Luke 1:30. Then Colossians 1:19 relates this to Gods pleasure: In him all the fullness [of deity] was pleased to dwell. Or you could say (with the NIV), God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him. In other words, it was Gods pleasure to do this. So for these two reasons at least lets try to answer the question why God takes pleasure in his creation. Another excellent verse for joy is found in the book of Philippians. But they each express a little differently the basic reason. The Son of God is not merely a chosen man. And since most of the creation is beyond the awareness of mankind (in the reaches of space, and in the heights of mountains and at the bottom of the sea), it wasnt created merely to serve purposes that have to do with us. We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. his understanding is unsearchable. Proverbs 17:22 teaches us the importance of focusing on the positive aspects of life and emphasizes the healing power of joy and positivity. When the psalmist says in verse 6 that whatever the Lord pleases he does, he doesnt just refer implicitly to the tragedies owing to wind; he also refers explicitly to the destruction of rebellious Egyptians, and nations, and kings. He is author of. This is a glorious picture of God in his sovereign freedom to do whatever he pleases and to accomplish all his pleasure. 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! Fear God. Well we might say that sun and moon and stars praise God by testifying to us about God. English Standard Version. . If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love. No one can offer anything to him that doesnt already come from him. The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear: For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord God. God has always made it clear to His people what it takes to please Him. How can I know what pleases God? | GotQuestions.org All things were made through him and without him was not anything made that was made. And our prayer, in the words of your Son (John 17:26), is that the love with which you have loved him may be in us and he in us, that we might be taken up into that fellowship of joy and that ocean of love forever and ever. How to Please God - Life, Hope and Truth 'The Pleasures of God' Two assumptions lie at the foundation of this new series of messages on the pleasures of God. Before I suggest a solution to this problem, let me make it worse. In John 14:21, Jesus said, Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. Secondly, praise and worship play a pivotal role in finding joy in the Lord. Ufulu Festival 2023 | 6th July 2023 - Facebook Answer When talking about His Father in heaven, Jesus said, "I always do what pleases him" ( John 8:29 ). I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be . And so all that he does, he does, not under constraint, but according to his own good pleasure. I sit there with my mouth open and I think God smiles and says, Yes, John, and I have been enjoying that little piece of art for 10,000 years before anybody on earth knew it existed. The Bible teaches that this eternal God has always had. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. When Moses warns Israel that the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon them and destroying them if they dont repent, he means that those who have rebelled against the Lord and moved beyond repentance will not be able to gloat that they have made the Almighty miserable. The Bible teaches us to Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. (Philippians 4:4). 68 Bible Verses about Pleasing God - Online Bible In other words, I think the two halves of this verse are related something like this: As long as the glory of the Lord endures in his works, God will indeed rejoice in his works. Or you could say, May the glory of the Lord endure forever, so that the Lord may rejoice in his works. So my first and most basic, statement is that. Just to play, to frolic, in the ocean where no man can see but only God. Living a life of love and service is also pleasing to God. This too is vanity and chasing after the wind. How shall God not commit idolatry? living things both small and great. Understanding what pleases God is an important aspect of spiritual growth, and it can help guide us as we seek to live a life that honors Him. Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 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. who created these? This proverb also reminds us that we should surround ourselves with positive influences in our lives and avoid negative energy. Lastly, it is important to cultivate a heart of gratitude. The Pleasure of God in All That He Does | Desiring God Making the Lord your joy requires daily commitment and effort. One of the stanzas says. In Hebrews 1:3 it says of the Son. Or to say it another way: joy in God is a deep, abiding, soul disposition to treasure God over all things or cherish him more, esteem him, or prize him above all things. Let me just mention one text. In this verse, King David encourages all those who rely on God to take refuge in Him. John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. All who find Jesus know, with the shepherds of the nativity, the joy He brings. "Therefore, repent and live.". Why is this pleasure that God has in creation not a dishonor to the Son of God? Should the Son be jealous of the creation? Ecclesiastes 2:26English Standard Version. Which brings me to the final statement. "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. . David further urges those who seek refuge in God to rejoice and sing for joy. 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. Ecclesiastes 2:26 - ESV Bible - For to the one who pleases him God has Psalm 32:11 is a powerful reminder of the source of our joy. So the answer to the first question is Yes! 1. The more you give, the more you will experience joy, and the more you experience joy, the more joy you will want to give. God is not a sadist. This psalm is a morning prayer which David intended to pray as soon as he woke up, perhaps even before putting his feet down on the ground. And waste its sweetness on the desert air. He says this on one other occasion: at Jesuss baptism, as the Holy Spirit comes down and anoints Jesus for his ministry, signifying the Fathers love and support This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased., And in the gospel of John, Jesus speaks several times about the Fathers love for him: for example, John 3:35, The Father loves the Son, and has given all things into his hand. John 5:20: The Father loves the Son, and shows him all that he himself is doing. (See also Matthew 12:18 where Matthew quotes Isaiah 42:1 in reference to Jesus: Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. The Hebrew word behind well pleased is ratsah, and means delights in.). Daily expressing gratitude to God for His blessings can help us to find joy in our everyday lives. New King James Version (Isaiah 40:28). And I can easily imagine that one response to what we have seen so far would be to say that we have created an artificial problem because Psalm 135 doesnt actually say that God takes delight in destroying the Egyptians. So my answer to Erics question is that love for God is not identical with joy in God, but that it is never less than joy in God. This is what it means when the Scripture says that God does something according to the good pleasure of his will. May God be gracious to bless the ministry of his Word in these weeks. The joy of the Lord is the gladness of heart that comes from knowing God, abiding in Christ, and being filled with the Holy Spirit. However, the Bible also recognizes that having a joyful heart is not always easy. Display his worth in the world. Unlike happiness, which is often based on external circumstances, joy is a deep sense of contentment and peace that comes from knowing and trusting in God. Were on a mission to change that. ): 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. One is that I feel compelled to explain why this pleasure God has in his creation is not an act of idolatry. He is well-pleased with his Son. And the thought came that if it is true for man, as Scougal intended to say, surely it is true for God also: The worth and excellency of Gods soul is to be measured by the object of his love.. Since the Son is the image of God and the reflection of God and the stamp of God and the form of God, equal with God, and indeed is God, therefore Gods delight in the Son is delight in himself. Ecclesiastes 2:26 - WEB Bible - For to the man who pleases him, God So we are brought back to the inescapable fact that in some sense God does not delight in the death of the wicked (that is the message of Ezekiel 18), and in some sense he does (that is the message of Psalm 135:611 and Deuteronomy 28:63). Thats the second statement about why God rejoices in his works. And it is okay, I think, to talk about obedience as a part of the love of God, provided you see the distinction in the if-then relationship. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything He has commanded us. 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. In Isaiah 40:26 Isaiah looks up at the star-filled sky perhaps on a night like I remember on a mountain in Utah in September 1968, when the sky was literally a sheet of light and star could not be distinguished from star he looks up and says. And I think it is because the essence of love is rooted in the heart the hearts affections for God and then that love is expressed with instruments of soul, strength, and mind. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. It was his pleasure and delight. But why? We might try to solve the problem by going back to Psalm 135 and saying that God does whatever he pleases in the natural world but not in the personal sphere. Or another way would be to say that the greatness of Gods excellence is registered by his enjoyments. But Colossians 2:9 gives us a very different angle on things. Thank Him for His Provisions: Father, thank you for allowing me to be honest with you in prayer and for providing the strength I need when I need it. Ecclesiastes 2:26 NLT: God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those He loves the Son and delights in the Son and takes pleasure in the Son because the Son is God himself. Give Praise to God. 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. But we are fallible human beings. One way to praise God is to give Him credit for everything. It allows us to shift our focus away from the negative aspects of life and to embrace the love, peace, and grace that God offers us. 1. 26 For to the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner he gives travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him who pleases God. The heavens are telling the glory of God; There is no doubt behind the shout, May the glory of the Lord endure for ever! And there is no doubt behind the shout: May the Lord rejoice in his works!. I will put my Spirit upon him." In Isaiah 43:1 the Hebrew word translated as "well pleased" is a variant of the verb ratsah which means to be delighted or joy-filled. But it would be a fuzzy picture, a bit out of focus, if we stopped here. So when Psalm 135 says that the Lord does whatever he pleases, it has to include the taking of personal life at sea through the wind which he alone controls. April 1, 2022 The Joy of God in Us Why the Spirit Produces Happiness Article by Jon Bloom Staff writer, desiringGod.org Subscribe Apple Spotify As we read through the New Testament, we encounter a unique connection between the Holy Spirit and joy. I am trying to get right at the answer to the question: What is the difference between joy in God and love for God? by the greatness of his might, When Jesus was born, the angels announced "good tidings of great joy" ( Luke 2:10 ). Ecclesiastes 2:26 ESV - For to the one who pleases him God has - Bible The psalmist simply marveled at how everything worked together. When we put our hands to the plow of our Christian lives, we cannot leave prayer behind. This universe is simply a masterpiece of wisdom and order. What is the joy of the Lord? | GotQuestions.org From these and other texts, we are assured that God does what pleases Him. in heaven and on earth, And some people say, There, you see it: obedience is the same as loving God. No, no, no. "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. As God's love is manifested in us, and revealed through us touching others, we share His Joy. Praise him, you highest heavens, And there are two questions that I want to try to answer: The first question I would answer with a resounding, Yes! God does take pleasure in his creation. LIVE: Daily Mass - July 15, 2023 (7:30am) - Facebook 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! The Pleasure of God in All That He Does (Excerpt), John Piper is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. Ecclesiastes 2:26 NIV - To the person who | Biblia From eternity past, the one reality that has always existed is God. We will not always please people. This is what Peter says in 2 Peter 1:17: [Christ] received honor and glory from God the Father. Then God reveals his heart for the Son and says two things: I love my son (This is my beloved Son), and I take pleasure in my Son (with whom I am well pleased). Praise the Lord! They are different. Yonder is the sea, great and wide, And the very same Hebrew verb is used in Psalm 135:6 (he pleases) and Ezekiel 18:32 (he has pleasure). What a God he must be! So I searched the Scriptures for several days seeking all those places that tell us what it is that God loves and enjoys and delights in and takes pleasure in and rejoices in. A good Bible verse for joy is one that reminds us to find our joy in the Lord. Therefore God does what he does not begrudgingly or under external constraint as though he were boxed in or trapped by some unforeseen or unplanned situation. It can be present in and under many kinds of emotional manifestations. God Answers Prayer. Before I answer how they are different, let me define what I mean by joy in God. When you hear the word "joy," what comes to mind?