WHAT MAKES GOD SMILE? Psalm 119: 135

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1 SERMON FOR SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 24, 2009 CHRISTIAN HOPE CHURCH OF CHRIST, PLYMOUTH, NORTH CAROLINA by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister WHAT MAKES GOD SMILE? Psalm 119: 135 Make your face shine upon your servant and teach me Your decrees. (Psalm 119: 135) Introduction JOKE: A man goes sky diving for the very first time. After a fantastic Free-fall, the man pulls the ripcord..but nothing happens. He Pulls the emergency backup cord, and still nothing happens By now, the skydiver is totally frantic. Well pretty soon another Man comes up beside him, on his way up. The skydiver hollers to the man, Hey buddy, do you know Anything about parachutes? The other guy says, No, do You know anything about GAS STOVES? JOKE: One day this man was walking past this BIG WOODEN FENCE That surrounded the local INSANE ASYLUM, when he heard All the residents inside chanting loudly.. THIRTEEN THIRTEEN.THIRTEEN. Well the man s curiosity got the best of him. He found A knot-hole in the fence and peaked inside to see what All the chanting was about.

2 Pretty soon someone inside the fence poked the man right In the eye. As he stepped back to rub his wounded eye He heard the people inside the asylum chanting.. FOURTEEN.FOURTEEN..FOURTEEN! Now none of what I just told you has anything to do with my message this morning. I just wanted to see you SMILE! Doesn t it feel good to smile? Proverbs 15:13 A happy heart makes the face cheerful. ***************************************** Did You Ever Wonder if God Smiles? I for one happen to believe HE DOES! The Psalmist says, Make your face shine upon your Servant and teach me your decrees. (Psalm 119: 135) That phrase, Make your face shine upon your servant literally Means, May the Lord smile upon me with great favor. When God smiles upon us, it is a smile of approval.. a smile of pleasure and satisfaction.

3 What Makes God Smile Upon Us? -Does GOD smile when we tell funny jokes? -Does HE smile when we trip over a crack in the sidewalk Or stub our toe on the bedpost in the middle of the Night? -Does GOD smile when we get a big promotion or raise At work? -Does HE smile when we bend over and rip our pants.or.when we get our words all twisted around? Maybe He does Maybe He doesn t. BUT there s one Thing we know for sure and that is GOD IS A FATHER HE IS OUR FATHER.and what brings a BIGGER SMILE To a FATHER S FACE than to see HIS CHILDREN doing Well! l! Over in the SIXTH CHAPTER OF GENESIS, we read the account about a MAN WHO MADE GOD SMILE..His name was NOAH! Most of us are very familiar with the story of NOAH. We know he lived in a time when everyone on earth was corrupt and immoral. As GOD surveyed all of the humanity HE had created, HE couldn t find anyone on earth who cared about Pleasing HIM. GOD became so disgusted with the Human race, HE decided to wipe out every living thing And start all over again.

4 But in the MIDST of all this gross immorality, there STOOD ONE MAN WHO MADE GOD SMILE AND THAT WAS NOAH. Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of The Lord. (The Living Bible) Noah was a pleasure to the Lord. (The Message) But Noah was different. God liked What He saw in Noah. As we study this SIXTH chapter of GENESIS this morning, we are going to see FOUR THINGS Noah did that caused GOD to smile upon Him with great favor. First of all I. GOD SMILES WHEN WE LOVE HIM SUPREMELY GENESIS 6:9 Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people Of his time, and he walked with God. 1. Noah loved GOD more than anything or anyone else in the world. HE loved GOD SUPREMELY, when no one else in the world loved God PERIOD! 2. Do you realize more than anything else, GOD WANTS YOU AND ME TO LOVE HIM! He wants us to love with ALL our HEART..and ALL our SOUL.and all OUR MIND.

5 OUR LOVE means more to GOD than our church Attendance..our tithes and offerings even Our Christian Service. For what do any of those things mean to GOD if HE DOESN T HAVE OUR LOVE? 3. More than anything else, GOD is looking for a love relationship with US. That is amazing when you stop to consider that GOD is the CREATOR of this whole UNIVERSE and you and I are sinful, Imperfect beings and yet that is what God wants from us! When was the last time you said to God, I LOVE YOU? Have you told Him today? 4. Do you want to bring a BIG SMILE to God s face? JUST LOVE HIM! Love Him more than anything or anyone else in this world! Secondly.. II. GOD SMILES WHEN WE TRUST HIM COMPLETELY GENESIS 6: Now the earth was corrupt in God s sight and was full of Violence. 12 God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people On earth had corrupted their ways. 13 So God said to Noah, I am going to put an end to all people, For the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am Surely going to destroy both them and the earth. 14 So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it And coat it with pitch inside and out.

6 1. Have you ever really stopped to consider the incredible amount of FAITH and TRUST it required of Noah to do as God commanded him to do? From a HUMAN VIEW POINT there was absolutely Nothing LOGICAL about any of this: -ONE ONE, Noah was a farmer, not a ship builder. -TW TWO, No one had ever seen or heard of rain before, because prior to the flood GOD watered the earth from the ground up. -THREE THREE, Noah was supposed to build this giant boat, this giant wooden box in the middle of the Mesopotamian dessert, hundreds and hundreds of miles from the nearest body of water large enough to set it afloat. -AND FOURTH, how in the world was Noah supposed to round up all those animals? I mean have you ever tried to round up a pig or a goat or to catch a runaway pony or horse?

7 2. From a human standpoint, not one bit of this made Any sense! Did Noah question God? Did Noah argue with God about how ridiculous this whole idea was? NO! Listen to HEBREWS 11:7... By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, In holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith He condemned the world and became heir of the Righteousness that comes by faith. 3. Do you know it brings a big smile to GOD S face when He sees you and me putting our complete FAITH and TRUST in HIM? God looks with GREAT FAVOR upon the man or woman who trusts in Him completely! 4. Many of us have a tremendous fear of attempting something we ve never tried before or doing something we ve never done before.or. venturing to a place we ve never been before. And the reason we are so afraid to do these things is basically comes down to a lack of complete trust in GOD. -We want SIGNS -We want ASSURANCES -We want WRITTEN TEN GUARANTEES When what GOD WANTS IS OUR COMPLETE TRUST IN HIM! 5. Do you want to put a big smile on GOD S FACE? Then TRUST HIM COMPLETELY with every decision, every plan And every direction in life!

8 Thirdly, III. GOD SMILES WHEN WE OBEY HIM WHOLEHEARTEDLY GENESIS 6:22 Noah did everything just as God commanded. (Genesis 6:22) 1. The mission GOD gave to Noah required a Tremendous amount of attention to detail. -For one thing, Noah was to build the Ark Out of Cypress wood..not Cedar, not Oak, Not Pine.but CYPRESS. -Noah was to build the Ark 450 feet long not not 449 feet long.not 451 feet long.but 450 feet. -Noah was also to get two of each kind of animal..one male and one female of each species. Not two males.not two females.but one Male and one female. Verse 22 says it all.noah did everything just as God commanded him. (Genesis 6:22) 2. Dads, doesn t it put a big smile on your face when you ve given your son or daughter a task to do and you back a half hour or hour later and they ve done the task exactly like you told them to? Doesn t that just thrill your heart?

9 3. If you think it makes you happy when your children Obey you, you can only imagine how it must thrill GOD S heart, when you and I obey him wholeheartedly. And OBEYING GOD wholeheartedly is the best way to demonstrate we LOVE GOD supremely! 4. GOD SMILES on you and me when we OBEY HIM without Complaining without rebelling..without question And without trying to find LOOPHOLES and SHORTCUTS! 5. Do you want to PUT A SMILE ON GOD S FACE?..Obey him wholeheartedly! Finally IV. GOD SMILES WHEN WE THANK HIM CONTINUOUSLY GENESIS 8:20,21a 1. I want you to imagine something if you will: Imagine you have been cooped up inside the Ark with every kind of smelly animal imaginable for over one year. It has been over a year since your feet have even touched the ground. What would be the very first thing you would do Once you were able to get off that boat? *bow down and kiss the ground? *go take a bath to get the animal smell off Of you?

10 2. Guess what NOAH did the first thing? He offered Praise and Thanksgiving to God! NOAH and his family had a WORSHIP service! GENESIS 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord And, taking some of all the clean animals and clean Birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 3. How did GOD respond to NOAH S thanksgiving? GENESIS 8: 21a The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma Noah s offering of thanksgiving and praise was a sweet and pleasant smell to God 4. Likewise when you and I continue to praise God and thank God even in our most difficult circumstances, our praise is like l a sweet aroma that brings a pleasant smile to the face of God! ILLUSTRATION: Matthew Henry s Prayer Matthew Henry was a Bible Commentator back in the 18 th Century. One night as Mr. Henry walked home he was beaten And robbed by a thief. The first thing he did when He arrived home after the terrifying incident, was To offer GOD this prayer of Thanksgiving: Dear God, First, I thank Thee because I was never robbed Before; Second, because although they took My purse, they did not take my life; Third, Because although they took my all, it was not Much; and Fourth, I thank You Lord that it was I Who was robbed, and not I who robbed.

11 In spite of this horrible experience, Matthew Henry continued to praise and thank God! Don t you think that put a smile on God s face? I like to think it did! 5. GOD SMILES ON YOU AND ME when we continue To THANK HIM even when everything around us is Shouting What do you have to be thankful for? CONCLUSION ILLUSTRATION: One night a concert pianist was to perform a Concert before a sell-out crowd. The capacity crowd eagerly awaited the moment when the pianist Would step out on to the stage to begin his masterful Performance. Finally the moment arrived.the curtain Was pulled back..the pianist bowed to the thunderous Applause of the audience then he sat down at the piano And delivered what he thought to be a brilliant performance. At the end of the show, the audience rose to its feet and gave the Pianist a five minute standing ovation. BUT SOON THE PIANIST Ran off the stage and began to WEEP UNCONTROLLABLY behind The curtain. The show s manager rushed to his side and asked him what s Wrong? Between sobs, the heart broken pianist said, I played Terribly tonight. I don t think I will ever be able to play before An audience ever again. The show manager said, That is ridiculous! The audience loved You, listen to them..they are still applauding! The pianist said, No, you don t understand! The pianist pointed To one man still seated in the front row. He wasn t smiling or Applauding like all the others.

12 The show manager said, That just one person forget about him..he doesn t matter. The pianist said, Oh yes he matters He is the only one who matters.for HE IS MY TEACHER. Christian..what does the applause of 10,000 men mean If you don t have the applause of God? GOD is not impressed in the least by any outward display of righteousness..god is only concerned with the SINCERITY and GENUINESS of our HEART! If you REALLY want to put a SMILE ON GOD S FACE! LOVE GOD SUPREMELY TRUST GOD COMPLETELY OBEY GOD WHOLEHEARTEDLY THANK GOD CONTINUOUSLY