“For the LORD taketh pleasure in His people: He will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand” (Psalm 149:4-6).
When I read these verses today, my eye came to rest on the phrase, “For the LORD taketh pleasure in His people.” I am amazed that the Lord can find any pleasure in me. I see my spiritual warts and blemishes very clearly, and I know He is aware of each one. I took notice to the end of that same phrase, “… He will beautify the meek.” We live in a time when the meek are ridiculed and neglected in many ways. When God sees a meek person, He not only takes notice, but He takes pleasure to give them salvation.
I am convinced that no one can be saved without demonstrating a meekness that recognizes our sinful condition. No person can proudly come to God and expect to bring pleasure to Him. He is not impressed with our pride, or with our feelings of sufficiency. God delights in the humble, in the contrite, and in the meek. It is time that we caught this message. God has placed this message all throughout the Bible and I believe He did that because we are in need of constant reminding. We must realize that pride is what got us into the trouble with sin in the first place!
Pride kills grace, and it certainly stunts the growth of a believer! The meek believer will have two things that are characteristic of their walk with God. First they will have praise in their speech. The meek believer will be quick to give God praise and credit for what He is doing in their life. The meek believer will not take credit for what is being done that is good, but will quickly deflect the praise to God. Think about your own life right now. Do you find yourself giving God praise, or keeping it for yourself?
The second thing that should be a characteristic of the meek believer is that two-edged sword in their hand. First, I think this involves the believer opening the Word on a daily basis. The Word of God in your hand means that the effects of what is in that book will spill over into the behavior of that person. If the only time open the Word of God is in a church service, the chances are that it will not show up Monday through Saturday in my behavior. I want to keep the Word of God in my hand so that I am ready to give it to the world that so desperately needs to hear it today. We will all cross paths with people today who need the truths of the Word of God. God takes pleasure in this … I want to be someone who brings pleasure to God.