Pleasing God, Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

A Great Reason to Praise

PSALM 149:1-4 – Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly! Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre! For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.

THEME OF THE DAY: A GREAT REASON TO PRAISE. Alright, start listing them. Yes, the theme of today’s nugget. Let’s start listing all the reasons for praising the Lord. There is our creation in His image; the sending of His Son to be our Savior; the daily provisions we need for life; the many times of His watchful protection over us; the comfort of His Word; the giving of His Spirit to dwell within us forever; the body of Christ; being in a church where Christ is preached; brothers and sisters who encourage . . . and the list goes on and on and on. We have many reasons to praise the Lord and all through eternity to do so! But allow me to add one from today’s scripture that we might not think too much about.

In the opening of this Psalm, praise and rejoicing dominate – praise the Lord, sing to the Lord a new song, let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!, let them praise His name, making melody to Him . . . and then what follows? A great reason to praise – For the Lord takes pleasure in His people.

Do we believe it? Now don’t just say, “Yes, I believe the Lord takes pleasure in me. Yes, I believe the Lord delights in me.” I mean, “Do we really believe it?”, especially when we fail, when we fall short of God’s desires for us, when we sin, and when we, like foolish sheep, go into pastures we shouldn’t? We are so performance-driven that when we fail the Lord, the devil tempts us to question God’s love for us. The thought of Him delighting in us is difficult when the accuser is “raking our hearts across the fiery coals” of his accusations. But here is the truth that will always defeat him. God delights in us, not because of us, but because of His Son, the Lord Jesus. We are God the Father’s “grace gifts” to His Son, the Son He always delights in. Take time soon and read through Jesus’ High Priestly prayer in John 17. Pay attention to the number of times the Lord Jesus refers to His Father that believers are “those given to Him.” It will thrill our souls and show us God delights in us for His sake, not our sake.

To further amplify this reason to praise, allow these words from the prophet Zephaniah convince us that God really does take pleasure in us. And as we read his words, take time to further praise the Lord –The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for taking delight in me, not because I deserve it, but because of Your Son.”
QUOTE: “God’s delight in His redeemed children is for Christ’s sake, not ours, but we are the object of His delight.”