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The Pleasure of the Lord

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• I want you to open your Bibles, Dave, if you would, to Psalm 149. Psalm 149. And we're going to be looking just at verse 4. Psalm 149, verse 4. The title of today's message is "The Pleasure of the Lord." The Pleasure of the Lord. Notice Psalm 149, verse 4: "For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people. He will beautify the meek with salvation." Have you ever really stopped to think and ask yourself, what is it that pleases the Lord? Each one of us are very much concerned with our own pleasure. In fact, we usually do that which pleases us before we will do anything that would please anyone else. Most of the time, however, we are willing to please ourselves even to the extent that we will neglect the Lord and that which pleases Him. If you would look in your Bibles very quickly to Isaiah 58, and I want you to note verses 13 and 14 and what God says concerning this particular truth. Look in Isaiah chapter 58, beginning there with verse 13.

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• Here is what God tells His people. Isaiah 58 and verse 13, God said, "If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then thou shalt delight thyself in the Lord. And I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." So God then sovereignly promises special blessings for those who seek His pleasure above their own pleasure. And the truth of the matter is this, we are actually guilty of idolatry when we put our pleasure above that which pleases the Lord, because we are putting ourselves ahead of Him. So have you ever meditated upon the questions, what is it that pleases the Lord? What is it that delights Him and gives Him pleasure? Well, we are told specifically in verse 4, "For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people, he will beautify the meek with salvation."

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• Now the word "taketh pleasure" is actually one word in the Hebrew. It conveys the idea of complacency, of satisfaction and delight. It is the opposite of being pained and offended. So the Bible is telling us then that God has a complacent satisfaction. That is, He is satisfied with us exactly as we are in one sense of the word. That is, as we are in Christ. He delights in our welfare. He delights in doing good for us. And we are able to give Him pleasure in that sense. And since we are able to give Him pleasure, and since He does take pleasure in us, we should make sure that we do exactly that and not cause Him grief.

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• Now, there are several truths that I want to draw just from this one simple verse before we go further in the Scripture. Look at verse 4 again. "For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people." First, it should be emphasized that He takes pleasure only in His people. Only in His people. Not everyone belongs to Him in this peculiar and particular manner. It is true that Psalm 100 in verse 3 says this, "Know ye that the Lord, He is God.

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• It is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His pasture." But we must understand that that verse does not refer to every individual. John Gill, the great Baptist commentator, said this, listen carefully, in commenting on verse 4, he says, "This text does not refer to all mankind, though they are all his people by creation and are under the care of his providence, yet they are not all acceptable unto him. Some are abhorred by him for their sins and transgressions, but thankfully the ones mentioned in verse 4 are a special and peculiar people whom he has foreknown and chosen, taken in the covenant of his grace, and provided it in blessings for them, whom he has given to Christ, he has redeemed, and who are called by the Spirit and the grace of God, whereby they appear to be his people.

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• It is these that the Lord loves with a love of complacency and delight. He takes pleasure in their persons as considered in Christ, in whom they are accepted with Him, as they are clothed with His righteousness and made comely through His comeliness, as washed in His precious blood and adorned with the graces of His Spirit. Yea, he takes pleasure in their services done in faith and from love, and to his glory in their sacrifices of prayer and praise, as though offered up through Christ, in the company of them, and communion with them, and in their prosperity and happiness here and hereafter." Isn't that wonderful? Notice what he's saying. God takes pleasure in His people. He takes pleasure in the fact that He's chosen us. He takes pleasure in the fact that He's predestinated us. He takes pleasure in the fact that He's regenerated us, converted us. He takes pleasure in that He's called us in Christ. He takes pleasure in the fact that we're able to please Him in obedience and faith. So if we are His, then we are His special and peculiar people.

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• That's why through the Bible, the Bible says that we are the apple of His eye. We are His special treasure. In Malachi 3 and verse 17, God said it like this, "And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his son that serveth him." Notice what God said, "and they shall be mine in the day that I make up my jewels." So you have to understand when God says, "for the Lord takes pleasure in His people," there is indeed a people that are exclusively His.

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• Secondly, I want you to note that those who are His people are only so because of His free favor and grace. If you look at verse 4 again, "for the Lord taketh pleasure in his people."

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• Now the word "pleasure" is actually "rotsa" in the Hebrew, which means to make acceptable, to accept favorably, to make pleasing. So the psalmist is saying that it was entirely of God's good pleasure that He's chosen a people to Himself. We did not deserve it. We did not earn it. We did not merit it. We did not work for it. We became His only by His grace and mercy.

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• Now, I want you to hold Psalm 149, but I want you to turn to two passages. The first one is Deuteronomy 7, and the second one is Ephesians chapter 1. We'll go to Deuteronomy 7 first, and I want you to note what God told Israel. Deuteronomy 7. And then we'll go to Ephesians chapter 1. Look in Deuteronomy chapter 7 first, if you would please. Deuteronomy chapter 7, and let's begin reading there with verse 7. Look exactly at what our Lord tells Israel. "The Lord did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people. For you were the fewest of all people." The Lord did not set his love upon you, he says, because you were special, or you were great, or you were glorious, or you were multitudinous. No. Why did the Lord set his love upon you? Verse 8, "because the Lord loved you." Isn't that interesting? Look at it in verse 7. The Lord did not set His love upon you for any of those reasons mentioned in verse 7.

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• But why did He? "But because the Lord loved you." In other words, the Lord loved you just simply because the Lord chose to love you. Period. He set His love upon you. That's why God brought them out from Egypt. That's why he brought them out from the servitude of Pharaoh. That's why he brought them into the land. That's why he gave them the promises through Abraham, Jacob and Isaac. Why? Simply because the Lord loved them.

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• Now, look at Ephesians chapter 1. Begin reading there with verse 3. Notice the same truth in the New Testament. Ephesians 1 verse 3. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise and the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." Now I want you to look at this passage. The Bible tells us in verse 3 that God is to be blessed and praised because he has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. But notice verse 4, "according as he hath chosen us in him," that is in Christ, when? "before the foundation of the world."

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• And why did he choose us? "that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will." Do you know why God chose anyone? Because God was pleased to do it. Do you realize if God was not pleased to choose some to salvation, none would be saved?

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• Because all justly deserves judgment and damnation. But here's the grace of God giving us and calling us grace and giving us grace in Christ before the world began.

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• Now, if you would turn in your Bibles very quickly to 2 Timothy. Let me show it to you. Beginning there with verse 8 of chapter 1. 2 Timothy. Notice chapter 1 and verse 8. The Apostle Paul writes, Timothy says, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God." Now watch verse 9 if you would. "Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." When did God choose us? Before the foundation of the world. When did God give us grace? Before the foundation of the world. And everything that God did for us, He did because of and through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Now, I want you to turn to two passages. I want you to turn to John chapter 15, and at the same time, Romans chapter 3.

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• I want you to hold Romans chapter 3, if you get there first, and then go back in your Bibles, if you would please, to John chapter 15. Let me show you what I'm talking about.

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• Now, each of these passages that I've just read have stated undeniably and clearly that God chose us not according to our works. God did not look down through the ages and say, "Oh, I see Ed down there. Ed's going to believe in me, therefore I'll choose him." Because Ed, just like everyone else, is absolutely, totally depraved. And what does Romans 3 say? "There's none that seeketh after God. There's none that doeth good. There's none that understandeth. They're all going out of the way." In fact, if God looked down and saw that Ed would believe on Him and therefore He chose him, that is not an election. That is a ratification. No. God chose us in Christ before we ever had a being. He called us in Christ before we ever created the world.

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• He gave us grace before the stars or the sun and the moon were ever formed. Let me show you how free this is. Look in John chapter 15 and verse 25. John 15 verse 25. And this verse has reference to Christ. In fact, Christ is speaking. He says, "But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause." Now, look what Christ said concerning his enemies. "They hated me without a cause."

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• Now, please tell me what that means. Well, let me tell you, it means that there was absolutely nothing in Jesus Christ that merited or earned or drew forth their hatred. Jesus Christ was and is the sinless Son of God. So when he says, "they hated me without a cause," here's the Greek word, they hated me freely. The word hatred came of their own selves. There was nothing in Christ that drew it out. They just hated Christ. Christ did not earn their hatred. He did not merit their hatred. They hated Him freely.

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• Now, I told you that to show you Romans 3, and I want you to look at verse 24. Because here is the same exact Greek word and it's translated "freely." "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Now what does the word "freely" mean? It means without a cause. Being justified without a cause. In other words, there was nothing in us that earned, merited, or drew forth the grace of God. God justified us absolutely freely.

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• He did so of His own good pleasure. He did so through Jesus Christ. He did so based upon His own grace and mercy.

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• Now, I want you to think about this. The Bible says, "for the Lord taketh pleasure in his people." Well, why in the world does the Lord take pleasure in his people? Now stop and think. There is nothing in us by nature that is holy, good, or right. There's no works that we can do to please Him, for He said that all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

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• We're all as an unclean thing in His sight. Why in the world does the Lord take pleasure in us if there's nothing good in us and there was nothing in us to draw forth His grace and His mercy? How in the world can God take pleasure in us? Once again, I want to give you an Old Testament scripture and a New Testament scripture. I want you to turn to Psalm 25 and to 1 John 2. I'll show you why God takes pleasure in His people. We'll go to Psalm 25, verse 11 first. Psalm 25, verse 11. And I want you to note what David says. Psalm 25, verse 11. David says, "For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great." What does David say? "For thy name's sake, O Lord." In other words, for your great and glorious name, for your honor, for your glory, pardon mine iniquity, for it is great. Now, look in your Bibles to 1 John 2 and verse 12.

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• And the same truth is taught throughout the Scriptures. But 1 John 2 verse 12, look at it. John writes and he says, "I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake." Wow. Your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake. Do you realize that everything that God does, He does for His name's sake? He does for His own honor and glory. He takes pleasure in us because He is pleased to take pleasure in us, and it will ultimately be a means of redounding to His honor and His glory.

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• In fact, the book of Ephesians chapter 1 tells us that. That God is going to show forth his praise in us throughout the ages. But God takes pleasure in us for his name's sake. So I want you to know, not everyone is God's people. Not all are included in this special group that he's talking about in Psalm 149 and verse 4. And those that are called are called only because of His grace and mercy. There's a third truth if you look back in your Bibles to Psalm 149 and verse 4. There's a third truth there. Notice verse 4, he says, Psalm 149 and verse 4, he says this. "For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people." Since the Lord takes pleasure in his people, his people should take pleasure in him.

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• I want you to stop in just a moment and think, first of all, of creation. You know, the Lord has been gracious to me and has allowed me to travel all over this country. I love the mountains. I love the desert. I love the swamps. I love it all. It is absolutely phenomenal. It doesn't matter where you are, you can always see God's glory in creation. But there's not only His creation, there's His providence.

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• Look how God has protected us. Look how God has supplied our needs. Look at how God has given us health and life. You don't only need to think of His creation and His providence. Think of the redemption that we have in Jesus Christ. The forgiveness of sins. Once you think about that, think about God's person. Think of His greatness. Think of His glory. Think of His majesty.

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• Meditate upon His omniscience, His all-knowing. His omnipotence, His all-powerful. His omnipresence. Him being everywhere at one time in the totality of His person. Think of everything about God. And I think you can find something that you can take pleasure in. You know what the Bible says in Psalm 111 in verse 2? Listen to this. "The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein." The works of the Lord are great. What works? Creation, providence, redemption. The works of the Lord are great. And those who take pleasure therein will seek out those works. Have you sought out those works? Have you considered more than once everything that He's done for you in each of these areas?

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• Do you bow before Him? Do you worship Him in His majesty? You ought to just walk outside some night and look up in the clear sky at the multitude of stars and remember He calleth them all by name. He knows the name of every star. How in the world can you look and not be awed at what God has created? How can you not rejoice in it?

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• How can you not take pleasure in it? The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. Spurgeon said this, listen carefully. He says, "For the Lord takes pleasure in his people, and therefore they should take pleasure in him. If our joy be pleasing to him, let us make it full. What condescension is this on Jehovah's part to notice, to love, and to delight in his chosen?

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• Surely there is nothing in our persons or our actions which could cause pleasure to the ever-blessed one were it not that he condescends to men of low estate. The thought of the Lord's taking pleasure in us is a mine of joy never to be exhausted. He will beautify the meek with salvation. They are humble and feel their need of salvation. He is gracious and bestows it upon them.

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• They lament their deformity, and He puts a beauty upon them of the choicest sort. He saves them by sanctifying them and thus they wear the beauty of holiness and the beauty of joy which springs out of a full salvation. He makes his people meek and makes the meek beautiful. Herein is the grand argument for worshiping the Lord with the utmost exaltation. He who takes such pleasure in us must be approached with every token of exceeding joy.

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• I want you, I don't have this scripture down, but I want you to turn in your Bibles to Psalm 113. Lord just brought this to mind and I want you to see it. Look in Psalm 113. I love this Psalm. I want you to notice, beginning with verse 1, I won't read all the Psalm. It's a very, well, it's just a short Psalm. I want you to look at it. Psalm 113. "Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore." Now look, "from the rising of the sun until the going down of the same, the Lord's name is to be praised."

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• That is all day long. And even David said he'd meditate upon Him in the night watches. So even during the night. "The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens, who is likened to the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high," now we're talking about His greatness, His majesty, but look at verse 6, "...who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the needy out of the dunghill, that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people.

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• He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the Lord." But notice verse 6, "...who humbleth himself to behold the things that are in heaven and in the earth." Can it even enter your mind one time that God condescends to take pleasure in His people? I want you to stop and think about that. God is self-sufficient. God is a self-existent one. God needs no one. God needs nothing. God is absolutely perfect. And yet he condescends to take pleasure in his people. He condescends to behold the things in heaven and earth, and to lift up the poor, and to lift up the needy, and to lift up the beggar. The Lord taketh pleasure in His people. If you look back in Psalm 149, Psalm 149 and verse 4, and you have to look back for this application, I want you to see Psalm 149 verse 4. "For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people, he will beautify the meek with salvation." Since the Lord taketh pleasure in his people, he will not forsake us or abandon us to our enemies.

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• You know, the Bible says in Hebrews 13 in verse 5, our Lord said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." I realize there are times it looks as if our enemies are riding high. It looks as if, if you look at the circumstances, that we're being trampled upon and we're being defeated. You never look at the circumstances, you look at the Lord. I want you to look in Psalm 149, verse 4. "For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people, he will beautify the meek with salvation."

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• "Let the saints be joyful in glory, let them sing aloud upon their beds, let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand. To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people, to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute upon them the judgment written: This honour have all the saints. Praise ye the Lord." God has not appointed us to defeat. He's appointed us to victory. So when the Bible says, "the Lord taketh pleasure in his people," mark her down. He will be pleased, ultimately, to give us the total victory.

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• in time, and in history, as well as in eternity. You might lose a battle, but losing a battle does not mean that you've lost the war.

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• Now let's ask a question, because I want to answer this. We know from the Scripture that the Lord takes pleasure in His people. What in the world is there in us that could please the Lord? If I were to ask you, have you been faithful all of your life? No. Have you prayed as you should? No. Have you studied as you should? No. Have you obeyed as you should? No.

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• Have you sacrificed as you should? No. Have you worshipped as you should? No. When we look within ourselves, we find nothing that can please Him. Because in and of ourselves, we're helpless and we're powerless. But there may be something in us that is there supernaturally. Something that he puts there. Something that he places. Well, look in Psalm 147 and we'll find out what that is. Psalm 147, verse 10. We'll find out first what it's not. What it's not. He said in Psalm 147, verse 10.

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• "He delighteth not in the strength of the horse. He taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man." So it's not our physical appearances or physical abilities that would particularly please the Lord. The Lord's not really impressed with our agility, our power, our strength. I believe we should all be as physically fit as we can so that we can serve Him and live for Him, and we should use our bodies to serve Him.

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• You remember what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 1 verse 9, he said, "For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit, and the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayer." Listen to what he said, "For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit." Now it is true that the Apostle Paul was serving God with his spirit. But was it just his spirit that was going all over the Roman Empire preaching?

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• No, it was his body. He served him with his spirit, but the spirit was in the body. And it was the body that was taking the spirit and taking Paul out preaching. All I'm trying to say is this, our physical endurance does not necessarily please the Lord in the sense that, look at me, I'm mighty big and I'm strong. No, no, no. But we do need our bodies to serve him. So if it's not our physical appearances, what is it? Well, look in Psalm 147, and notice if you would please, again, verse 11. Let me look at it. He said, "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, and those that hope in His mercy." The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, and those that hope in His mercy. Now, I want you to note, there are two things that God takes pleasure in: those that fear Him and those that hope in His mercy. So it is our faith, it is our hope, it is our obedience that pleases Him.

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• Albert Barnes said it like this, "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him and those who truly worship Him, however humble, poor and unknown to people they may be, however unostentatious, retired, unnoticed may be their worship. Not in the pride, pomp, and circumstance of war is his pleasure, not in the march of armies, not in the valor of the battlefield, not in the scene where there are garments of the warrior rolled in blood, but in the closet where the devout child of God prays, in the family, when the group bend before him in solemn devotion, in the assembly, quiet, serious, calm, when his friends are gathered together for prayer and praise, in the heart that truly loves, reverences, and adores him. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him and those that hope in his mercy."

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• Do you remember the passage in Luke 15? You don't have to turn there, I'll quote it for you. But the scripture tells us that even the cry of the penitent is really pleasing to his ear. For in Luke 15 and verse 10, our Lord said this, "Likewise I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." Note, there is joy, where? In the presence of the angels of God. So it's the Lord who's rejoicing. There's joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. From the beginning or the instant of faith to the death of the mature believer in Christ, it is our faith, it is our obedience, it is our hope that pleases Him.

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• He takes pleasure in His people. Why? Because in His people, He's given us faith. In His people, He's given us hope. In His people, He's given us His mercy. Spurgeon said it like this, "While the bodily powers give no content to God, spiritual qualities are His delight. He cares most for those emotions which center in Himself. The fear which He approves is fear of Him, and hope which He accepts is hope in His mercy. It's a striking thought that God should not only be at peace with some men, but even find a solace and a joy in their company."

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• Stop and think about that. Not only be at peace with us, but find a kind of solace and joy in their company. Oh, the matchless condescension of the Lord, that His greatness should take pleasure in the insignificant creatures of His hand. Who are these favored men in whom Jehovah takes pleasure? Some of them are the least in his family, who have never risen beyond hoping and fearing.

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• Others of them are more fully developed, but still they exhibit a blended character composed of fear and hope. They fear God with a holy awe and filial reverence, and they also hope for forgiveness and blessedness because of divine mercy. As a father takes pleasure in his own children, so the Lord solaces himself in his own beloved ones, whose marks of the new birth are fear and hope. They fear, for they are sinners. They hope, for God is merciful. They fear him, for he is great. They hope in him, for he is good. Their fear sobers their hope. Their hope brightens their fear. God takes pleasure in them both, in their trembling and in their rejoicing. Have you ever trembled before God when you thought of His greatness and His majesty?

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• I think of that passage in Isaiah. When Isaiah 6, he said, "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. And the seraphim flew with six wings, with twain they covered their face, with twain they covered their feet, with twain they did fly. And they ceased not, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty." And then Isaiah said, "Woe is me!

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• I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. Woe is me! For mine eyes have seen the Lord of hosts." He trembled. You remember it was John the Apostle who saw the Lord on the Isle of Patmos and he fell dead, or as one dead, at his feet. Have you ever trembled before God? Have you ever rejoiced before God? Have you ever been really, genuinely thankful?

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• Let me just, I'm going to deal with this probably in the not too distant future. But sometimes we get in such a habit of saying, "Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord." I'm not saying it's not a good habit. But I am saying this. We can say it without being genuinely thankful. And we can say it without having a heartfelt gratitude. And the Lord takes pleasure in us.

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• when we fear Him, when we tremble before Him at His greatness, at His majesty, at His power. He takes pleasure in us when we hope in Him for forgiveness, for reconciliation, for restoration, when we're thankful. Thomas Manton, the Puritan, rightly states on this verse, "A sincere Christian is known by both of these, that is, fear and hope. A fear of God, or a constant obedience to His commands, and an affiance, trust, and dependence upon His mercies.

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• Oh, how sweetly are both these coupled! A uniform, sincere obedience to Him, and an unshaken, constant reliance on His mercy and goodness. The whole perfection of the Christian life is comprised in these two, believing God and fearing Him, trusting in His mercy and fearing His name. The one makes us careful in avoiding sin, the other diligent to follow after righteousness. The one is a bridle from sin and temptation, the other is a spur to our duties.

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• Fear is our curb, and hope is our motive and encouragement. The one respects our duty, and the other our comfort. The one allayeth the other. God is so to be feared as so also to be trusted, and so to be trusted as also to be feared. And as we must not suffer our fear to degenerate into legal bondage, but hope in His mercy, so our trust must not degenerate into carnal sloth and wantonness, but some hope in His word so as to fear His name. Well then, such both believe in God and fear to offend Him are the only men who are acceptable to God and His people. God will take pleasure in them, and they will take pleasure in one another."

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• Imagine us saying that both of these demonstrate and evidence the real, true child of God. And do you realize, if you and I really and truly want to honor our Sovereign Lord, if we want to please Him, we must know what pleases Him. And that is fear and hope or trust and obedience or recognition of Him and submission to Him. If I were to tell you that I am coming to your house to visit and you say, "Well, since you're coming to my house to visit, I would love for you to have a meal with me," and I said, "Fine, I'll be delighted to have a meal with you," and then you ask me, "What would please you for dinner?" and I would say, "Anything but..." And I tell you what I can eat, I tell you what I don't like. And then I get to your house and what you prepared for me are those things that I don't like and can't eat. You know, the first thought would hit me was, "Well, this person really doesn't care for me or doesn't love me.

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• or were so inconsiderate not even to listen to my answer when they asked what I preferred." Now the point I'm trying to make is this. If we're told in Scripture what pleases God, why in the world would we try to get Him something different? If we really, genuinely want to please Him and honor Him, why not give Him exactly what He asks? Fear and trust. Obedience. Submission.

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• Those who place their own pleasure above God's pleasure are idolaters. Plain and simple. If we genuinely want to worship Him, we're going to put His pleasure above our pleasure.

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• Now, let me show you. Once you know what I've just taught this morning, there are no excuses. You say, "What do you mean, Pastor?" Well, James 4, verse 17. Let me just quote it. "Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." What? "Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." In other words, God says, "I've just told you what pleases me." Since God has just told you what pleases Him, if you're not going to do that, then very obviously, you're not concerned with pleasing God. So therefore in him that knoweth to do good, if you don't give Him that which pleases Him, to you it is sin. There can be no excuses, because we know based upon the Word of God that which pleases Him. And if we don't please Him, then we're guilty of displeasing Him. If we please God, you remember as I started this message out, God has promised a special blessing to those that obey Him and please Him.

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• He said, "If you will turn away your foot from doing your pleasure and do that which I delight in, then I will cause you to ride high. I will give you these blessings." My question is this. Would you like to see our enemies overthrown? When I say our enemies, I mean the enemies of Christ, the enemies of the Word of God, the enemies that are causing God's people and the world all the problems that we're in now. Would you not like to see them overthrown?

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• Well, you know what the Bible said in Proverbs 16, verse 7? "When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." If we want victory in time and history, then the answer is we must learn to please the Lord. We must do that which gives Him honor and glory. And by the way, I'm so thankful that our Lord said in Luke 12 and verse 32, "Fear not, little flock, it's the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." So if we please Him, part of His pleasure is giving us the kingdom. So we need to learn to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

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• Now, let me make a couple of applications and try to tie this together for us. We're talking about the pleasure of the Lord. God has said that he takes pleasure in his people. And it's not our physical appearances, it's not our physical abilities, it's not our greatness, it's not our multitudinous capacity to do anything or to have a great number of us. No, no, no, no. The Lord takes pleasure, He says, in them that fear Him and those that hope in His mercy.

  #61 | 46:00 to 46:34 | cleaned

• Now, we must always be conscious of the fact that while our faith and obedience pleases our Father, it was His grace and mercy that gave it to us to begin with. In other words, any ability that we have to please God came from God. For we had no ability in and of ourselves. That's why Philippians chapter 2 and verse 13 says this, "For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do His good pleasure."

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• I want you to stop and think about this for a moment. What a wonderful God we have. He demands something of us. And then He gives us the grace and the ability to do it, and then rewards us for doing it. How can you beat something like that? If I told you, "Henry, I want you to buy a new Cadillac." And you say, "Pastor, I'm broke." I said, "Not any longer. Here's $50,000. Go buy that new Cadillac."

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• What have I just done? I've told him I wanted him to do something. I've given him the money to go do it. And then he goes and does exactly what I tell him to do. I say, "Now here's another $100,000 for gas and expenses." Can you beat a deal like that? No. That's exactly what God does to us. God tells us what He wants us to do.

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• He then gives us grace and the ability to do it. And when we do it, He then rewards us for doing it. And it was all in Him to begin with. The second application is this. What a humbling yet wonderful thought it is that we were made for His pleasure. Have you ever stopped to think God did not need us? I get so upset when I hear people who are so ignorant of the person of God and his attributes and so ignorant of scripture that they say, "Well, the reason God created us was he was lonely." That is such hogwash.

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• You know what that says? That God is not perfect. It also says that God is mutable. If He was lonely and we help Him, then He changes. He's no longer immutable. He's no longer the self-sufficient one. No, God did not need us. We cannot add to His perfections in any way, and yet He was pleased to create us. He was pleased to choose us. He was pleased to predestinate us. He was pleased to regenerate us and convert us. He's pleased to give us repentance and faith. We were made for Him, but yet He did not need us.

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• Scripture says in Revelation 4:11, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they were and are created." The only reason God created us was because He was pleased to do it. The only reason He saved us was because He was pleased to do it. And the only reason he takes pleasure in us is because he is pleased to do it. But what an astounding thought that a sinful creature can give the sovereign, majestic, holy, righteous God of heaven and earth pleasure. He taketh pleasure in His people.

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• And He'll beautify the meek with salvation. The Lord is pleased with the faith and the hope and the obedience that He places within us. If God is pleased with it, we need to make sure that we're pleasurable to Him by giving Him more obedience, and more fear, and more hope, and more worship. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. And Lord, it boggles our minds that we can please Thee. And yet, Lord, You say that You take pleasure in Your people. Help us, Lord, to be pleasurable to Thee. Help us to be pleasing unto Thee.

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• May we be more holy. May we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. And glorify Thee in everything that we say and do. In Thy name we ask and pray. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T12:44:27Z