Delight in God: "Favorite Things" 6-22-25
Overview
What God Delights In—and What He Hates
Scripture is not shy about telling us what brings God joy. Psalm 147:10-11 reminds us that the Lord takes no pleasure in human strength or speed, but rather "in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." This fear is not terror but awe and reverence—the beginning of wisdom. And this hope is not a wish but a settled confidence. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us God rejoices over his people with gladness and renews them in love, while Jeremiah 9:24 declares that God himself delights in steadfast love, justice, and righteousness.
Seven Things God Hates
Proverbs 6:16-19 flips the picture, listing seven things the Lord finds disgusting: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to evil, a false witness, and one who sows discord in a family. This is a numerical proverb, and the number seven signals completeness. The list moves from head to foot—eyes, tongue, hands, heart, feet—picturing the totality of human sinfulness, with the heart at the center. Jesus confirms this in Mark 7:21-23: evil intentions come from within, from the human heart, and these defile a person.
The Ways We Try to Cope—and Why They Fail
When confronted with our sin, we are tempted to soften the blow. We compare ourselves favorably to others, like the Pharisee in Luke 18:11-12 who thanked God he was not like the tax collector. Or we put a finger on the scale of self-assessment, as Paul once did before Christ Galatians 1:14, boasting in zeal and tradition. Or we shrink sin down to "mistakes," as if we simply forgot something at the store. But Scripture calls sin what it is: unrighteousness and rebellion against God 1 John 1:9. And James 2:10 is clear—failing in even one point makes us accountable for the whole law. No amount of pleasant distraction can fix what sin has broken.
God's Favorite Thing: His Son for Sinners
The good news is that God himself solved what we cannot. He sent his Son, the spotless Lamb, to bear all the disgusting things on the cross—every haughty look, every lying word, every wicked plan, every sin past, present, and future. The wrath we deserved fell on Christ instead. This is grace: God giving us what we do not deserve and withholding what we do. These are the favorite things worth treasuring above all others—the steadfast love of God, our claim in the waters of baptism, his very body and blood given for our forgiveness, and the eternity opened to us through the cross. When sin discourages you, do not look inward to compare or rationalize. Look to Christ, in whom God delights, and in whom you are beloved.
Transcript
Would you open your Bible's please for our time and God's Word to Proverbs 6, chapter 6, 3s
page 552, if you're using a Pue edition, 552 in the Old Testament. 11s
Reen drops on roses and whiskers on kittens, bright copper, kettles and warm with 21s
Brown paper packages tied up with string. 33s
These are a few of my favorite things. 41s
Cream colored ponies and crisp apple stoodles, door bells and 48s
labels and schnitzel with noodles, wild geese that fly with moon on their 53s
wings. 62s
These are a few of my favorite things. 65s
Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes, snow flakes that stay on my nose 72s
and eyelashes, silver white winters that melt into spring. 78s
These are a few of my favorite things. 87s
That song, of course, is from the sound of music. 94s
Perhaps you've seen the stage production or maybe the movie with you the 98s
song, that song is sung by my favorite things. 105s
It's sung by the female lead of that musical, Maria. 109s
She's a governess to a wealthy widow who had seven children. 114s
And there's one scene in that musical where there's a great and scary, 122s
scary thunderstorm that occurs and all of the children they come run 128s
running into Maria's room and Maria comforts them. 134s
She comforts them by singing that song. 141s
My favorite things. 145s
As we open up the pages of Scripture, we see that that God delights in certain things. 152s
For example, someone 47, it says, 161s
His delight is not in the strength of the horse nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner. 165s
But the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. 173s
You recall from last week when we were talking about and studying about the 183s
musical understanding of fear. 188s
Yes, it can be afraid of someone or something. 191s
But remember, fear so often in the Scripture is all and reverence of God. 195s
That's the fear here that that delights the Lord as we studied last week. 203s
That type of fear is the beginning of wisdom. 207s
And what delights him also is those who hope in his steadfast love that word hope in the Scripture, 211s
it's not wish, remember. 219s
It's confidence. 222s
And so what God delights in, what one of his favorite things is, 225s
is when his people have awe and reverence of him. 232s
When his people have confidence in his steadfast love. 237s
Bible reveals things that God delights in. 245s
In our text that was read from Zefaniah 3, the Scripture says, 251s
The Lord, your God is in your midst, a warrior who gives victory. 254s
He will rejoice over you with gladness. 260s
He will renew you in his love a favorite thing of God. 264s
Or Jeremiah 9. 273s
I am the Lord I act with steadfast love, 276s
justice and righteousness in the earth for in these things I delight, says the Lord. 280s
We see in Scripture we hear God telling us that which delights him. 291s
But in Proverbs 6 chapter here, our text for today, it's something different. 302s
It's something different. 309s
It doesn't fall under the banner of Maria's my favorite things. 311s
It falls under the banner of disgusting things. 321s
Disgusting things. 328s
It's not a rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens. 333s
No, no, no. 337s
It's disgusting things. 340s
Book me please. 346s
At verse 16, there are six things that the Lord hates. 347s
Seven that are an abomination to him. 353s
We're going to hear the seven things that fall into the disgusting things here. 356s
But just a little aside here, on verse 16, that's a clue that this is a numerical proverb. 361s
They pop up in the Proverbs. 368s
It's a really a form of poetry. 370s
So you'll have one line and then the next line increases what occurred in the first line by one. 373s
That's why it says there are six things that the Lord hates. 378s
Seven that are an abomination to him. 381s
That tells you that this is a form of poetry here. 385s
It fits in that numerical proverb form. 389s
And the number seven pops up, remember in Scripture. 394s
The number seven is that number four completeness. 399s
And so seven things then, that are not favorite things of God. 404s
They're disgusting things. 411s
We read verse 17, 414s
Haudi eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. 417s
A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that hurry to run to evil, 426s
a lying witness who testifies falsely, and one who shows discord in a family. 433s
Seven disgusting things that God reveals. 443s
That word of completeness then, it's pointing to sin because notice here that this cross-references 449s
all over the book of Proverbs. 457s
With regard to the eyes, you hear it again in chapter 11, the tongue in 12 and 17. 460s
The hands and shedding of the innocent blood in chapter 1, the heart plans chapter 1 and 24. 466s
The feet that run to evil, you hear in chapter 1, in witness and testifying its chapter 12 474s
in sowing discord, its chapter 6. 482s
And notice here, as God talks about the things that discuss him here, 487s
the image is from body to foot. 491s
From head to foot, it's the entire body, from the eyes to the tongue to the hands to the heart to the feet. 496s
And at the center of it, it's the heart. 509s
It's out of the heart. 515s
Heart comes those things. 519s
Jesus said in Mark 7, 523s
it's from within, from the human heart that evil intentions come. 527s
Fornication, theft, murder, adultery, Everest, wickedness, 533s
deceit, licentiousness, envy, slender pride and folly. 538s
All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person. 545s
This is a long way, isn't it? 554s
It's a long way from Maria's, my favorite things. 556s
For God says, these are the things that I find disgusting. 562s
And that list from head to toe, the number 7, it's just a way of saying, 574s
what disgusts God is the completeness of our sin. 579s
Do we see ourselves in the list? 591s
Do we see ourselves? 596s
Are we reminded of the completeness of our own sin? 601s
When the dogs bite and the bee sting, when I'm feeling sad, 614s
I simply remember my favorite things. 629s
And then I don't feel so bad. 637s
Remembering our favorite things at times is helpful, isn't it? 650s
But with sin, with sin, and so what we can do, confronted with the sin that has revealed to us, 656s
and are feeling bad about it, what we can do is we can try and do those things so that we won't feel so bad. 669s
I think of the Pharisee in Luke, the 18th chapter. 681s
The way the Pharisee handled it is, well, he just compared himself to others. 687s
And it didn't feel so bad. 693s
That could felt good. 696s
In Luke's 18th chapter, we read the Pharisee standing by himself was praying to us, 698s
God, I thank you that I'm not like other people. 706s
Then he had his list. 710s
Thieves, wrongs, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 712s
I fast twice a week, I give a tenth of all of my income. 716s
See, we can be tempted when we feel bad with regard to our own sin, 723s
we can be tempted to compare ourselves to others, and to say, 728s
well, at least I'm not like them. 733s
And it makes us, it makes us feel better. 739s
We can be tempted in confronted with regard to our sin, 746s
we can be tempted to put our finger on the scale and tilt our self-assessment 751s
to the good side of things. 758s
It can make us feel better amidst our sin. 762s
I think of pre-conversion here, a possible poll, 767s
when he reflects, and when he says, I advanced in Judaism beyond many, 770s
among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous 774s
for the traditions of my ancestors. 780s
We can be like pre-conversion poll, when we try and put our finger on the scale 783s
and tip it to where we say, oh, you see, I don't need to feel so bad. 788s
Because the good in me outweighs the bad. 797s
Or when confronted with regard to our sinfulness. 804s
One to not feel so bad, confronted with regard to our sinfulness, 811s
we can look at sin as simply being the mistakes. 816s
We make mistakes all the time, don't we? 822s
We add up things wrong, or we go to the grocery store, 826s
and we come home and we say, oh, I forgot those two items. 830s
I know I should have gone with a list instead of going by my memory. 834s
We make mistakes all the time, but sin isn't a mistake, you see. 837s
What we read in Scripture. 842s
No, we read in 1 John 1 chapter, 845s
if we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us, 848s
our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 853s
That's what sin is. 859s
It's not a mistake. 861s
Like we forget something on the grocery list. 864s
Sin is unrighteousness. 867s
Sin is rebellion against God, all mighty. 870s
Confronted with our sin, we can try and make ourselves not feel so bad. 877s
But you see the problem is deeper. 886s
It's deeper. 891s
It can't be dealt with by rain drops and cat whiskers, 894s
by cream-colored ponies and crisp apples, struttle. 901s
If we just think of our favorite things, no, it goes deeper. 906s
And it can't be dealt with in the ways that we try and deal with it 913s
to make ourselves feel better by comparing ourselves to others 919s
or by putting our finger on the scale or by thinking, well, 923s
this all just a mistake and everybody makes mistakes. 927s
No, it can't be dealt with. 930s
We could try and so desperately try and deal with our feeling bad 934s
with regard to our sin by singing about struttle and girls who might dress us with sashes. 940s
But it doesn't work, doesn't. 959s
All we can try, the ways of the world, 964s
but it doesn't make us feel better when we think about those things. 974s
The problem you see is deep. 988s
James II chapter says whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. 993s
Of course, one dimension that's a theoretical statement, 1005s
because none of us can fulfill the entire law. 1009s
James here under the inspiration of the spirit is making the point. 1015s
Even if we could do that, but we fail that at one tiny little part, 1019s
we're guilty of all of it. 1024s
What does God do? 1029s
But God sends his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, 1032s
and on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ takes all of it, all of it. 1036s
All of the disgusting things, all the disgusting words, all the disgusting actions, 1046s
all of that which we should have done, but we never did, 1052s
the Lord Jesus bears it all, the spotless, sinless lamb of God. 1055s
And Jesus takes the sin of the whole world, the past sin, the prison sin, 1062s
and even the sin that will come, the Lord Jesus Christ pays the debt, 1067s
the wrath for sin falls not on the likes of us, 1073s
but it falls on the Lord Jesus Christ, 1076s
God in his grace, God in his love comes to the likes of us 1081s
that are stuck in the predicament that we can never solve, 1088s
which is how do we deal with sin that separates us from God, 1095s
and God deals with it. 1099s
He deals with it through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1102s
Randraps on roses and whiskers on kittens, 1116s
right copper kettles and warm woolen mittens brown, paper packages tied up with string. 1121s
These are a few of my favorite things, but they pale in comparison. 1129s
Girls in white dresses and blue satin sashes, snow flakes that stay, 1159s
I'm in hose and eyelashes, silver white winters that melt in the water, 1165s
and melt into springs. These are a few of my favorite things, 1170s
but it pales in comparison to the favorite things. 1181s
These favorite things of the grace and the mercy of God, 1197s
God giving us what we don't deserve and not giving us what we deserve. 1209s
The favorite things of the steadfast love of God, 1218s
the favorite things of the redemption of God that opens up for us eternity, 1227s
the favorite things of being claimed in the waters of baptism, 1234s
the favorite things of being fed with his very body and blood as he gives us his forgiveness 1239s
and says, swallow it, the favorite things, the favorite things, that birth. 1249s
Song. 1263s
Beloved, finish the sermon this morning. 1267s
Please rise and sing. 1275s
The favorite of God that opens up for us eternity, 1297s
the favorite things of being fed with his very body, 1310s
and melt into springs. These are a few of my favorite things, 1317s
but it pales in comparison to the steadfast love of God, 1318s
Writing 1324s