DELIGHT YOURSELF IN GOD

David VanAcker, Pastor of Discipleship

Grace Church, Sunday Worship

Psalm 37:4; Romans 11:36; 2 Samuel 7:22; Romans 8:38-39

February 7th, 2010

four Verses

This morning I’m going to share with you four verses, each of which teaches a simple, well loved, Christian truth.  In each case, I could have chosen from dozens of other verses in the bible that would teach the same thing.  These are not obscure, isolated, one-of-a-kind passages.  And they are not controversial, novel, or otherwise surprising texts.  The point here is that I’m going to give you four scriptural truths from four scriptural passages that everyone agrees with.

1.      Psalm 37:4  Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

The principle here is that we are called to delight in God (see also Psalm 32:11; Psalm 33:1; Psalm 67:4; Psalm 100:1; Philippians 4:4).

2.      Romans 11:36  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

The principle here is that all things exist for the glory of God (see also Isaiah 43:6-7; Isaiah 48:11; John 17:4; John 12:27; John 16:14; 1 Corinthians 10:31; 1 Peter 4:11).

3.      2 Samuel 7:22  Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

The principle here is that God is greater than we could ever imagine (see also Nehemiah 9:5-6; Romans 11:33-36; Revelation 5:6-14; Psalm 19:1-5; Psalm 29:1-11; Isaiah 6:1-7; Job 5:8-20; Psalm 40:5).

4.      Romans 8:38-39  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The principle here is that God has an awesome, never-ending love for His children (see also John 3:16; John 13:34; John 15:9; John 16:27)

There’s no controversy here.  There’s no church splitting potential here.  These passages feel good and familiar to us. 

Almost everyone in the church has heard of and understands these simple elements of the Christian faith.  Almost everyone accepts and appreciates them as true.  Almost everyone agrees that separately they make for nice cross stitch sayings and t-shirt designs and warm fuzzy feelings in our stomachs and children’s songs. 

Independently they are pleasant.  Mixed together, however, in the proportions that Augustine, Aquinas, Edwards, Lewis, and many others in the Church have done, they produce quite a different response. 

Consider water, dish soap, baking soda, and vinegar.  Independently, they are relatively harmless.  We like them.  They are useful to us.  Drinking and clean dishes and cookies and ?.  Mixed together, though, they have wowed many young science fair participants.  Combined, they erupt into a foamy explosion that you’d never guess possible.

The rest of this sermon is meant to describe the results mixing of the principles listed above: the command to delight in God, the reason for all things, the infinite glory of God, and the love of God for His children.  Some have called this recipe “liberating and devastating”. 

gathering the ingredients

Each of the principles mentioned above needs a little unpacking.  That is, each verse has a few implications that I want to make sure that you see before I mix everything together.   

Psalm 37:4  Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

The principle here is that we are commanded to delight in God.  There are at least two important implications of this fact.

1.      Wanting to be delighted is good.  A universal human experience is the desire to be delighted or satisfied.  The fact that God commands us to delight in Him indicates that our desire to be delighted or satisfied is good, not bad, as some say.  The problem isn’t in our desire to be delighted, it’s in the outlets that we chose to find delight.  We are commanded to delight, but to delight in God!

2.      God wants all people to be delighted.  The fact that God commands us to delight ourselves in Him means that God wants us to be delighted.  God desires our satisfaction and joy.  But He desires us to find it in Him.

In invite you to linger here for a moment.  How often have you encountered people who struggle with Christianity because they believe that it “takes all the fun out of things”?  How often have you personally struggled in your faith because it seems like your desire to be satisfied and your desire to follow Jesus don’t mix?  There’s more explaining that needs to be done, but consider the implications of this (that God desires, and even commands, your delight) for just a moment.

Romans 11:36  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

The principle here is that all things exist for the glory of God.  Consider with me the following three implications:

1.      We were created by God for His glory.  The fact that all things are from and through and to God means that all things exist for God; for His glory.  We are an “all thing”.  Our purpose in life, then, is to glorify God.

2.      God is glorified by us when we delight in Him.  The fact that God commands us to delight in Him coupled with the fact that all things exist for God’s glory means that God intends us to delight in Him as a means of glorifying Him. 

or

All things, including God’s commands, exist to bring God glory.  God commands us to delight in Him.  Therefore, when we delight in God, we bring glory to God. 

or

If all things exist for God’s glory, then God’s commands must exist for God’s glory.  If God commands us to delight in Him, then, our delighting in Him must bring glory to God. 

Further, it also stands to reason, then, that as we delight more and more in God we glorify God more and more.  More on this in a bit. 

3.      God is primarily about God’s glory.  The fact that everything exists for God’s glory also means that God is primarily about God’s glory.  We see this reality born out over and over throughout Scripture. 

We learn from Isaiah 48:11 that God's ultimate purpose for all things is His own glory.  (God the Father speaking) "For my own sake, even for my own sake, will I do it.  For how should my name be polluted; and I will not give my glory to another (Isaiah 48:11)." 

We learn from John 17:4 that the purpose of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ was God’s glory.  (Jesus speaking) "I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. (John 17:4)"

We learn from John 12:27 that the purpose of Jesus’ death on the cross was God’s glory.  (Jesus speaking) "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say?  'Father, save me from this hour'?  No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.  Father, glorify your name! (John 12:27)"

We learn from John 16:14 that the role of the Holy Spirit was to glorify God.  (Jesus speaking) "He (the Holy Spirit) will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.  He will bring glory to me by taking what is mine and making it known to you. (John 16:14)"

And we learn from Isaiah 43:6-7, 1 Corinthians 10:31, and 1 Peter 4:11 (along with our verse above) that the creation of the world and our overall purpose as human is to glorify God.  (God the Father speaking) "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth - everyone who is called by my name whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah 43:6b-7).  (Jesus speaking) "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).   (Paul speaking) “If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:11).

It is often thought that God is primarily concerned with us or with saving us.  The Scriptures teach over and over and over that, even though God is certainly concerned with us and with saving us, His chief concern is with glorifying Himself.  More on this too in a bit. 

Once again, all things, including us, God’s commands, and even God Himself exist for God’s glory.  Since we are commanded to delight in God, then, we glorify God by delighting in Him. 

2 Samuel 7:22  Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

The principle here is that God is greater than we could ever imagine.  There are two crucial implications here.

1.      God is uniquely, infinitely delightful and eternally satisfying.  Meaning, in God alone can we truly find the never-ending delight which we so desire.  All people, as we said above, want to be satisfied or delighted.  So we seek it in all kinds of things.  The problem is, the things that we so readily chase after and pursue or delight in often will provide a jolt of joy, but they will never truly satisfy us.  They always leave us wanting more.

Take the Super Bowl for instance.  Today is one of the biggest TV days of the year.  People spend hundreds of dollars on food and snacks and thousands of dollars on new televisions to watch the game.  We invite people to our homes to celebrate and cheer with us.  Many of you who look semi-comatose during our worship times here will be jumping and yelling and lamenting over a football game in a few hours.  I’m certainly not saying that watching the game is wrong.  And I’m certainly not saying that it isn’t fun.  My point here is that tomorrow or next week the buzz will be gone and we’ll be forced to find joy in something else. 

The things of this world simply can’t truly satisfy us.  They were never meant to.  Money and power and success and recreation and companionship will all always ultimately leave us wanting more.  God alone can truly and eternally satisfy our souls. 

I imagine that some of you are thinking, “But I’ve tried the God thing.  It doesn’t work.  It’s kind of boring in fact.”  Or, “How is God different than everything else that I try?  I come to church or bible study or discipleship group, get a buzz, and then it’s gone, like the Super Bowl.” 

You need to know two things.  First, God is not like all of those things and those who have been born again know it.  We’ve tasted the goodness of God, not fully yet, but we’ve tasted it, and truly know that He’s more satisfying than anything else.  You need spiritual eyes to see this and spiritual taste buds to enjoy it, but all those who are in Christ Jesus are able to taste and see the surpassing greatness of God. 

Second, as I alluded to above, while those without spiritual eyes and taste buds will never be satisfied in God, even those who’ve been born again will not fully experience the all-satisfyingness of God until heaven.  Because there is still sin in and around us, we will not and cannot fully experience God’s greatness in this life.  Though we can taste and see an amazing amount of goodness and find tremendous satisfaction in God now, the great promise for the Christian, which we accept by faith, is that one day soon we will be with God in everlasting paradise!

God alone is infinitely delightful and eternally satisfying.

2.      All who follow their desire for delight to the end will find God.  Our problem then, once again, is not that we want to be happy; it’s that we are looking in the wrong places, stopping too soon, and settling for too little.  Everyone who follows their desire for delight all the way to its source will find God.  We should engage ourselves and encourage others in the pursuit of true delight and not stop until we get it. 

This is absolutely astonishing!  We are commanded by God to delight in the most amazing and only truly satisfying thing in all of existence: God.  God doesn’t command us to delight in turnips or brick making or tooth flossing.  Instead, He calls us to delight in the one thing that is truly delightful and the source of all delight: Himself. 

Romans 8:38-39  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The principle here is that God has an awesome, never-ending love for His children.  I want you to see just one simple implication from this principle. 

1.      This whole arrangement is a manifestation of God’s love for His people.  The most loving thing that God can do is to give us what’s best for us.  God is what’s best for us. 

In other words, God must, if He is truly loving, be constantly about the business of demonstrating or displaying His glory.  (God is the only being for which this is true.  It is sinful idolatry for anyone or anything else to do this because God alone is infinitely glorious.)  And we must, therefore, if we are to obediently pursue our delight in God, give all of ourselves to recognizing and responding to the glory of God.

To love someone is to desire what’s best for them.  What’s best for everyone is God.  Therefore, God’s most loving act is to seek His glory above all things.  The more that God seeks His glory, the more that He loves us.  The great news for us is that God is fully loving and therefore fully pursuing His own glory.  This means, by implication, God is fully pursuing the eternal delight of all His children!

mixing everything up

Now that we’ve mixed these passages together we’re left with the explosive reality that, as John Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”.  The implications of this reality are astounding!

We must pursue our delight, not in the things of this world, but in God, and at all costs.  We must be seriously delighted people.

We fight sin, not primarily by thinking on how horrific it is or on how it will harm us, but by considering the greater joy that is found only in God.

We evangelize, not primarily because people need it or because hell is real, but because God is supremely valuable—so much so that we can’t help but to tell of His greatness.

We see trials, though painful and difficult, as all joy, as James says, because we delight in God’s sanctifying work that He uniquely accomplishes through them.

We love others best, not when we make a big deal about them, but when we make a big deal about God to them. 

We parent well when we allow our children to see our delight in God and offer to them, in the Gospel, the same, eternal, delight.

Our worship of God is pleasing to God when it springs from deep, deep delight in God. 

And Christianity isn’t primarily about assenting to a certain set of truths or engaging in certain religious practices, but in delighting in all that God is for us in Jesus Christ!

And on and on!!!  Just consider the awesome, explosive, all-encompassing and possibly messy reality that you are commanded to pursue your delight in God, that God is the most delightful being in the entire universe, and that because He is loving, He is pursuing His glory and your delight with all of His might. 

Do you delight in God above all things?  Fight for it.  Go after it.  Pray for it.  Trust in God for it.

Conclusion

All of this brings us to the cross of Jesus.  The reason that Jesus died on the cross is that none of us delight in God rightly.  This is what the bible calls sin; delighting in things more than God or in ways not prescribed by God. 

Because God is infinitely glorious, He is infinitely worthy of our delight.  Because He is infinitely worthy of our delight, it is an infinite infraction against Him when we fail to delight in Him rightly.  Infinite infractions warrant infinite punishment.  Therefore, the wages of sin (of failing to delight rightly in God) is death—hell.  Yet, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, to pay the wages of our sin, reconcile us to the Father, and therein to glorify the Godhead and satisfy our souls forever.

You and I were created to experience infinite and eternal delight in God.  Through the grace of God we can be given faith in Jesus’ death on the cross and have the eyes of our hearts opened.  Only then can we begin to see the all-satisfying nature of God.  And then we receive the Holy Spirit as a down payment or guarantee that on day we will indeed experience the infinite and eternal delight in God that we were created for. 

Cry out to Him today!