Pleasing Man Or God?

Pleasing Man Or God?

You know, there are some people out there who seem to be in a hurry to pronounce someone as pleasing man instead of God, and I don't mean the servitude God intended us to give to our fellow Christians and neighbors, but choosing to please men and/or women over God. Some of these people should be more tedious in their obsevation before being quick to judge, and remember that God is He who judges righteously, because He tries the hearts of men; "And He said unto them,

'Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.'" (Luke 16:15) So when this is said of someone, the choice that person is being told to think about, is whether or not they are putting God first, or someone else!

"Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins." (Psa. 7:9) This is to say that because of God's omniscience, He knows where the heart of evey soul He created is seating itself. If a person means to please Him, He will know it, and accordingly, if they are pleasing someone other than Him, that He will know also!

The Lord even reproved one of His prophets when they made a mistake judging on first sight by the tabernacle than the character. Your tabernacle, or what is seen of you, is not how to judge who and what kind of person you are. Someone wise will give you a long period of observation before making a decision whether or not you choose to please God or men. Read here how Samuel misjudged Eliab; "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7)

"And Saul said unto Samuel, 'I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.'" (1 Sam. 15:24) What was righteous in this situation of Saul is only that he confessed that he sinned. Correct also is the statement that he transgressed the commandment of the Lord. Samuel gave complete instructions to Saul, and he obeyed them only in part, not wholly, so in this he sinned a great sin in the eyes of the Lord, because not only did he rebel against the Lord in the sight of the people, but there is another commandment he disobeyed, thus his sin was twofold; "I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me." (Exod. 20:2 - 3) When someone puts any thing or anyone before God in what they do, say, or think, have they not disobeyed this commandment? Can't we restate this commandment, and be correct, by saying that anything or anyone regarded above that which God commands is disobedience of this commandment? Here is a clear example of the first king of Israel choosing to please man instead of God. Let's get a little insight from a couple passages of Scripture; "And Saul said, 'They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.'" (1 Sam. 15:15) "And Saul said unto Samuel, 'Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal.'" (1 Sam. 15:20-21) Why do you suppose Saul told

Samuel "thy God" instead of "my God" in both of these passages of Scripture? A slip of the tongue, or did he unconsciously show his rejection of God hiding in his heart?

Jesus used His omniscience to embarrass the Pharisees and scribes for choosing men over Him. Imagine one intelligence, in His perfection, embarrassing a collective group of thinkers like the Pharisees! "And they come again to Jerusalem: and as He was walking in the temple, there come to Him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders, And say unto Him, 'By what authority doest Thou these things? And who gave Thee this authority to do these things?' And Jesus answered and said unto them,

'I will also ask of you one question, and answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? answer Me.' And they reasoned with themselves, saying, 'If we shall say, "From heaven"; He will say, "Why then did ye not believe Him?" But if we shall say, "Of men"; they feared the people: for all men counted John, that he was a prophet indeed. And they answered and said unto Jesus, "We cannot tell." And Jesus answering saith unto them, 'Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things." (Mark 11:27 - 33)

"And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off for ever." (1 Chron. 28:9) Pretty straightforward from David to his son, wouldn't you say? Now if one should want to serve Him with a perfect heart, that person will not even put themself first, would they? After all, if they did all with a perfect heart, they wouldn't even put themselves first! Sadly, we know that Solomon forgot this sage advice in the end, and followed his wives to their gods!

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He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me." (Matt. 10:37 - 38) Wouldn't you say this could be quite a challenge for someone to decide if they are going to please man or God? What a test to have to choose between pleasing Jesus or pleasing your parents or children? Your spouse? To choose between being put to death and pleasing God? And remember the passage from 1 Chron., God knows the heart, which way it will choose!

I thought this next piece of Scripture was good for an example of a person pleasing himself for glory due to God, that he denied Him; to his own death! "And upon a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne, and made an oration unto them. And the people gave a shout, saying, 'It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.' And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost." (Acts 12:21 - 23)

So here we have quite a study. It keeps us thinking, if we want to please men or God, up to and including self! We must discern the manner in which we serve others, because while there is a servitude of men that please God, yet there is also a servitude that doesn't and even brings Him to wrath, in the case of Herod's! If we serve mankind's needs in the manner of being our brother's (or sister's) keeper, then we please God; but if we serve in the manner that is a choice between pleasing God or mankind, then by what is written here, let us always choose to serve God, and not the vanity of any man, including our own selves!