The author of Desiring God reveals the biblical evidence to help us see and savor what the pleasures of God show us about Him. Includes a study guide for individual and small-group use. Isn’t it true—we really don’t know someone until we understand what makes that person happy? And so it is with God! What does bring delight to the happiest Being in the universe? John Piper writes, that it’s only … John Piper writes, that it’s only when we know what makes God glad that we’ll know the greatness of His glory. Therefore, we must comprehend “the pleasures of God.”
Unlike so much of what is written today, this is not a book about us. It is about the One we were made for—God Himself. In this theological masterpiece—chosen by World Magazine as one of the 20th Century’s top 100 books, John Piper reveals the biblical evidence to help us see and savor what the pleasures of God show us about Him. Then we will be able to drink deeply—and satisfyingly—from the only well that offers living water.
What followers of Jesus need now, more than anything else, is to know and love—behold and embrace—the great, glorious, sovereign, happy God of the Bible.
“This is a unique and precious book that everybody should read more than once.”
—J.I. PACKER, Regent College, Vancouver, British Columbia
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The Pleasures of God is perhaps the most important book that John Piper has written. It is certainly the freshest and most penetrating. Many preachers and writers are calling Christians today to be more Godcentered. The irony is that even the call to be God-centered focuses attention on us, on what we must do. Certainly the Bible spends no small part of its pages telling us what we must do, but it does so out of profound God-centeredness. And here is a book that does not tell us what we must do to be God-centered; it simply is God-centered. Intoxicating.
There are quite a few books every Christian should read. And there are some that need to be read a second time to really digest them. But then there are a select few that should be read and reread and reread…perhaps every year. John Piper’s The Pleasures of God belongs on that ‘to be reread every year’ list.
Few books are genuinely life-changing. The Pleasures of God by John Piper is clearly one of them. I’ve often said to people, ‘If I were on a desert island and could have only three books, in addition to the Bible, I’d choose Desiring God and The Pleasures of God by John Piper.’
This is a book that gives you more every time you read it. I’ve read it at least once before, and I thought then that it was such a rich source of knowledge about what pleases God. Now, reading it again, I know that there is even more depth to this book, and I love it even more.
In this book, John Piper takes the focus off of man and puts it where it belongs: on God Himself. The whole theme of the book can be summed up in one line: “The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love.” This quote (from Henry Scougal) is wonderfully applied to God. What does the Most Excellent Soul love? What gives It pleasure?
Exploring this question, Piper both begins and ends with God. If you were to look at the chapter titles only, you might be surprised by what God takes pleasure in. But Piper explains in great detail why each of those things pleases God, and in fact why He should be pleased in them. By the time you’ve read the last sentence, your heart should be bursting with the joy of knowing what pleases God most.
A deeply theological, thought-provoking book, ‘The Pleasures of God’ is a book I’d recommend to anybody who has ever wondered what pleases God most, or anybody who wants to learn more about what affects the heart of God.
This is a challenging book to read. And we all need to be challenged once in a while. The author backs up everything he writes with Scripture. He gives the reader a thought proving idea of a God that isn’t always ready to chastise man when he sins but takes great pleasure in man and all of his creation.
Piper’s devotional reads are always worth checking out. Good stuff.
Very deep and thought provoking! I read it more as a devotional over a period of time.
In our fallen world, staring at the sun blinds us. But, by God’s grace, contemplating God gives us spiritual sight. Of all of Pastor John’s books, this is the most radical. Get this vision of God, and begin to see.
Books have profound potential — particularly the one you hold in your hand. John Piper is saturated with God, and his passion fills the pages of this book.