Those who please the Lord better
[Psalms 69]
Last Sunday morning, I was in my church office, and my youngest daughter Karis sat in a chair in front of me. I guessed she was thinking on her own. Then suddenly she turned to me and asked me a question: “Do you know I feel?” I answered her, “I don't know, but how are you feeling right now?” in order her to elicit her feeling and for me to sympathize with her. Then Karis said, “Happy”. So I asked her, ‘Why are you happy?’ Of course, when I asked this question to her, I had an expectation. I thought she would say “I am glad dad is back from Mongolia because I left home for 13 days and went to Korea and Mongolia and came back home. But I heard unexpected answer from my daughter Karis. That word was none other than ‘a perm’. Hahaha. The day when I returned home from Mongolia, Karis did her perm and when she wen to church ,her grandmother, aunt and other church people complimented her. That was why Karis was happy. Haha. I was also happy to hear the unexpected answer from her and laughed a lot inside, because my beloved daughter was happy.
From the standpoint of our parents, if our children are happy, we are also happy. But I wonder our children are happy if we are happy. When I was in college, I told a sister in Christ to enjoy studying when she was worried her report card. Then her answer was, ‘Why don’t you tell that to my parents.’ She showed a glimpse of trying to please her parents by studying hard and receiving a good report card. But for some reason she didn't seem to be happy. The spiritual lesson we want to learn here is that pleasing our Heavenly Father should be our joy as God's children. Just like pleasing her parents was burden to my college sister in Christ, so pleasing our Heavenly Father shouldn’t be burden to us. Rather, it should be our joy to make our Father God happy. So how can we please God? Although I can say to this question, of course, that obeying God's word is pleasing to God, I want to focus on our being, what kind of God's children we should be, rather than our actions.
In Psalms 69:31, the psalmist David says, “And it will please the LORD better than an ox Or a young bull with horns and hoofs.” David knew how to please God better. Rather than offering the ox, or the young bull wit horns and hoofs, it was to praise the name of God with song and magnify Him with thanksgiving (v. 30). I want to receive lessons from God the Holy Spirit by meditating on four things about those who please God better under the title of “Those who please the Lord better”.
First, those who please the Lord better seek the Lord.
Look at Psalms 69:6 – “May those who wait for You not be ashamed through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel.” Here,'the ones who seek the Lord' and 'the ones who wait for the Lord' are the same words. Those who wait for the Lord, that is, those who hope in the Lord, seek Him. Why did David hope in the Lord and earnestly sought him? The reason is because the psalmist David sunk in deep mire and there was no foothold (v. 2). And the reason why David sunk in deep mire was because there were people, more than the hairs of his head, who hated him without a cause (v. 4). In other words, the reason David sunk in deep mire was because powerful enemies who hated him without the cause tried to destroy him. Another reason he sunk in deep mire is written in verse 8: “I have become estranged from my brothers And an alien to my mother's sons.” What made him worse when he was in extreme distress was that even his brothers turned away from David. So David was lonely. David looked for sympathy and comforters but he found none (v. 20). When we face an unfair situation like David, we look for someone who can sympathy with us and comforts us. This is our human nature. However, it seems that there are times when God doesn't allow someone to sympathize with us and comfort us. Even the friends who come to comfort us may be “Sorry comforters” like Job’s friends (Job 16:2). God's intention is to make us seek only the Lord who sympathizes with us and who is our true comforter.
David, who sunk in deep mire where there was no place to stand, was turned away from his brothers, and couldn’t find anyone who could sympathize with him or a comforter. So he eventually sought God and prayed to Him (Ps. 69:13). In other words, when David was in a deep pit, he looked to the Lord and sought Him earnestly. His final prayer topic was “Save me, O God” (v. 1). As he prayed for His salvation, David prayed like this: “I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; My eyes fail while I wait for my God” (v. 3). As he cried earnestly to God for His salvation, he was weary and his throat was parched and his eyes failed while he waited for his God. He confessed his sins to God as he was longing for the saving grace of God: “O God, it is You who knows my folly, And my wrongs are not hidden from You” (v. 5). David admitted that he could never be said to be innocent in the presence of God, not in the presence of men, even in the midst of his sufferings by his enemies without cause. Therefore, David's suffering was good for him. The reason was because he confessed his sins to God through suffering. After confessing his sins, David sought God's great lovingkindess and His saving truth (v. 13). This prayer is also mentioned in Psalms 57:3 – “He will send from heaven and save me; He reproaches him who tramples upon me Selah God will send forth His lovingkindness and His truth.” This is a poetic expression that personifies God's lovingkindness and His saving truth (Park). He cried out to God, relying on God's great lovingkindess and truth that led him to salvation. In the situation where there were more powerful enemies who hated him than the hairs of his head, David prayed to God, relying on His great lovingkindess and the saving truth.
There are times when we too need to cry out to God. That is a time when we suffers unjustly like David. At that time, we shouldn’t be disappointed, but it is a good opportunity for experiencing God's help. Therefore, we must cry out to God in hope. We must earnestly hope for God’s answers to our prayers (vv. 16, 17).
Second, those who please the Lord better are humble.
Look at Psalms 69:32 – “The humble have seen it and are glad; You who seek God, let your heart revive.” Here, “The humble” is “anavim” in original Hebrew and it means “afflicted” (Park). In other words, those who please God are those who suffer because of their faith. And those who suffer because of their faith are those who become more humble before God through that suffering. Those who become humble are those who seek God. In other words, those who become humble through suffering look to God and pray to Him because they depend entirely on Him. So David is saying: “When I wept in my soul with fasting, It became my reproach” (v. 10). This is only spiritually and quietly, ‘warning’ himself, humbling himself, praying and ‘fasting,’ and making sackcloth his clothing (Park). In other words, it is an external expression of praying to God while humbling himself with spiritual sorrow. The reason why these humble ones rejoice in the midst of suffering is because they have faith or confidence in the salvation that God will give them. As they pray with the assurance of salvation, the hearts of the humble are revived (v. 32; cf. 138:7) by praising God (69:29-30). Like the psalmist, even in tribulation, we must experience the work of the Lord reviving our hearts as we humbly praying to Him. We must experience the work of God strengthening our hearts while humbly praying to God (10:17).
The humble, those who suffer because of their faith, and those who become more humble through those sufferings are those who please God. Those who are humble in heart are those who please God. Therefore, we are responding to Jesus' invitation: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Mt. 11:29).
Third, those who please the Lord better are the needy.
Look at Psalms 69:33 – “For the LORD hears the needy And does not despise His who are prisoners.” David was afflicted and in pain (v. 29). This doesn’t mean that David was in a miserable position only externally. But it means especially because his heart had been humbled so that he had trusted only the Lord (Park). He was in need because of great suffering. In other words, David sunk in deep mire where he had no place to stand, and his heart became poor. That was why David cried out to God like this: “Oh draw near to my soul and redeem it …” (v. 18). David, whose heart was poor through great suffering, asked God to draw close to him. The reason was because “the nearness of God is my good” (73:28).
This is what Jesus said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3). Here, “the poor in spirit” are those who endure in a poor state, and these spiritual recipients are: (1) Those who know that they cannot help themselves and that only God can help them. (2) Because they live in opposition to the arrogant before God, they are persecuted by the arrogant. (3) They are heartbroken and repentant for sin. These spiritual sufferers are blessed because the kingdom of heaven is theirs, that is, because they receive the God’s spiritual reign (Park).
The needy, the poor in spirit are those who please God. Those who are in need make only God as the One who sympathizes with them and as the comforter(Ps. 69:20). Therefore, they enjoy the blessing of being close to God through God's spiritual reign.
Fourth and last, those who please the Lord better are those who love the Lord’s name.
Look at Psalms 69:36 – “The descendants of His servants will inherit it, And those who love His name will dwell in it.” Those who love His name praise the name of God (v. 30). And they magnify Him with thanksgiving (v. 30). David was convinced that God would save him from the hardships and dangers he faced, so in the assurance of salvation he praised God's name and magnified Him with thanksgiving. So David said, “Let heaven and earth praise Him, The seas and everything that moves in them. For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, That they may dwell there and possess it” (vv. 34-35). After God saved the Israelites and built the cities of Judah, those who love the Lord's name would dwell there forever.
Our holy God is a God who concerns His holy name that is profaned among the nations (Ezek. 36:21). Therefore, God will show the holiness of His great name, which has been profaned among the nations (v. 23). We must concern the great holy name of the Lord. We must love the Lord's holy name. Those who love His holy name are those who please the Lord.
It should be our joy to please Father God. We must make God more pleasing with our being before we please God with our actions. What kind of people please God better? Those who seek the Lord, the humble, the needy, and those who love the name of the Lord are those who please God better. I sincerely hope and pray that we become such people who please God better.
To be Pleasing You
- Lord, I want to live my life to please You/ I bring my heart before You to remold
Make me a vessel fit for honor/ That I might shine for You as sparkling gold.
- Lord, I lift my heart in full surrender/ All that I hold dear I give to You
Purify my heart and make me holy/ That I might walk the way that's pleasing You
{Chorus}
To be pleasing You, pleasing You/ This is all I really want to do
To be pleasing You, pleasing You/ This is all I really want to do
Wanting to be please the Lord,
James Kim
(While pursuing a life of faith that focuses on being rather than doing)