But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 9:24 (ESV) 

Imagine the Creator of all life, the One who with a mere word spoke the vast galaxies into existence actually takes delight in us. So what can we do to bring delight to God? Is it forsaking all pleasures, giving up all desires, leaving everything behind to spend our entire life in single devotion and sacrificial duty to please our Creator? Does this bring delight to God?

God tells us the answer in Proverbs 15:8, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.” Who are the wicked? All of us are wicked. Romans 3:10 says, “There is none righteous, no not one.”

Our sacrifice, no matter how great, is an abomination to God. What God delights in is the simple prayer of the upright. Who then is the upright? The answer is found in Jeremiah 9:24. The upright is those who have received God’s loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness. It was God’s loving-kindness that sent His Son to this earth to become sin who knew no sin so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God, as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:21.

God’s judgment was poured out upon His own Son at Calvary. Romans 4:6 says, “Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works.” God not only delights in giving of Himself to make us upright, He also delights in listening to those He has made upright.

Prayer: Lord, I come to You in prayer as someone who You have made upright. I know that You delight in hearing from me. Help me to boast in the fact that I know you. Amen.