I would like to look a little bit at, I often wonder what does God delight in? What does He have no pleasure in? I was reading through some verses in the Bible and it struck me as I was reading some of these verses that I was asking myself that, what does God like? What does He hate? What does He delight in? What does He have pleasure in doing? I want to look at some of the verses in the Bible that point in this direction. But first let us look at a verse in Ezekiel 18, we are going to break into the chapter of Ezekiel 18 we are going to read verse 23 and then we will read verses 30-32 of the same chapter. Ezekiel 18:23, here God tells us:
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
God tells us He has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” He does not have a smile on His face when men are going to be destroyed in a few months, He has no delight in that. But as you look at these verses that I am going to share with you, you are going to see the word “return,” or “turn” in mostly all the verses and we have to be careful with that. We have to be careful with how we understand the word “return” or “turn” because God gives us a command to turn to Him, but as we know according to the Bible that we can not turn to God of our own will God has to turn us to Himself. If you look at verse 30 of the same chapter here God tells us:
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, …
And we know that to a certain degree mankind can repent but it is not in a God glorifying way. True repentance is a gift of God as the Bible tells us.
… Repent, and turn …
See the command of God? Repent, He is saying to us, “Repent, and turn.” We cannot repent in a God glorifying way and we of ourselves cannot turn to God the way that God has commanded us to turn to Him, God has to turn us to Himself. Later on we are going to look at a few verses that explain turning and return to Him.
… Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; …
You see the command of God, from all our sins God is telling us to “Repent, and turn.” Again can anyone of us do this of ourselves? Mankind the Bible tells us we are “dead in trespasses and sins” are we not? Of ourselves we cannot do it. It says:
… from all your transgressions; so iniquity …
Which is sin.
… shall not be your ruin.
If you look at this word “ruin” if you look it up in the Concordance this word “ruin” is translated in other parts of the Bible as “stumblingblock,” not “stumblingstone,” Christ was the “stumblingstone,” He is the “rock of offence.” But here this word “ruin” is translated as “stumblingblock.” If you will look at Romans 9, let us see the difference. Turn over to Romans 9 God tells us in Romans 9, we will see the difference between the two, the “stumblingblock” and the “stumblingstone.” In Romans 9:31-33:
But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
Which is Christ.
As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
So you see the “stumblingstone” is Christ. The “stumblingblock” is like a false gospel, things of that nature that is what it is, the false gospel is sin, it is a “stumblingblock.” So you see how it is used in Ezekiel. Let us go back over to Ezekiel 18:30 let us read it again:
Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
Sin in our life can be a “stumblingblock” in our life, sin or a false gospel. It says in verse 31:
Cast away from you all your transgressions, …
See God is repeating Himself again from verse 30. He said we are to “turn from all your transgressions” and here He says again:
Cast away from you all your transgressions, …
All the sins that you have committed we are to cast them away but we cannot do it of ourselves, we cannot do it.
… whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart …
Now how can anyone of us do that? It is a command of God that we have to make ourselves “a new heart” and we cannot do that, God has to create “a new heart” within us:
… and a new spirit: …
He is telling us to do these things to ourselves. We cannot do it. It says:
… for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, …
So you see that God has no pleasure in destroying people, none, whatsoever. Remember we were looking at this word “pleasure” what does He have “pleasure” in? What does God “have no pleasure” in doing? And you see one here, He has “no pleasure” in them that die in their iniquity, none whatsoever. It says:
For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
He has no delight and that word “pleasure” there could be translated as “delight,” He has “no [delight] in the death of the wicked” none whatsoever “no pleasure” in doing these things to men but we know that God has to be faithful to His promises and commitments in the Bible because He tells us in the Bible, “the wages of sin is death.” He has to do what He is written in the Bible, He has to do. The wicked will be destroyed there is no doubt about it absolutely no doubt and He has “no pleasure” in doing so, that is why He commands us to “turn” to Him. And through all this you see God’s mercy there too. God’s mercy is there for all mankind but of ourselves we want nothing to do with it. That is why God’s election program is so wonderful for us. Because as we know that if God did not elect a people for Himself not one of us, not one of us would want to have anything to do with God.
Turn also over to Ezekiel 33:9-11, see the same idea there. Ezekiel 33, here God tells us in verse 9, we are going to break into the chapter again:
Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn …
Remember I said earlier we are going to see this word “return” and “turn” over and over in these verses.
… to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
We could “turn” from our sin as a form of repentance. Some things we can understand, some things we can do but that will not save us. We can repent to a certain degree but our works will not save us it will never save anyone. We could “turn” from that sin in our life, we could stop doing this, we could stop doing all sorts of things but that in and of itself will not save us, it will not save us. We can repent but not the way that God tells us in the Bible that we are to repent, God has to grant us repentance. Verse 10 says:
Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying, …
So God is telling us, say these things to the people.
… If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; …
So you see God is telling us He has “no pleasure” in sending people into hell, none whatsoever.
… but that the wicked turn …
… from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Do you see God’s mercy there, “turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways” and we “turn” to Christ and we beseech Him for His mercy because He is the only One who could help us. He is the only One who is qualified to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But if you look in verse 10, see, in our sins we are simply pining away. That word “pine away” here God uses it, it is used in other parts of the Bible as we are consumed away, we are just consuming away in our sin. If you will look at Zechariah, I believe it is used that way in Zechariah (Haggai, after Haggai is Zechariah). Zechariah 14:12 that word “pine away” there is used in this way. Let us pick up the context here, verse 12:
And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away …
Same word as “pine away.”
… consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
Exact same word there God uses in the Bible as “pine away.” We are just simply pining away in our sin. We are going to be consumed in our sin if we do not “turn” from our wickedness, if we are not born again. So you see, we are just simply pining away in our sins. God commands us to “turn” to Him, “turn ye, turn ye,” in Ezekiel 33, turn, it is a command of God like He gives us the command to repent or to believe the Gospel. These things we cannot do it God tells us that God is the One who “worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Do you see how desperately we need a Saviour we need desperately the Lord Jesus Christ in our life or else we are headed for destruction, headed for destruction. It does not make a difference who that person is, who they are, or whatever it is. God means what He says, He is not a “respecter of persons” as we know.
Look again at another verse where this is used, in Ezekiel 4, same idea there in “pine away,” “consume away.” In Ezekiel 4:17, same idea:
That they may want bread and water, and be astonied one with another, and consume away for their iniquity.
Mankind, if God has not forgiven you of your sins you are simply going to “consume away” in your iniquity. Sin will be our ruin. You know unsaved man he delights in sin, sin has certain pleasures to it and that is one of the reasons why we love our sin it brings certain pleasures to our flesh. But yet it is going to be the ruin of unsaved man and during those five months as we said God must, must bring mankind to justice. If you will look at the Interlinear they translated “pine away” as rotting. Mankind is rotting away in his sin. Sin is awful, sin is terrible. As we look at today’s world what do we see? Sin is just abounding more and more in society. Mankind is just having his day but we know that God will bring mankind into judgment on that day.
Let us turn over to Jeremiah, another familiar passage. In Jeremiah 31, remember we were looking at turning and this is a beautiful verse and it ties back into another familiar verse to most of us. Here God is telling us that He does the turning, remember we saw all those verses in the Bible of turning, turning, God commands us to “turn” to Him, He has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked” that we should “turn” and that we should repent and all these things but we see that in Jeremiah 31:18-19:
I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, …
This ought to be our prayer to God, God turn me today, “turn thou me” today because we cannot do it of ourselves. So we are beseeching God that God would “turn” me to Himself.
… turn thou me, and I shall be turned; …
Remember, God tells us in Ezekiel “turn ye, turn ye,” it is a command of God but we have to understand that we cannot “turn” to God in that way of ourselves so we should recognize the fact that we cannot “turn” and say, “O Lord, turn thou me.”
… turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; …
It is God’s doing, God’s doing.
… and after that I was instructed, …
Instructed out of what? The Bible. The Bible is given for our instruction and training in righteousness.
… I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.
It is my sin. You see how beautiful the Gospel is? God tells us “He delighteth in mercy.” Let us look at Micah 7:18-19. (Micah is before Nahum). It says:
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? …
Which is His people.
… he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
He has “no pleasure in the death of the wicked” and here God one of the things He delights in, “He delighteth in mercy.” Verse 19 says:
He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
See God’s mercy? It is God’s mercy that He does save a people for Himself.
Let us look at another verse, Psalm 80, Psalm 80:18-19 here we read:
So will not we go back from thee: quicken us, …
Make us alive, we are asking God to “quicken us.”
… and we will call upon thy name.
The only way we are going to call upon God’s name the right way is if God is working in us. The verse says “turn us again.” See the prayer, God’s people:
Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.
It is God who does the turning and He is the One who does all the work of saving someone. We cannot take any credit for it nothing, nothing, whatsoever.
Turn over to Psalm 5 we are going to read a few verses from Psalm 5 starting at verse 1. Here we read:
Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation. Hearken unto the voice of my cry, my King, and my God: for unto thee will I pray. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up. For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: …
God has no pleasure in sin, in wickedness of man. So you see He has no pleasure in wickedness:
… neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
He has no pleasure in wickedness whatsoever, He has no pleasure in that the wicked, He has to throw mankind in hell to destroy them forever. He has no delight in these things and He tells us here that He hates “all workers of iniquity” all workers of sin. Verse 6 says:
Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing: the LORD will abhor the bloody and deceitful man.
He has no pleasure in these things whatsoever. Let us look at another verse Psalm 147. Psalm 147:10-11, here He tells us:
He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: …
When we see a horse we see strength in that the horse is strong, He has no delight in that. Who made the horse? Who gave the horse his strength? God does.
He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man.
You could be in the prime of health, you know the world looks at the athletes the world’s strongest man, the world is mesmerized by this, Oh this man could lift up 600 pounds, Wow, and mankind is fascinated by that but who made man? Who gave man that body or the strength or whatever? God did, He has no delight in these things. There is a verse in the Bible God tells us “every man at his best state is altogether vanity.” You could be in the prime of health and what are you? You are nothing, what does it take; here you see someone who is healthy as a horse in the prime of life and he gets stung by a mosquito with the West Nile Virus or he catches the flu what happens to him? I know us guys when we get sick we turn into a baby right? But you think that person is strong and yet he gets stung by a mosquito and he catches the virus and he is laid up in bed for a week he is so weak sometimes he cannot even get out of bed. God has no delight in that, none whatsoever.
Let us look at Psalm 39, God tells us about that. Psalm 39:5:
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. …
We are nothing, we are nothing but dust and ashes; we are taken out of the earth and we return to it. We are nothing. God does not delight in how strong a man is or whatever the case is, no. What does He delight in? Look at Psalm 149 we will start reading at verse 4:
For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: …
See who “the LORD taketh pleasure in”? He takes delight “in his people,” His elect.
For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
That is what God delights in, His elect the ones whose sins are paid for.
Let the saints be joyful in glory: …
And who are the saints? God’s people:
Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, …
If you are a child of God the “praises of God” are going to be on our lips.
… and a twoedged sword in their hand;
Which is we know the Word of God.
To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. …
It is an honour and a great privilege to have the Word of God in our hands, and only His elect has it, those who are truly a child of God. It says:
… Praise ye the LORD.
This is what the Lord delights in. Look at another verse look at 1 Chronicles 29:17:
I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. …
First we saw what He does not delight in, He has no pleasure in that and now we see that God “hast pleasure in uprightness.”
… As for me, in the uprightness of mine heart I have willingly offered all these things: and now have I seen with joy thy people, which are present here, to offer willingly unto thee.
So you see that God “hast pleasure in uprightness” that is what He delights in. He has no pleasure in iniquity in wickedness none whatsoever but we see that He has “pleasure in his people,” He has “pleasure in uprightness.” He delights in all these things. He delights in mercy. We can see things in the Bible that He delights in. Let us look at another passage in Jeremiah 9:22-26, there we read:
Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them. Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.
Do you see what God delights in? Let us read it again, verse 24:
But let him that glorieth glory in this, …
The true believers they are going to glory in the Lord.
… that he understandeth and knoweth me, …
What do we have to glory in of ourselves? Nothing. If God has truly saved you we glory in Him for saving us for giving us this wonderful salvation.
… that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, …
He delights in lovingkindness.
… judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart.
So you see what God delights in, in verse 24? “Lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness,” He delights in these things. If you would examine these things throughout the Bible it relates to salvation and so forth. Let us take it a little bit further in that if you were a child of God, God has given to you “a new heart” if you are “born again” we should delight in the same things that God delights in because He has given us of His Spirit. He has given us a heart like Christ so we are going to delight in what God delights in and we are going to hate the things that He hates. He has no pleasure in wickedness, in sin and we should have no pleasure in sin. When we see sin in our life what should we do? Turn away from it, repent of it and God tells us in the Bible to crucify the flesh. We are to love the same things He loves and hate the things that He hates because we are like Him. We have taken on the name of Christ we are Christians we are Christ like so we should delight in what He likes.
Let us look at Isaiah 29, we are going to delight in the Bible we are not going to be able to put it down at all because it is God who is speaking to us, and He is going to instruct us from the Bible. We are going to love the Word of God because His Word is our delight. We are going to be delighting in the Bible and if we are not delighting in the Bible then we have to ask the fair question what do I love? Let us look at Isaiah 29:18-20, here God tells us:
And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, …
We know “the meek” are those who are saved.
The meek also shall increase their joy in the LORD, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel.
We rejoice in Christ because when we become a child of God we understand what joy is. There is no other book we will want to read other than the Bible. There is nothing we delight in doing then spending time in God’s Word. Let us read verse 20:
For the terrible one is brought to nought, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch for iniquity are cut off:
But we delight in God, God now has become our joy, our all-in-all if you want to say that. That is what we delight in.
Look at another verse, Jeremiah 15, another familiar passage, Jeremiah 15:15-16, here we read:
O LORD, thou knowest: remember me, and visit me, and revenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in thy longsuffering: know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, …
We are called by His name.
… O LORD God of hosts.
So you see the Word of God has become “the joy and rejoicing” of God’s people’s heart. We joy in that we rejoice in the fact that the Bible is true and God is faithful to His promises and commitments in the Bible and we delight in that. We rejoice in God’s Word.
Let us look at another passage in Psalm 119, in Psalm 119:77, there God tells us:
Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.
The Law of God is the whole Bible and it is the delight of God’s people’s heart. Are we delighting in God’s Word because if we say we are “born again” that is what we want to do spend our life doing. It is not to pursue the things of this life because it is vanity, it is temporal, it is just here for a moment but God’s Word stands forever. It is true, it is absolutely true and that is what, if you are a child of God, we are to delight in.