apr29 rejoiceinhisworks

Rejoice In His Works

Psalm 104:31 (ESV) – May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works

God created all the heavens and the earth and rejoiced in all He had made. It was good. But it didn’t take long for our first parents to rebel and sin against God. By the time we get to the generation of Noah, the LORD stated regretting making mankind on the earth. God’s complex emotional life can both knowingly bring about His plans and regret aspects of what happens. That can be the subject of a future devotional. But for today, we acknowledge that things went from good to bad. God went from rejoicing over His creation and works to lamenting them. 

Our passage today helps us to see God’s greater design in bringing about rejoicing in His works again. We read in Psalm 104:31, “May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works….”

The LORD will be glorified forever. The glory and praise of His name is the chief aim for all things. Creation, including our lives, was made for this very reason. We have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but that is still the purpose for our lives. He still deserves that glory. How will God get the glory due Him forever? He will redeem a people from out of the fallen race of man. The Father sends the Son into the world to save sinners and reconcile them back to God. From this restored position, man can once again live to bring God glory. 

But the text also says, “may the LORD rejoice in his works.” How will God rejoice in His works that groan and long for redemption? He will return again to restore the heavens and the earth. Far from destroying the world, God will refine it with fire. The earth will be made new upon Christ’s return and the dead will be resurrected in glorified bodies. Eternity will be lived in a redeemed creation with glorified creatures. God will once again rejoice in His works. 

God’s work of redemption is in motion. The certainty of it is sealed, but we await it with expectation.


Don’t look only to what you see today. Look beyond it to the Day God has assured us will come. He will rejoice in His works. The glory of the LORD endures forever.

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Reflection & Journal:

- Why is teaching about the New Heavens and New Earth so uncommon?
- What does the future tense language in this verse tell us about how to understand it?
- How does this passage encourage us in our walk today?


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