God's Pleasure in Obedience

John Piper has a book, The Pleasures of God which attempts to enable the child of God to meditate and delight in the delight God has in being God. As I have read this book, which I highly recommend, I have been both encouraged and challenged by the Truth of God's Word.

As believers, we are constantly reminded of the fact that we are solely dependent on the grace of God to enter the kingdom; our salvation rides on the Gospel of Jesus Christ and NOTHING else. We are saved by grace through faith ALONE. But...there is a far greater reality, that those who are truly saved, will produce fruit. The life transforming Gospel does just that, changes your life. Your delight and desire comes in pleasing the One who saved you, who loves you, and who daily works in you. God's delight is found in the obedience of His saints, not that they may earn salvation, but that they bring Him glory through it all. Think about, as Piper says, why God hates disobedience and why He takes pleasure in obedience. For the remainder of the blog, I am going to work with Piper's points to encourage YOU to holy living, simply for the glory of God.

(1) God has pleasure in obedience because disobedience shows a misplacement of fear.
In 1 Samuel 15:24 we read, "Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Saul obeyed the voice of the people rather than the voice of God because He feared the people instead of God. He feared human consequences of obedience more than he feared divine consequences of sin. He feared the displeasure of people more than the displeasure of God. If we allow ourselves to be guided by those fears, of people pleasing rather than God pleasing, we will find ourselves not honoring and revering the holy God.

(2) God has pleasure in obedience because disobedience shows a misplacement of pleasure.
As we saw in the story of Saul and Samuel, Saul tried to persuade Samuel that it was a "noble" intention that led him to disobey God and to keep the best sheep and oxen. However God showed Samuel that their true heart otiaqtion was much different than what Saul shared it was. In 1 Samuel 15:19 we read, Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?" This picture of pouncing implies that the people were driven by an overwhelming desire for pleasure in all of the meats. Their pleasure was misplaced, it should have been in God but they delighted more in the meet of sheep and oxen than they did in the smile of God. This is insulting to the Holy God. Fleeting pleasures became their momentary delight.

(3) God has pleasure in obedience because disobedience shows a misplacement of praise.
When Saul had defeated the Amalekites the first thing he did was build himself a monument. 1 Samuel 15:12 shows us this very thing. Apparently he was more interested in creating a GREAT name for himself than in making a name for the good and holy God through obedience to Him. He wanted his own praise and His own glory, how often is this us? How often do we want the glory, the praise the honor, and sin to get it?

(4) God has pleasure in obedience because disobedience is as the sin of divination!
Check out 1 Samuel 15:22-23 “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the LORD?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king.”
How could sin and disobedience be like the sin of divination?? Divination is seeking to know what to do in a way that ignores the Word and counsel of God, it discounts the guidance and revelation. It in essence says, "I will consult another source of wisdom". Disobedience of God's word puts my own wisdom in the place of God's and insults God as the only sure and reliable source of that wisdom.

(5) God has pleasure in obedience because disobedience is idolatry.
As we just read above, in v 23 we see that arrogance is the evil of idolatry. When God says one thing and we consult the wisdom of ourselves and stubbornly choose to go our own way, we are idolaters. We have esteemed our direction of our own mind over God's direction, and committed idolatry.

"You see God WILL be displeased with disobedience because it at EVERY point is an attack on His glory. It puts the fear of man in the place of the fear of God. It elevates pleasure in things aboe pleasure in God. It seeks a name for itself instead a name for God. It seeks out additional guidance beside God', instead of resting in the wisdom of God. And it sets more value on the dictates of self than on the dictates of God and thus attempts to dethrone God by giving allegiance to the idol of the human will." (Piper)

This is serious stuff! But the reality is that obedience brings the EXACT OPPOSITE! It enthrones and honors God and he therefore takes great pleasure in obedience. "Like a father would beam when his children are courageous because they know their daddy's strong arm is behind them, is the same as God, as He takes pleasure in us when our obedience shows that we put our treasure in HIM and not in the enticements of sin.