Whatever the Lord Pleases, He Does
The psalmist had learned a very valuable lesson about the Lord that many people never learn. Many people spend their whole lives thinking that they are trying to get God to do what they want Him to do by praying and doing good things. It does not work that way. The Lord does whatever He pleases, not what we want Him to do. (Psalm 135:6) If you haven't learned this yet, now is a good time.
God is not manipulated by what we do. He does not bow down to our desires and whims, but we are to bow down to Him. Prayer is not to convince Him to do our will. Prayer is for us to learn His will and His ways, so we can conform to His will. Since God is all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving, He always does the right thing, when He does what He pleases. Yes, sometimes it pleases Him to grant our requests, but He is not forced to do so by anything except His gracious love and mercy. Therefore, we must not think that we get special "brownie points" when we do good things, which make God do good things for us. We must not deceive ourselves by thinking that when we sin, He will automatically cause dreadful things to happen to us. God does what He pleases, and it is always what is best for us in any circumstance, so let's stop trying to get Him to do what pleases us, and ask Him to do the right thing for us every time.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 138-141.
God is not manipulated by what we do. He does not bow down to our desires and whims, but we are to bow down to Him. Prayer is not to convince Him to do our will. Prayer is for us to learn His will and His ways, so we can conform to His will. Since God is all-wise, all-powerful, and all-loving, He always does the right thing, when He does what He pleases. Yes, sometimes it pleases Him to grant our requests, but He is not forced to do so by anything except His gracious love and mercy. Therefore, we must not think that we get special "brownie points" when we do good things, which make God do good things for us. We must not deceive ourselves by thinking that when we sin, He will automatically cause dreadful things to happen to us. God does what He pleases, and it is always what is best for us in any circumstance, so let's stop trying to get Him to do what pleases us, and ask Him to do the right thing for us every time.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 138-141.