0145 God Delights in All That He Does?
Psalm 104:31; 135:6
Quacco Baptist ChurchSavannah, GeorgiaApril 30, 2023
Introduction
May the glory of the LORD endure
forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works, (Psalm104:31); Whatever the LORD
pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps. [Psa 135:6
ESV].
The Scottish theologian Henry
Scougal wrote: The worth & excellency
of a soul is measured by the object of its love.
Ok, so if you apply that to God, you
can behold the worth, the excellency of God. That is the greatness of God is
registered in His enjoyments, the things He delights in.
When you, we, put our attention on
the glory of God, little by little we, the believers, are transformed into His
likeness. Look at 2 Corinthians 3:18 – we
all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed
into the same image from one degree of glory to another…
In seeing His glory we might rise
one step at a time into his likeness; so that at home and work and school,
people will see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Portray his pleasures in preaching
proclaiming the Word. Behold his glory in listening. Approach his likeness in
meditation. Display his worth in the world.
God Has Always been Happy,
Exuberantly
He has never been lonely, He has
rejoiced in the glory of His Son from all eternity who has been the panorama of
His perfections.
He’s not restricted by anything
outside Himself to do anything He wants to do or not do. He is joyously
unrestrained and enthusiastically overflowing in fellowship of the Trinity.
His deeds are the overflow of His
joy - Everything He does is un-coerced. We’re told in Philippians 2:13 &
Eph. 1:11…God who works in
you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. … we have obtained an inheritance,
having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things
according to the counsel of his will,
God Does
Whatever He Pleases, What Delights Him
Psalm 135 begins by saying Praise the LORD! Praise the
name of the LORD, give praise, O servants of the LORD, then in the next 6
verses we’re given reasons why we praise Him. V6 tells us, Whatever the LORD pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas
and all deeps. Psalm 115:3 says the same thing: Our God is in
the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.
This tells us that whenever
God acts, he acts in a way that pleases him. He’s never backed into a corner
when He has to at or do something he hates to do. He does whatever he pleases.
And therefore, in some sense, he has pleasure in all that he does. Isaiah uses
the same Hebrew word (as a noun) in Isaiah 46: 9-10
where the Lord says, I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet
done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'...
On
this we should all bow before God & praise His sovereign freedom - He acts
in His good pleasure.
But then what do we make of Ezekiel 18:23, & 32 -
Does He take Pleasure in All He Does? Verse 23, Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the
Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? . V 32 I
have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord…
How can He say He doesn’t take
pleasure of any impenitent person? …….. Well, He’ talking to Israel here,
telling them He is going to judge them, it’s impending and He is urging them to
repent; v30, I will judge you, O house of
Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn
from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. V31b Why will you
die? … Then in v32 He tells them, I
have no pleasure in the death of anyone,
These seems different
than the one we saw in Psalm 135, where God does whatever he pleases. Here he
seems to be cornered. It seems that he is forced into judging them when he
really doesn’t want to. He seems to be about to do something that he is not
pleased to do. Is he going to accomplish all his pleasure or not?
Does his sovereign freedom have its
limits? Can he do whatever he pleases up to a point, and then after that is he
cornered into doing things he only grieves to do?
If God controls the wind and makes
it blow whenever and wherever he pleases — which is certainly true (remember
Jesus’ “Peace! Be still!”) — then God is responsible for the destruction of
thousands of lives by drowning because of the storms and hurricanes and
tornadoes and monsoons and typhoons which God has brought forth from his
storehouses over the centuries. When Scripture 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.
In verses 8–11 of psalm 135 says that God’s sovereign freedom
was shown most vividly in the Exodus out of Egypt: “He it was who smote the
first-born of Egypt, both of man and of beast . . . who smote many nations and
slew mighty kings. . .”
So in Ezekiel, it says that God is not pleased with the
death of unrepentant people, and in Psalm 135 it says that God does whatever he
pleases including the slaying of unrepentant people. And the very same Hebrew
verb is used in Psalm 135:6 (“he
pleases”) and Ezekiel 18:32 (“he
has pleasure”).
If you have the idea then that God isn’t troubled by
his being cornered into doing things he doesn’t want to do, well, Psalm 135
doesn’t actually say that God takes delight in destroying the Egyptians.
“doing whatever he pleases” in Psalm 135:6is just a figure of speech and doesn’t carry the sense of
pleasure or delight. And so they would say that God only grieves when he must
judge unrepentant sinners, and there is no sense in which he is doing what he
is pleased to do.
But that the same word used in Psalm 135:6 God’s being
“pleased” is used in Ezekiel 18:32 for
God’s not being “pleased.” Then I would direct attention to Deuteronomy 28:63 where Moses warns of the coming
judgment on unrepentant Israel. But this time it says something strikingly
different from Ezekiel 18:32,
And as the Lord took delight in doing you good and multiplying
you, so the Lord will take delight in bringing ruin upon you and destroying
you. (See also Proverbs 1:24–26; Revelation 18:20; Ezekiel 5:13.)
So we circle back to the 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 135:6–11 and Deuteronomy 28:63).
How about that the death and misery of the unrepentant is in
and of itself no delight to God. God is not a sadist. He is not malicious or
bloodthirsty. 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.
Moses warns Israel that the Lord will take delight in
bringing ruin upon them and destroying them if they don’t 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. Quite the contrary.
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.
Look, God isn’t mocked. He’s not trapped or cornered or
coerced. Even on the way to Calvary he had legions at his disposal. “No one
takes my life from me; I lay it down of my own accord” — of my own good
pleasure, for the joy that is set before me (see John 10:18; Hebrews 12:2). At
the one point in the history of the universe where God looked trapped, he was
totally in charge doing precisely what he pleased — dying to justify the
ungodly like you and me.
This brings to mind Jimmy Swaggert Jim Bakker, John Hagee
and, I’ll throw in everybody else, and read from first: 1 Corinthians 6: 1-11
but let me read from verse 9, – do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit
the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves,
nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the
kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were
sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
Spirit of our God.
And then Galatians 6:1-5 – if anyone is caught in any
transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of
gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. 2 Bear one
anothers burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 3 For if anyone thinks he
is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. We should stand in awe
and wonder this morning: “Our God is in heaven; he does whatever he pleases.”
Amen.
Almighty
God and Merciful Father, we praise you that you are an infinitely joyously unrestrained God; who is satisfied with your own
perfections reflected in the radiance of your Son. And we praise you that you
are free and sovereign in your own self-sufficiency and cannot be bribed or
coerced because of some deficiency or craving in your heart. We praise you that
your plan and counsel is governed not by our will but by your good pleasure.
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