RUSHWAVE: Establishing Believers in the Christian Faith

Chapter 15: God can be Pleased

God can experience delight, and He takes pleasure in many different things.

When we say God can be “pleased,” we simply mean there is that which brings God pleasure and delight; a satisfaction, gratification, or gladness. What evokes these feelings are clearly detailed by God Himself and those who spoke of Him.

God takes pleasure in His loving, creative acts. The book of Genesis records God’s creation of the universe. We read how He created light, the dry land and seas, vegetation, the stars, animals and insects, as well as man and woman. In each of these spectacular creative acts, over and over again the phrase is repeated “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1).

Just as a painter admires his painting, the architect his building, or the potter his pottery, even so God took satisfaction in creating the universe and all that is in it. When all the processes, life-forms, planets, stars, and sub-atomic particles were brought into being by the sheer power of His will, He beheld the beauty of the created order that sprung from those conceptions in His infinite mind. And His reaction to His creative work was simple yet profound.

God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. Genesis 1:31

God’s sense that His creation was “very good” was not simply in how precisely engineered and intricately designed everything was. It was also rooted in something much deeper to His loving heart: His delight in showing lovingkindness towards His creatures.

The original creation was beautiful, glorious and free of danger. Man was not subject to earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis, and other natural catastrophes. There also was no enmity between man and animals. Instead, the original creation was a safe, awe inspiring environment where man could live in peace and tranquility with nature, himself, and above all, with God. And it was this lovingkindness of God towards man in providing such an environment that God had delight.

A mother delights in providing loving care for her children, and a husband takes pleasure in providing a home for his beloved wife. Even so, God took great delight in placing man and woman in a world where they could experience joy, peace, tranquility, harmony, intimacy, and fellowship. It was indeed “very good.”

God delights in lovingkindness, justice and righteousness. He says of Himself:

I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things. Jeremiah 9:24

In this verse, God is not speaking of His reaction to witnessing acts between a man and his fellow man. Instead He is describing what He Himself does, and how He Himself acts in relation to man. “I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth.”

All God’s dealings with man are demonstrations of His lovingkindness, justice and righteousness. This was true both in the original creation, and even after man’s rebellion against God wherein the earth was cursed and chaos ensued.

God not only is just and righteous, He delights and takes pleasure in justice and righteousness.

For I, the Lord, love justice. Isaiah 61:8

God’s love for justice means He delights in taking up the cause of the oppressed and the vulnerable. And He takes up their cause in two ways: by bringing judgment on their oppressors, and help to those in need. This is why over and over again God references widows, orphans, the poor, and the alien.

He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. Deuteronomy 10:18
The Lord performs righteous deeds And judgments for all who are oppressed. Psalm 103:6
I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted And justice for the poor. Psalm 140:12

And it is because God delights in lovingkindness, justice and righteousness that He commands man to do the same.

Thus says the Lord, “Do justice and righteousness, and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor. Also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger, the orphan, or the widow; and do not shed innocent blood in this place.” Jeremiah 22:3
Thus has the Lord of hosts said, “Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.” Zechariah 7:9–10

What pleases God can be defined both positively and negatively: by what He likes, and does not like; by what brings Him pleasure, and what does not bring Him pleasure. We have thus far considered only the positive aspects. But so as to leave no uncertainty in the matter, scripture provides specific details as to what brings God no pleasure.

God has no pleasure in the evil deeds of men. This is flip-side of delighting in lovingkindness, justice and righteousness. When addressing those who had rebelled against His commands, He said:

I called, but no one answered; I spoke, but they did not listen. And they did evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight. Isaiah 66:4

God finds no delight when men engage in anything contrary to His moral will. When men worship false gods; when they, murder, lie, cheat, or blaspheme; when they act arrogantly, oppressively or with cruelty, God takes no pleasure in it. In fact He not only takes no pleasure in it, He hates it and is provoked by it.

God takes no pleasure in judging the wicked. When men persist in their evil deeds and God sentences them to death, He finds no joy in doing so.

“As I live!” declares the Lord God, “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Ezekiel 33:11
“For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.” Ezekiel 18:32

A two-fold truth is presented here. First, God does not take pleasure even in the just execution of a wicked man. Yes, He delights in justice for it is disagreeable to let injustice remain. In the end He ensures justice prevails. But even in establishing justice God does not delight in death, but “rather that the wicked turn from his way and live.” Second:

God takes pleasure in granting pardon and effecting restoration. When men repent and turn from their wicked ways, God delights in granting forgiveness and sparing their life.

Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity … He delights in unchanging love. Micah 7:18

Forgiveness, not judgment, is God’s delight. Life, not death, is His pleasure. Kindness, not harshness, bring Him gladness.

God is about life, peace, tranquility, grace, mercy, kindness, caring, compassion, truth, justice, and forgiveness. He delights in these things. They were reflected in the original creation, and they are reflected even now in a fallen world where He seeks to grant forgiveness to you and avert your judgment.

from The Nature and Character of God

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