God is a Happy God. OR Happy is a Yuppie Word

Today was interesting to say the least. I started reading the chapter on happiness from desiring God. Here is the quote that is probably the main point of this chapter:

The climax of God's happiness
is the delight he takes
in the echoes of his excellence
in the praises of his people.
--John Piper

Then later this morning I was listening to Switchfoot in the car and this song really stuck with me...

Happy is a yuppie word
Nothing in the world could fail me now
It's empty as an argument
I'm running down a life that won't cash out (cash out)
--Switchfoot

So who has the hold on happiness? God or the Yuppies? No offence to Switchfoot, but I think I'm going with God on this one. Piper's thesis is very interesting. Basically God is in love with himself. I know that sounds wrong. Because we don't respect people who are in love with themselves and we are taught from the scriptures that love "seeketh not her own". But with God it is different because he is perfect.

God is the one being in the universe
for whom self-exaltation
is the highest virtue
and the most loving act.

It is right for God to glory in His Glory.

Piper on the idea of "glory"...

God's glory is the beauty of his manifold perfections. It can refer to the bright and awesome radiance that sometimes breaks forth in visible manifestations. Or it can refer to the infinite moral excellence of his character.

God is glorified by his creation. The stars, the sunsets, the Grand Canyon, all of these things give glory to God. We will find our greatest happiness when the totality of our lives gives glory to Him.

Piper words it this way:

For God is most glorified in us
when we are most satisfied in him.

This gives legitimacy to the pursuit of happiness. It ends up at the feet of God.