THE
ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
Lesson #10
The
Will of God Psalm 40:8
We
know that the words of David in Psalm 40 find their ultimate and perfect
fulfillment in the Lord Jesus Christ, because the Holy Spirit tells us so in
Hebrews 10:7-9. How we rejoice to know that Christ, the God-man, our
Substitute, has fulfilled all the will of God for us! By his obedience to God
in our stead the Lord Jesus Christ obtained eternal redemption for us. His
obedience to God is our righteousness. His blood is our atonement for sin. We
are complete in Christ. And we are accepted in him, because he delighted to do
the will of God as our Substitute.
But
the words of our text were also David’s words. They express the desire,
ambition, and driving force of every believer’s heart. “I delight to do thy will, O God.” All who are born of God bear
this distinct mark of grace in the likeness of Christ. Believers in their
inmost souls delight to do the will of God. Our joy and happiness is not merely
in receiving good from God, but in rendering active service to God. We desire
to obey and serve our heavenly Father in all things and do his will at all
times, not reluctantly, but cheerfully. God’s will is our joy and delight. And
we delight to see God’s will done in and by others. Our heart’s prayer is, “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be
Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matt.
6:9-10). God the Holy Spirit has taught every believer in the world to pray
with Christ, “Thy will be done.”
Were it possible to gather all
the desires, ambitions, aspirations, goals, and prayers of all God’s saints in
heaven and earth into one expression, it would be this: “Thy will be done.” Every believer delights to do the will of God!
When the believing heart cries, “I
delight to do thy will, O God,” The meaning is: My heavenly Father, my God,
in my heart of hearts, from the depths of my inmost soul,...
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I delight to fulfill your will of purpose.
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I delight to satisfy your will of pleasure.
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And I delight to obey your will of precept.
Our heavenly Father, the God of the
Bible, is a God “who worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will” (Eph. 1:11). And all who know him delight
to do his will in all things.
IT IS THE DUTY AND RESPONSIBILITY OF
ALL MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN TO OBEY THE WILL OF GOD REVEALED IN HIS PRECEPTS. The Bible
reveals God’s will to be made up of three parts, his precept, his pleasure, and
his purpose. His precept is that which he requires and commands of his
creatures. His pleasure is that in which he delights and that of which he
approves. His purpose is that which he is determined to accomplish. These three
things never contradict each other. They are never at odds. They are always in
perfect harmony. They are, together, the will of God. Let’s look at them one at
a time, beginning with God’s will of precept. This is his revealed will, that
which he requires of men, that which he commands us to do. When a person in
authority expresses his will to those under his authority, his revealed will is
to them a law, a command, a precept, which they are responsible to obey. And
that which God has revealed to be his will and pleasure is to us a precept, a
law, a command which we are responsible to obey. God’s will of command, or
precept, made known to us, is our rule of duty (Eccles. 12:13; Ex. 20; Rom.
2:12-15, 18; Psa. 143:1). In the day of judgment God will judge every man by
that which has been revealed to him. The
moral requirements of God’s law are revealed to all men by the light of nature (Rom.
2:12-15). As the wisdom and power of God are stamped upon creation, so the law
of God is stamped upon the conscience of man by nature. Even the most heathen,
barbaric tribesmen of ancient cultures, know that God is and that he requires
man to love him supremely and to love his neighbor as himself. God revealed his will upon Sinai in the
giving of the law (Ex. 20:1-17; Rom. 13:8-9; Eph. 6:2). The decalogue, the
moral law, reveals what God requires of all men in their relations of men to
him and to one another. Though in Christ we are free from the yoke of the law’s
rule and its curse, these requirements are never altered. The ceremonial law
given to the nation of Israel was God’s revealed will concerning worship in the
Old Testament. It began when God commanded Israel to observe the Passover (Ex.
12) and ended when Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us, when the hand
writing of the ordinances was nailed to the cross (1 Cor. 5:7; Col. 2:14-16). Since Christ has come and fulfilled all the
requirements and types of the moral and ceremonial law, the revealed will of
God to all men is the gospel of Christ as it is written out in the whole Volume
of Holy Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Because no man is capable of fulfilling
the righteousness of God revealed in the law, Christ fulfilled the law in the
place of sinful men. God’s elect, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, fulfill
the righteousness of the law by faith in him (Rom. 8:2-4; 3:31). This is what
God requires and commands of all men - “Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ (I John 3:23). Faith in Christ is the revealed
will of God. This is God’s precept. And all men are responsible to obey it
(John 3:36). In this sense, our renewed hearts say, “I delight to do thy will, O God.”
IT IS THE DESIRE OF EVERY BELIEVER
TO OBEY THE WILL OF GOD’S HOLY PLEASURE. A loving child wants more than to
avoid his father’s disapproval. He seeks to know and do that which is his
father’s pleasure. A loving wife wants more than to do what her husband
requires. She wants to please her husband in all things. And the believer wants
something infinitely greater than to avoid the wrath of God. He wants to do the
will of God. He wants to do that which gives pleasure, satisfaction, and
delight to his heavenly Father. I know that we cannot add to God’s infinite
pleasure; but his children earnestly seek to do that which we he declares to be
his pleasure.
There
are some things revealed in the Bible that please God (Mic. 6:6-8). God
declares himself to be pleased with other men in justice (honesty), mercy, and
love, and walk humbly before him. o walk humbly before God is to walk before
him in faith, trusting Christ alone as our ground of acceptance with him. (Read
1 Cor. 4;7; Eph. 5:18-21; Phil. 2:1-4; and Heb. 11:5-6.) Just as there are some
things that please him, there are some things revealed in the Scriptures that
are displeasing and grievous to our Lord (Eph. 4:17-5:1). It ought to be our
constant prayer that our God will give us grace that we may not dishonor his
name or offend him in thought, word, or deed, that he will give us grace that
we may not grieve your Holy Spirit. It has already been stated, but it needs to
be emphasized that the only way sinful men and women can please God is by faith
in Christ (Heb. 11:5-6). Enoch was not a suppersaint,
but simply a sinner saved by grace, a man who pleased God because he trusted
the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the only way we can please him. God is pleased
with his Son (Matt. 3:17; 17:5). He is pleased with us in his Son (Eph. 1:6).
And he is pleased with our feeble efforts to please him for his Son’s sake (1
Pet. 2:5). In this sense too, regarding the will of God’s holy pleasure, we
say, “I delight to do thy will, O God.”
WE ARE ASSURED IN THE BIBLE THAT ALL
THINGS OBEY THE SECRET WILL OF GOD’S ETERNAL PURPOSE (Deut. 29:29).
God has purposed, or decreed, all things that ever have come to pass and all
things that ever shall come to pass, without exception (Psa. 115:3; 135:6; Isa.
46:10; Dan. 4:35; Acts 2:23; 4:27-28; 13:48; Rom. 8:28-30; 9:15-18; I Cor.
5:18; Eph. 1:11). In this sense everything that is, has been, or shall be is
the will of God. God is absolutely sovereign in directing the affairs of the
universe. His will of purpose includes all things, evil as well as good, sin as
well as salvation, error as well as truth. And God’s will of purpose is always,
perfectly accomplished in and by all things. With regard to God’s will of
purpose we must understand that God
wills whatever he does in providence (Job 23:13; Eph. 1:11). He acts
voluntarily in all that he does. He is never compelled to do anything. God does in providence exactly he willed to
do from eternity (Acts 15:18). If he could will, desire, or purpose to do
anything that he failed to accomplish, he would not be omnipotent. God’s will of purpose includes all things (Psa.
76:10; Prov. 16:4). It is his eternal, immutable, sovereign, unconditional, and
irresistibly effectual will, ever holy, wise, and good.
Because
carnal men are ever bent upon perverting the things of God, I must give a word
or two of caution regarding the will of God’s purpose. The sovereignty of God’s
purpose does not destroy man’s responsibility, or even his will. Man’s sin has
put his will in bondage to sin, not by God’s purpose. The universality of God’s purpose does not make God the author of
sin (Jas. 1:13).God is not the author of sin; but he is the author of the good
which he accomplishes by overruling sin. Without question, Adam’s fall was
ordained of God; but God did not force Adam to do what he did. Yet, he used the
fall to accomplish his good pleasure toward his elect for the glory of his own
great name (1 Cor. 15:21-22). The Lord God certainly ordained the crucifixion
of his Son in the place of his people (Acts 2:23). Yet, he did not compel men
to crucify him. He simply overruled their wicked deeds to accomplish his
purpose, which is the salvation of his elect for the everlasting praise of his
name. When we hear God say
regarding all things, “I will do all my
pleasure,” we rejoice to bow before him and say, “Thy will be done,” “I delight to do thy will, O God.” Yet, among
God’s saints two questions are commonly asked in sincerity when thinking about
or discussing God’s will.
IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A BELIEVER TO
MISS, OR BE OUT OF, THE WILL OF GOD? Without question, insofar as God’s
revealed will, his precept, and his pleasure is concerned, a believer can miss,
disobey, and be out of the will of God. Any act of sin, unbelief, and
disobedience to the revealed willed in Holy Scripture, or any act, movement, or
decision contrary to the direction of the Holy Spirit is to miss and be out of
the will of God. David was clearly out of the will of God when the Lord made a
breach upon Israel in 1 Chronicles 13. However, let it be understood and
emphatically clear that no one, and no action performed by anyone, is ever out
of the will of God’s purpose! “He worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will.” Though Elimelech disobeyed
God’s revealed will when he went down to Moab, it was God’s eternal purpose to
fetch Ruth from Moab to be a bride to Boaz, that he might bring his Son into
the world through them (Ruth 4:13-17; Matt. 1:5). Without question, David was
out of God’s will in the matter of Uriah. “The thing that David had done
displeased the LORD” (2 Sam. 11:27). Yet, our God is so absolutely sovereign
and gracious that he overruled and used even David’s sin with Bathsheba to
bring David’s Redeemer and ours into this world (Matt. 1:6). Recognizing
something of the greatness and goodness of his will, I am compelled and
thankful to say, even when it is contrary to my will, my choice, and my
actions, “I delight to do thy will, O
God.”
HOW CAN I KNOW THE WILL OF GOD? This is a
question that I hear wherever I go. It is a question I have asked many times
myself. It is a question we have to deal with day by day. With Moses, we ought
to pray, “Show me now thy way” (Ex. 33:13). No one can determine what God’s
will for you is, except you. In this matter, you must not consult with flesh
and blood, but with God alone. He God
will reveal his will to you by his Word, by his Spirit, and by his providence.
This is a matter of certainty - God will
reveal his will to all who truly seek his will in faith (Prov. 3:5-6). Let
this be our prayer - “Thy will be done!” Let
this be our determination - “I delight to
do thy will, O God.” Let this be our attitude - “It is the Lord, let him do what he will.”