To Delight God is to Understand and Know Him
If you want to know what makes God happy, just ask Him! In today’s Bible reading* God tells His people that to delight Him is to understand and know Him.
“ This is what the LORD says: The wise person should not boast in his wisdom; the strong should not boast in his strength; the wealthy should not boast in his wealth. But the one who boasts should boast in this: that he understands and knows me— that I am the LORD, showing faithful love, justice, and righteousness on the earth, for I delight in these things.”
This is the LORD’s declaration.
Jeremiah 9:23–24 (CSB)
A long time ago, some theologians came up with a way to train up children (and adults) in the faith with a series of questions and answers. It was called the Westminster Confession of Faith. The first question is, “What is the chief end of man?” In other words, what is man’s main purpose for existence? The answer is simple: “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”
John Piper rightly notes that glorifying God and enjoying Him aren’t two separate purposes. They are one and the same. He weaves the two concepts together by saying that the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.
Application
I don’t know of any Believer who doesn’t want to please God. Unfortunately, many of us don’t really know how to please Him. We think that if we can just do the right things and not do the wrong things, that God will be happy with us. But that puts things in the wrong order. God isn’t pleased when we behave a certain way. He is pleased when His people know and understand Him. If His people know and understand Him, they will behave in a way that’s consistent with His covenant. God delights in His people when they delight in Him.
Jesus tells His disciples that to know (and understand) God is to have eternal life. (John 17:3) Paul echoes Jeremiah’s statement in saying that if you’re going to boast, boast in (knowing and understanding) God. (1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17)
Do you know and understand God? Or to ask that question a different way, “Are you growing in your knowledge and understanding of God?” because we will never fully know and understand God.
What are you doing to grow in your knowledge and understanding of God?
If you want to know and understand Him, you have to spend time with him in prayer and reading, studying, and meditating on His Word.
* Chapters covered in today’s reading:
Jeremiah 9
Jeremiah 10
Jeremiah 11
Jeremiah 12