Almighty God and Merciful Father, we praise you for your everlasting happiness in the fellowship of the Trinity; that you are an infinitely exuberant God; satisfied with the panorama of your own perfections reflected in the radiance of your Son. What part of the body does colitis affect? In portraying the worth of Gods soul in the object of his love we must begin at the beginning. If we apply that to God, then one way of beholding the worth and excellency of God is to meditate on what he loves. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then it goes up and brings down bubble after bubble until a little balloon of air is formed where it can live and eat and mate. God is pleased when we share the gospel with others and bring them into His kingdom. It is also the joy which God possesses and experiences. There has never been a time that Jesus was not God's Son, so this delight precedes his earthly Incarnation and has been going on from eternity. The Lord is the everlasting God, This is the scope of what God does when he does whatever he pleases. Read full chapter. The Son is the image of the Father. The result is a plan to preach thirteen messages entitled the pleasures of God. It is precisely what I know to be true from my own experience (as do many of you! 26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. Our God is in the heavens; Gray had been moved by the thought that on the bottom of the ocean there were beautiful gems that no human eye would ever see, and that in distant deserts millions of flowers would bloom, blush with vivid colors, give off a sweet fragrance, and never be touched or seen or smelled by anybody but God! He delights in the work of his hands. As I asked myself that question on the retreat two weeks ago, a new answer came to my mind. Why? God is pleased when we serve others, especially those in need. He was pleased and happy with his creative effort. Ecclesiastes 2:26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. Jul 09, 2021 This question has two answers. This brings us to the focus of todays message The Pleasure of God in All That He Does and todays text: Psalm 135. It means that nothing outside Gods own pleasure the pleasure he has in what he is, nothing but that pleasure has constrained his choices and his deeds. 18 "The joy of the Lord is your strength" ( Nehemiah 8:10 ). Many of us tend to think that there are strict rules or guidelines we need to follow to please God, but looking deeper into the Scriptures, we learn that there are several ways to please Him and bring Him joy. Let us pray: Infinite, eternal, and righteous God, we confess that we have often belittled you and exalted ourselves to the center of your affections where you alone belong in the person of your Son. When we follow these principles, we not only please God, but we also find joy and fulfillment in our relationship with Him. He made this penetrating comment: The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love. That struck me as very true. And therefore God the Son is co-eternal with God the Father and equal in essence and glory. In John 14:21, Jesus said, Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. This suggests that our joy is ultimately found in our connection with God. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be . Furthermore, we can find joy in knowing Gods promises. Moses says that when they are judged, they will unwittingly give an opportunity for God to rejoice in the demonstration of his justice and his power and the infinite worth of his glory. The Father rejoices in the Son. The key verse for our purpose is verse 31: This is not a prayer for something that might not happen. Though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant. We repent and turn from our presumption and gladly stand in awe of your eternal, self-sufficient happiness in the fellowship of the Trinity. Acts of kindness and generosity demonstrate our love for God and our understanding of His command to love others. God means for us to be stunned and awed by his work of creation. It was created for the enjoyment of God. ): seeing God for who he really is has proven again and again to be the most powerful and compelling force in motivating my quest for holiness and joy in him. Even this is pointless. In the end, it will not be the seas or the mountains or the canyons or the clouds or the great galaxies that fill our hearts to breaking with wonder and fill our mouths with eternal praise. Verse Concepts. As humans, we often seek ways to please those we love, especially when it comes to our relationship with God. I take this to mean that God was delighted with his work. who looks on the earth and it trembles, And I am saying that what I just defined as the joy of God is the essence, but not the sum or the totality, of what it means to love God. New King James Version Portray his pleasures in preaching. The Joy of the Lord: When we do those things that please God we can experience His joy. Which brings me to the final statement. CHAPTER VERSE Ecclesiastes 2:26 "For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. Even on the way to Calvary he had legions at his disposal. That is the way we are. Be spiritually minded. So lets begin with the basic reason that seems to me to be right here in verse 31. God and God alone is the souls end. So obedience to what God says is a branch that grows from the root of love, but I doubt that it would be wrong to say obedience is part of what it means to love God in the big, general sense. and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. . Genesis 1 describes for us not only the fact of an ordered creation by God, but also Gods response to his creation. Preaching is the portrayal or display or exhibition of divine glory to the hearts of men and women (thats 2 Corinthians 4:46), so that by the beholding of this glory they might be changed into the likeness of the Lord from one degree of glory to another (thats 2 Corinthians 3:18). Let me say it again: Joy is a deep, settled (I almost wanted to say restful, and that would be okay), emotionally contented and emotionally restful and emotionally satisfying yes just a deep yes from the heart to the supreme worth of God above all things in any circumstance. you sea monsters and all deeps. In times of trial and tribulation, it can be difficult to find joy, but as Christians, we know that joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit that is available to us at all times. And waste its sweetness on the desert air. In Psalm 148 the psalmist calls on creation itself to praise the Lord: Praise him, sun and moon, No one can offer anything to him that doesnt already come from him. He has never been lonely. Living a life of love and service is also pleasing to God. Behold his glory in listening. and I will accomplish all my pleasure. There are 10,000 known species of diatoms! It is first in all the references to this command. in the seas and all deeps. And if you only knew how many millions of other wonders there are beyond your sight that I behold with gladness everyday! Right here in our text, Psalm 104:2526 it says. It does a somersault on the surface of the water and catches a bubble of air, and holds it over the breathing holes in the middle of its body while it swims to the bottom of the lake and spins a silk web among the seaweed. 26 For to the man who is good from [God's] viewpoint he gives wisdom, knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of collecting and accumulating things to leave to him who is good from God's viewpoint. A second lesson to learn from this truth is that God is not constrained by anything outside himself to do anything he does not want to do. Most people in the world have no experience of lasting joy in their lives. Is he going to accomplish all his pleasure or not? That is the second reason you cant limit the freedom of God in this psalm to the natural realm. So I would say that this kind of joy in God is the essence, but not the totality, of what it means to love God. And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him (1 John 3:22). This is no artificial or merely intellectual construction. his understanding is unsearchable. When he looks at his Son, he enjoys and admires and cherishes and prizes and relishes what he sees. Were on a mission to change that. We are on the brink of the ineffable here, but perhaps we may dare to say this much: as long as God has been God, he has been conscious of himself, and the image that he has of himself is so perfect and so complete and full as to be the living, personal reproduction (or begetting) of himself. This pushes us back further into the Godhead and on to affirmation three. Isnt the essence of righteousness to be moved by perfect delight in what is perfectly glorious? 26 For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge . This also is vanity and a chasing after wind. He is author of. Or we could say he took the initiative to clothe the fullness of his own deity with human nature. In this verse, King David encourages all those who rely on God to take refuge in Him. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit. Verse Concepts. In conclusion, there are several ways to please God and bring Him joy. I will try to unfold this truth in five affirmations. Full many a gem of purest ray serene, I think the reason is because there is an essence of love that is a heartfelt treasuring, esteeming, delighting, resting, being satisfied in God, that yields expressions of that love through our strength and through our mind and so on. For he commanded and they were created. Who can fathom the human brain and the mystery of mind and body! The psalmist does not mean: O, I hope God will rejoice in his works, but I am not sure he will. If that were the meaning, then the first line of the verse would have to have the same sense: O, I hope Gods glory will endure forever, but I am not sure it will.. In Hebrews 1:3 it says of the Son. Today we focus on one of the most astonishing things that God has done: he has created the universe, and what a universe it is! We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. Instead, when a rebellious, wicked, unbelieving person is judged, what God delights in is the vindication of truth and goodness and of his own honor and glory. Therefore the original, the primal, the deepest, the foundational joy of God is the joy he has in his own perfections as he sees them reflected in his Son. Rolando R. dela Cruz, Rector of the Manila Cathedral. So the most basic reason that God delights in his creation is that in creation he sees the reflection of his own glory, and therefore he is not an idolater when he delights in his work. may the Lord rejoice in his works. What this suggests to me is that the joy that God has in his works is owing to the fact that they are the expression of his glory. Ezekiel 33:11. Spending time in prayer, worship, and reading the Bible, focussing on His promises and living a life of gratitude can help us cultivate a deeper joy that can only come from a relationship with God. Ecclesiastes 2:26 in all English translations. To have faith and trust God in all areas of our lives. Should the Father really share his affection with the world? and because he is strong in power Furthermore, the proverb notes that a crushed spirit dries up the bones, describing how a negative attitude and constant worry and stress can have an adverse effect on our health and well-being. This verse teaches that whenever God acts, he acts in a way that pleases him. Give the sacrifice God wants. God is not a sadist. I was reading again part of Henry Scougals The Life of God in the Soul of Man. Love, obedience, worship, thankfulness, serving others, and sharing the gospel are some of the most significant ways to do so. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power.