What Pleases the Lord?
I have recently been impressed with how often the Lord is pleased with something in Scripture. Here are some examples.
In the gospels, the Father is pleased with Jesus. “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’” (Matthew 3:16–17 ESV).
God’s pleasure with Jesus is expressed in another important way in Colossians 1:19. “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…” (ESV). When Jesus walked the earth He was fully man and fully God, and that was pleasing to the Father.
The Lord is also pleased with us. “For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; / He will beautify the afflicted ones with salvation” (Psalm 149:4 NASB95; cf. Zephaniah 3:17). God loves and “takes delight” (so NIV, NET) in His people.
He “beautifies” us through Jesus. “All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6a-b NASB95). We deserved whatever disaster awaited us at the end of the path we had chosen. But because God takes pleasure in His people, He offered Jesus in our stead. “But the Lord was pleased / To crush Him, putting Him to grief; / If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, / He will see His offspring, / He will prolong His days, / And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. / As a result of the anguish of His soul, / He will see it and be satisfied; / By His knowledge the Righteous One, / My Servant, will justify the many, / As He will bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:10-11 NASB95). God was pleased to crush Jesus instead of us.
He has done all of this for us! Now how can we please Him?
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Heb. 11:6) so we must begin there.
Speak the truth of the gospel. “...but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts” (1 Thessalonians 2:4 ESV).
Serve and learn. “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God…” (Colossians 1:9–10 ESV).
Reverence and worship. “...[B]ut the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, / in those who hope in his steadfast love. // Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! / Praise your God, O Zion!” (Psalm 147:11 ESV).
Sacrificial lives. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1 NIV).