The Lord Takes Pleasure in His People

Psalm 149:4 – “For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.”

There is nothing that God cannot see; from the smallest insect to the largest planet. He fills the universe with His presence, and knows every event that will occur in every moment of the future. God is complete perfection in all that He is and does. With all of His wisdom, power, and knowledge, what is it that brings pleasure to the Lord? The Scripture tells us that “the LORD taketh pleasure in his people.” God is pleased with His people, not necessarily with all people, but His people.

Because we are so aware of how we have broken God’s law and felt the guilt and shame of our past mistakes, we wonder if God could ever find pleasure in our lives. Could God really be pleased with us? Is it possible for anyone or anything to meet God’s high standard? The Bible is clear; our Heavenly Father takes pleasure in us. This is a great healer for the personal guilt and feelings of utter failure that sin often leaves with its victims. The Lord is pleased, not only because of what we do, but because of who we are. Our children do not have to perform or produce to please us; we take pleasure in them because they are our children. We belong to God. He is our Father and we are His children.

God is also pleased when He sees His children following Him and seeking to serve Him. As the Apostle John rejoiced because his children walked in the truth, and as we parents are pleased to observe our children walking in the truth, God takes pleasure in beholding His children as we obey Him. The Bible further teaches us that God is pleased when we depend on Him, because without faith it is not possible to please Him.

Realizing that God takes pleasure in His children should produce a positive response in our hearts. It should cause us to want to live in such a way that He will be pleased by our behavior. There is a sense of satisfaction in a child who knows his parent is pleased with his decisions. We, too, can have great peace in knowing that God takes pleasure in His people. We want to offer Him thanks and praise because He has accepted us and is pleased to have us in His forever family.