grand Avenue in St. Louis. It was always a great time because my dad was adept at explaining what was going on and telling us what to watch for when runners were on base.
On one such occasion, my dad bought me a St. Louis Cardinals pennant. Red with white lettering, and a cocky cardinal perched above the sweet spot on a baseball and two crossed bats underneath. I was a Cardinals fan. And I had a banner to prove it.
That began my love for pennants of the teams I cheered for as a kid. Soon I had an Illinois pennant pinned to my wall next to the Cardinals one. Then a few more of the Big 10 teams and, after my brother went to Missouri, a Mizzou pennant. I found those pennants beautiful, exciting, and even satisfying, because they sparked in my mind highlights from games I’d listened to on the radio or read about in the Globe Democrat.
The pennants remained on my wall—with diminishing affective impact—until I went off to college. My mom took them down after that, and I never knew what became of them (along with two full shoe boxes of baseball cards!).
The point is, these “banners” gave me a certain identity. They reminded me of great things and excited in me great expectations for my own sports career. They beautified my room, but they could not beautify my life. They were beautiful and important in a certain way, but they had no life. I didn’t miss them when they were gone.
But the banner of joy that enfolds us in the Presence of God is not like those childhood pennants.
For the world
Isaiah declares over and over that the banner God raises over us is not merely for private enjoyment. It’s not something to pin on a wall, look at with fond memories, or use to gin up some hope of victory in a coming contest. The banner which God has unfurled over us is a banner of joy to the world, to our world, that part of the world to which God sends us every day. Through us He declares Himself to the world, holds out the promise of a total new orientation of life, and invites interested parties to join us in enjoying Him.
Joy can be contagious. Whether it reaches someone in the form of a personal presence, a word of affirmation or encouragement, or some deed of assistance cheerfully done, joy can spread to others and affect their soul, if only for a brief while.
So if our enjoyment of God is continuous and growing—if His banner is brightly unfurled over, in, and through us—we are more likely to bring the gift of joy and the invitation to enjoy God to those with whom we have to do. Thus, we must not pin God’s banner on the wall of our soul, there to enjoy it in the privacy of our own spiritual lives. We want to be clothed in the enjoyment of God day by day, in all we do, with all the people to whom God brings us.
But for this to be so, we must daily feed on the Word of God, enjoying Him there (Jer. 15.16). We must come into His Presence in prayer and meditation, waiting on Him to fill us with joy. And then we must go forth, still enjoying our ever-present-with-us God to show and wave and declare His joy to our world.
For if we can do this, and be consistent at it, some will notice, and some will be drawn, and some will even come under God’s banner of joy for eternal life in Jesus Christ (Is. 11.10).
Search the Scriptures
1. Review the various passages in the first section of this article. Is this the banner you see in your own life? Explain.2. Who are the people to whom God sends you day by day? In what ways do they see His banner unfurled over and in and through you?
3. How should you prepare each day to let God’s banner declare His joy to your world?
Next steps—Demonstration: Christ is our banner of joy. How will you show Him to others today? Will you have an opportunity to share your enjoyment of God with someone today?
T. M. Moore
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
How should joy affect our lives as Christians? Our booklet, Joy to Your World!, can show you how both to know more of the Lord’s joy and to invite others into it as well. Order your copy by clicking here.
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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
