GOD’S WORD FOR JUNE 21 ~ ~ Psalm 147:10-11 ~ ~ His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man; But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”
Excerpts from John Piper’s book, “The Pleasures of God”
CHAPTER 7 ~ ~ The Pleasure of God in Doing Good To All Who Hope in Him.
Promise #2 ~ ~ But the promise is greater yet. Not only does God promise not to turn away from doing good to us, he says, “I WILL REJOICE IN DOING THEM GOOD.”(Jer. 32:41)
“The Lord will again TAKE DELIGHT in prospering you.” (Deut 30:9).
He does not bless begrudgingly. There is a kind of eagerness about the beneficence of God. He does not wait for us to come to him. He seeks us out, because it is his pleasure to do us good.
“The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show his might in behalf of those whose heart is complete toward him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9)
God is not waiting for us, he is pursuing us. That, in fact, is the literal translation of Psalm 23:6:
“Surely goodness and mercy shall PURSUE me all the days of my life.”
I have never forgotten how a great teacher once explained it to me. He said God is like a highway patrolman pursuing you down the interstate with lights flashing and siren blaring to get you to stop—not to give you a ticket, but to give you a message so good it couldn’t wait till you get home.
God loves to show mercy. Let me say it again. God loves to show mercy. He is not hesitant or indecisive or tentative in his desires to do good to his people. His anger must be released by a stiff safety lock, but his mercy has a hair trigger. That’s what he meant when he came down on Mount Sinai and said to Moses,
The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, SLOW TO ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN STEADFAST LOVE” (Exodus 34;6)
The point is the contrast between the sliggishness of his anger and the effusiveness of his love.