I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul. (Jeremiah 32:41)
What a word of encouragement we have before us today! Our Redeemer rejoices over us and delights with all His heart and soul in doing good to us. If we are honest, we will find no reason in ourselves, with all our imperfections and outright sin, to cause a perfectly righteous and holy God to rejoice in us . . . yet our Redeemer rejoices in meeting us in our deepest place of need.
In the beginning, our Redeemer rejoiced over all that He had made in the heavens and in the earth, and He declared with infinite, eternal wisdom that is was all not just “good,” but “very good.” And of all that He made, He made only mankind in His image. Not even the angels know this blessed gift from God. To be sure, the angels were included in the “very good,” but they were not created in the very image of God.
I’d like you to consider this: When one-third of the angels rebelled and were banished from heaven, followed by the terrible, treacherous fall of man in the Garden of Eden, it was not the angels that God came after with His redeeming love. The writer of Hebrews put it this way:
Surely it is not angels he helps, but Abram’s descendants. (Hebrews 2:16)
I cannot find one verse in Scripture that says that our Redeemer rejoices in the sun, the moon, or the stars. But time and time again we read that God rejoices over those who bear His image.
Let that truth encourage you today! Let that truth lift you above any challenge or discouragement that is assailing you. Let that truth set you free to rejoice in your Redeemer, because He continually rejoices in doing you good. Now, the good you may be expecting and the good you actually receive from His hand may be two entirely different things. But would you not agree that your Redeemer, who knows the end from the beginning, is in the best position to know what is best for you and how best to deliver it . . . and when?
I pray that today’s passage and these words from the prophet Zephaniah act as bookends to strengthen your belief in just how deeply you are loved and just how much your Redeemer rejoices over you.
The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)
This is the Gospel. This is grace for your race. NEVER FORGET THAT . . . AMEN!
Grace for the Race 