"The Lord's Delight" April 18 Readings: Psalm 134, 146-150

  

Reading the Bible Chronologically in 2024

This year, instead of reading from Genesis to Revelation, we will read the Bible as the story flows, as it happened and was written. There are several plans out there and I have worked to combine them into a plan that lets the Bible tell its own story "as it happened." Remember, the Bible is inspired, but not in the order the books appear in our Bibles.  The Old Testament is approximately 3/4 of the Bible, but we will give more emphasis to the New Testament, spending half the year in the Old Testament and half in the New. 

Bible Readings: Psalm 134, 146-150

Background:  

Today we wrap up the book of Psalms, though there are random Psalms from later times that will appear in subsequent readings. There will be no more days in which the Psalms are the primary focus of readings.

The last few Psalms are "Hallelujah Psalms" which focus on reasons and methods of praising the Lord.

Daily Devotional: The Lord's Delight

What makes God happy?

Obviously, God's emotions are not like ours, so a question such as that is not easily answered, but the Bible does speak anthropomorphically of God's pleasure and happiness and the things that cause it. In Psalm 149:4 we read of one of those things.

For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with salvation.

The Lord takes pleasure in his people!

I am a sinner and so are you, and when we come into the presence of God we are often made deeply aware of that sin. It is a good thing to repent and to humble ourselves before God, to face our sin and deal with it. It is also easy to fall into a sort of sad-sack view of ourselves that God reluctantly accepts us into his family and tolerates us.

That is not the way the Bible presents it at all. The Lord delights in us. He takes pleasure in us. That is the extent of the grace and love of Jesus. He did not send Christ to the Cross to open the back gate of heaven and allow us into heaven's low-rent trailer park. He throws open the gates and welcomes us as his beloved children.

We are wanted. Prized. Valued. As one preacher has said, we are the pictures on the refrigerator of heaven. It is not because of our greatness or merit that this is so, but because of the riches of God's grace, the extent of his love. But the Lord of Heaven takes pleasure in those he has redeemed.

Father, it boggles my mind that you not only redeemed me but that by your grace, you delight in me. so often I do not even delight in myself, but your grace is greater than my sin. 

Consider God's Word:

Spend time today meditating on this unlikely reality - not only did God send his Son to redeem you from your sins, but he also delights in you. The redeemed bring pleasure to God as he works in you.