May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD. (Psalm 104:34)
The English Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs said something similar: “He pleases God most whom God pleases.” I had to read it a few times to get it! This saying distils so much Christian wisdom and truth into such a short space. It simply means that if you really want to please God, then be pleased with God! When we truly delight in God and everything He does, we truly please Him. We could try and please God with a million things we do but we know that nothing we ever do will come close to what His beloved Son did. With Him, God was well pleased. We could try and please God by saying the ‘right thing’, or praying three hours before the Sun comes up, or doing good deeds etc. None of these things in and of themselves please God. This is because God always looks on the heart. It is the state of our heart that determines whether God is pleased or displeased with us. The way to please God is to be pleased by God. This is heartfelt worship: when our hearts rejoice in the Lord – which is what the verse above says. The Psalmist expects that as he meditates on the Lord and rejoices in the Lord, the Lord will be pleased with him. If you’re a parent, think of your children. What would make you most pleased with them? Imagine for a moment you knew that in their heart of hearts they loved you. Imagine if you knew that deep within they thought you were a great parent; they truly appreciated everything you gave them and did for them; they valued the way you raised them; they thought you were kind and wise in all your dealings with them. Yes, you disciplined them, but in reflection they have come to realise that it was all for their good and they are now so grateful. Ok, you can stop dreaming now! But if that were the case, wouldn’t you be pleased? Wouldn’t this be so much better than if they just tidied their room and did all the right things because they just wanted to avoid getting into trouble? The same is true of our Heavenly Father. We please Him the most when we are most pleased with Him. When we meditate like the Psalmist did and think about all that God is, and all that He has done, especially at the cross of Jesus Christ, we will be enabled to see what a Perfect Parent He is and has always been. When we do that, we will rejoice in Him. Our rejoicing in Him will please Him. This relationship of mutual pleasing between God the Father and His child is pure joy. PRAY and ask the Spirit for His help to meditate on God so that you rejoice in Him and that He will be pleased because you rejoice in Him.