Glorifying God by Enjoying God and Finding Our Satisfaction in Him
God is Worthy to Receive Glory
The Lord, our God, is the Creator of the Universe, holy and majestic, the Lord of Lords, and King of Kings. His is the name above all names. He alone deserves our worship and praise. He alone is worthy to receive glory.
1 Chronicles 29:11
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.
Psalm 148:13
Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.
Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Doing All for the Glory of God
1 Corinthians 10:31
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
We are to glorify God in all we do. This always puzzled me. I wanted to know more clearly what it meant to glorify God.
What Does it Mean to Glorify?
I looked up the word “glorify’ on www.dictionary.com . One definition I found was “to honor with praise, admiration, or worship; extol.” Another was “to make glorious; invest with glory.”
In his book, The Reason for God, Timothy Keller explains what it means to glorify:
What does the term “glorify” mean? To glorify something or someone is to praise, enjoy, and delight in them. When something is useful you are attracted to it for what it can bring you or do for you. But if it is beautiful, you simply enjoy it for what it is. Just being in its presence is its own reward. To glorify someone is also to serve or defer to him or her. Instead of sacrificing their interests to make yourself happy, you sacrifice your interests to make them happy. Why? Your ultimate joy is to see in them joy.
To glorify God, then, is to praise, enjoy, and delight is him. It is to enjoy God for who he is and for simply being in his presence. Glorifying God is serving him and deferring to him and making sacrifices to please him. It’s finding our joy in him.
Glorifying God by Enjoying Him
Joy overflows from from a heart that loves God and Loves God for who he is. I delight in God, and as I do so God makes my heart more like his, to want what he wants, to love as he loves. God gives me the desires of my heart, and my desire is him
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Finding My Satisfaction in God
John Piper is known for the following statement: “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” I think Piper is right. I glorify God when I delight in his presence. I thoroughly enjoy the time that I spend dedicated to God in prayer and Bible study, learning from him and about him in his Word and from his Spirit, and learning about myself. Sometimes God convicts me of sin, and for this I am very grateful. God is changing me to become more and more, and to love more and more, like his son, Jesus.
Ways I will Glorify God
I will abide in God.
John 15:4-5
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
I will be glad in God.
Psalm 33:20-22
Our soul waits for the Lord;
he is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart is glad in him,
because we trust in his holy name.
22 Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
I will believe God.
1 Peter 1:8
Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
I will be still before God.
Psalm 46:10
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
I will bless God.
Psalm 104:1
Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord, my God, You are very great.
I will call upon God.
Psalm 18:1-3
I love you, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.
I will delight in God.
Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
I will exalt God.
Psalm 145:1-3
I will exalt You, my God and King;
I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will bless You,
And I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
His greatness is unsearchable.
I will find my satisfaction in God.
Psalm 73:25-26
Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
I will have faith in God.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
I will love God.
Mark 12:30
And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
I will magnify God.
Luke 1:46-47, 49-50
My soul magnifies the Lord
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
For the Mighty One has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
His mercy is on those who fear Him,
From generation to generation.
I will obey God.
John 14:15-17
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
I will praise God.
Psalm 145:7
I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—
and I will meditate on your wonderful works
6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
I will pray to God.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray without ceasing,
I will rejoice in God.
Habakkuk 3:17-19
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer’s;
he makes me tread on my high places.
I will seek God.
Isaiah 26:9
My soul yearns for You in the night.
My spirit within me diligently seeks You.
When Your judgments come upon the earth,
The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
I will seek to know God.
John 17:3
And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
I will seek to please God.
Hebrews 1:9-12
9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
I will seek the presence of God.
Psalm 16:11
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
I will serve God.
1 Samuel 12:24
Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you.
I will sing to God.
Psalm 101:1
I will sing of Your lovingkindness and justice.
To You, O Lord, I will sing praises.
I will thank God.
Psalm 86:12
I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Your name forever.
I will trust God.
Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
I will worship God.
Psalm 95:6
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
Glorifying God by Loving Him
Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment.
Matthew 22:36-40
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
I glorify God when I love God and love others. It requires that I take my eyes off myself. To love God is to spend time with him, in prayer and in his word, and to delight in his presence. This leads to serving God by loving others, not just with words but with actions. As I spend time with God, I am drawn closer to him. He blesses me with his grace and mercy, and with his faithfulness and steadfast love. And he gives me a love for others. My God never disappoints me. He is my everything, my all in all. My God delights me. He satisfies my soul. I will glorify my God with all that I am and with all of my being. I will praise, enjoy, and delight in him.