3 Heart Qualities That Draw God’s Favor
“But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.” (Isaiah 66:2b)
Here is a promise that God gives; he will look at the individual who has the three characteristics mentioned in this verse. For God to look at someone means that his eyes are on him for good and that he is watching him with affection. He cares about such a person; he will not let anything harm him, but he will do him good. As the Psalmist says, “The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry” (Psalm 34:15).
What does this mean for you? If your heart draws God to look at you in this way, then two things are true. First, you may go through life without fear of the dangers around you. Second, you may pray with confident faith and hope, knowing that God cares for you and intends good for you.
So what are these three qualities of the heart that draw God’s favorable attention?
The Humble Person Draws God’s Favor
> The word refers to someone who is poor, wretched, or in a needy condition.
> This person recognizes his spiritual and moral inability. He knows that he is in need, and lives by the grace of God alone.
> This person does not feel entitled to anything; he is grateful for what he has, realizing that everything is a gift.
> This person does not seek to justify himself when he is in the wrong; he has a humble and approachable attitude when corrected.
The Person Contrite in Spirit Draws God’s Favor
> The word refers to being crippled or broken.
> This person is deeply repentant over sin and does not brush it off as insignificant.
> This person is deeply moved by spiritual realities. He realizes that sin is serious, hell is real, the world is lost, and God’s glory is supreme —and he is emotionally affected, even broken, by these truths.
> This person grieves over what grieves God, and he responds to them as God responds. Like Isaiah, he can call out, ‘woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.’ This is not mere formality but a genuine cry of anguish over his own condition.
The Person Who Trembles at God’s Word Draws God’s Favor
> This person doesn’t gloss over the Word of God but pays close attention to what he reads and hears.
> The Word of God has a lively effect on this man. He remembers it, and it shapes his thoughts, choices, and actions.
> This person believes the Word so deeply that when he reads it, it is as though God is speaking directly to him. When it condemns sin, he trembles with fear at his own. When it gives encouragement, he is greatly uplifted. When it instructs, he considers it with the same weight that he would give to the words of his most trusted friend.
“But this is the one to whom I will look:
he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.”
(Isaiah 66:2b)
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