God’s Delight
April 04, 2024
“For the Lord taketh pleasure in His people...” – Psalm 149:4a
God cares for your soul.
Do you care for the souls of others?
Do you care for your own soul?
Sometimes the way we treat our physical, emotional, and spiritual health is an affront to God. The soul is the totality of a person and God takes pleasure in all that you are. For you to decide that some aspect of your life is not worthy of being nurtured is not an act of sacrificial worship but of negligence.
We have seen that God cares for our souls and that we must exercise care as well – for our own lives and for the lives of others. Now we see the reason: God takes great delight in his people. He receives pleasure from his relationship with His children.
It is hard to fathom, but it is true.
Have you ever given someone you love a precious gift, something that you have received from another generation and a passing on through that person to subsequent generations? That gift is not really the possession of the person holding it as much as it is the heritage of the family line. You expect the recipient to care for it, protect it, and pass it on with care. You delight in seeing it displayed and honored. You are offended when it is treated with careless disregard for its significance and handled with common contempt.
It is a very imperfect example, but it points to some truth. We are not our own, the scripture says, but bought with a price. We belong to God and have been made trustees of our lives in time and space. God’s purpose is to enjoy us and have a love relationship with us. He expects us to care for our own lives and nurture our souls with his Word, with fellowship, with healthy food and habits, and with life affirming relationships.
It grieves the heart of God when we do not take care of ourselves.
It also grieves the heart of God when we do not nurture and take delight in his other children. He expects us to see the loveliness of other people. When we find that difficult, he promises to help us and to love them through us.
Let us worship God by taking pleasure in him, in our own lives as consecrated to him, and in his children.