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Last week, we learned that God delights in his people who follow and obey him. He delights in their worthy sacrifices, and he is delighted when his people reflect his character. He also is delighted when his people go out and do his work on the earth.
When God delights in people, he doesn’t just revel in his delight. He responds. He acts on behalf of those who delight him. This week, we’ll learn how exactly God responds and what he does for those who bring him delight.
Salvation/Eternal Life
One of the greatest gifts that God gives when he delights in his people is salvation.
Isaiah 61:10: I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Psalm 145:19: He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
1 Corinthians 1:21: For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
When we receive salvation, that leads to eternal life.
1 John 2:17: The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
John 5:21: For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
His Presence/Knowledge of Him
Another great blessing that we receive when we please God is that we grow in our knowledge of him and we encounter his presence in our lives.
Jeremiah 9:23-24: 23 This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
In the Old Testament, God was pleased when they built the temple for him, and he filled it with his presence.
Haggai 1:8: “Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord.
Haggai 2:7: ‘I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty.
In the New Testament, God gave his presence through the Holy Spirit and through Jesus Christ.
Matthew 12:18: “Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations.”
Ephesians 1:7-10: 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
In the end, those who please God will inherit his kingdom, which is filled with his presence.
Luke 12:32: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.”
Favor
When God is pleased with his people, he not only provides spiritual benefits, he provides material benefits. He protects and provides for his people and grants them success.
Psalm 35:27: May those who delight in my vindication
shout for joy and gladness;
may they always say, “The Lord be exalted,
who delights in the well-being of his servant.”
Psalm 37:4: Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Victory Over Enemies
Especially in the Old Testament, one way that God showed his favor to his people was by giving them victory over their enemies.
Isaiah 58:13-14: 13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
Psalm 149:4: For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
Psalm 41:11: I know that you are pleased with me,
for my enemy does not triumph over me.
2 Samuel 22:20: He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Proverbs 16:7: When the Lord takes pleasure in anyone’s way,
he causes their enemies to make peace with them.
Provision and Abundance
Another way that God shows his favor is by providing for his people. When his people him, he makes them prosperous and gives them an abundance.
Deuteronomy 30:9-10: 9 Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, 10 if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Psalm 36:8: They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
Psalm 145:16: You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
God provided for the Israelites by giving them a land to call their own and a holy city in Jerusalem.
Malachi 3:12: “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
Psalm 51:18: May it please you to prosper Zion,
to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Notice, though, that God’s provision requires that we turn to God with all our heart and soul. God can see through any false motives we have, and those motives will not please him. We must truly seek God first.
Success
When we bring God delight, he will grant us success in the work we are doing for him. We see this in the characters of the Old Testament.
God granted success to David and Solomon when they were king over Israel.
1 Chronicles 28:4: “Yet the Lord, the God of Israel, chose me [David] from my whole family to be king over Israel forever. He chose Judah as leader, and from the tribe of Judah he chose my family, and from my father’s sons he was pleased to make me king over all Israel.”
1 Kings 10:9: “Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you [Solomon] and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.”
God also granted success to Nehemiah when he requested to rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 1:11: “Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
I was cupbearer to the king.
More generally, God grants success to those he delights in by upholding them and making their steps firm.
Psalm 37:23-24: 23 The Lord makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
Compassion/Mercy
Even from early in the Bible, God was quick to show compassion or mercy on his people when they pleased him.
After the flood, after God destroyed the whole earth because of the overwhelming sin in the world, God found Noah’s sacrifice to be pleasing and responded by promising to never destroy the earth again.
Genesis 8:21: The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.”
Even after we have sinned, God yearns to have a relationship with us. He is ready to show mercy and to turn his rebuke into rejoicing.
Jeremiah 31:20: Is not Ephraim my dear son,
the child in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against him,
I still remember him.
Therefore my heart yearns for him;
I have great compassion for him,”
declares the Lord.
Micah 7:18: Who is a God like you,
who pardons sin and forgives the transgression
of the remnant of his inheritance?
You do not stay angry forever
but delight to show mercy.
Isaiah 65:19: I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more.
Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”
Discipline
When we sin, God delights to show us mercy, but we may also have to live with the consequences of our decisions. This is one way God disciplines those he loves.
Proverbs 3:11-12: 11 My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
12 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.
Wisdom
As we walk the path of learning to please God, sometimes requiring discipline and mercy, God uses those situations to grow us in wisdom. He uses them to bring us back to him and to help us be satisfied in him.
Ecclesiastes 2:26: To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
Uses Us for His Work
When we continue to follow God and allow him to increase our wisdom and knowledge of him, he uses us to do his work in this world to bring the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 1:21: For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Hebrews 13:20-21: 20 Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Romans 14:17-18: 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.
Conclusion
If you are following God with all your heart and soul, if you are obedient to him not for the rewards but because of your delight in him and his word, you should be able to look at your life and identify where God has blessed you. You can be sure of your salvation and of his presence in your life through the Holy Spirit. You may be able to see times when God has saved you from a struggle with sin or he’s gotten you through a difficult season. Maybe you see God’s provision and abundance in your life. Perhaps you have a time in your life when you know God was disciplining you so that you would return to him. In this Christmas season, take some time to reflect on the favor God has showed you because of your faithfulness to him.