Pleasing the Father Together
Month 5: Jesus — God With Us · Family Worship
Today's Scripture
Read together: Psalm 40:6-8 & Matthew 3:17
6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but my ears You have opened. Burnt offerings and sin offerings You did not require. 7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come— it is written about me in the scroll: 8 I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.” — Psalm 40:6-8
17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!” — Matthew 3:17
Memory Verse
“And a voice from heaven said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!””— Matthew 3:17 (BSB)
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: Psalm 95; Psalm 97; Psalm 98; Psalm 99
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time.The Heart of It
All week we've heard the Father's joyful words. "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Today, in , we hear that same Son answer back. This psalm was written a thousand years before Jesus. Yet it puts His heart into words: "I delight to do Your will, O My God, and Your law is within My heart" (). Why was the Father so pleased with Jesus? Not only because of what Jesus did. It was because of the love behind it. Jesus loved to do the Father's will. Obeying wasn't a chore He gritted His teeth through. It was the glad overflow of a Son who loved His Father. Hebrews tells us these very words were on Jesus' lips as He came into the world to save us ().
That is the whole rhythm of the good news for our family. It is a perfect note to worship on. The Father loved His Son first. Then the Son loved to obey. The Father loves us in Jesus first. Then we get to delight in pleasing Him. We don't obey to make God love us. We obey because we already are loved. So as your family worships today, let it not be a show to earn a smile from heaven. Let it be a thank-you from hearts that already belong to Him. Sing a song. Thank Him out loud. Say the memory verse together one more time. And remember this. A family that loves to do God's will, together, brings the Father real joy.
Around the Table
God was so happy with Jesus! And when we love God and obey, it makes Him happy too.
Let's do it: Sing one praise song together and clap — worship can be joyful and loud!
Jesus said, "I delight to do Your will." Obeying God can be a happy thing, not just a rule.
Let's talk: What is one way our family could "delight to do God's will" together this week?
was written long before Jesus. Yet Hebrews says these are His own words, spoken as He came into the world.
Let's go deeper: How does obeying because you are loved feel different from obeying to earn love?
💬 Conversation Starter
What is something our family does together that you really love? God feels that same kind of delight when we love Him together.
🛡️ Defending the Faith
was written about a thousand years before Jesus. Yet takes its words and points them straight to Him. A prophecy is a promise written down early and then kept later. Promises like this are hard to explain by chance. They point to a God who planned Jesus all along. ()
For Dad · Go Deeper
puts the words of onto the lips of the coming Christ. Sacrifices and offerings could never truly please God. What He always wanted was a willing, loving heart that obeys the Father. That changes how we think about family worship. The aim of your home altar is not religious output to satisfy a watching God. The aim is to grow delight. You want children who want to do His will because they have tasted His love. Beware the quiet drift into duty-driven devotions that teach performance. Lead from the same order the Father showed at the Jordan. Beloved first, then obedient. Worship that flows from being loved is the most lasting discipleship there is.
Draws on: Max Anders, Holman Old Testament Commentary: Psalms.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You that You love Jesus. And thank You that You love our family in Him. Like Jesus, give us hearts that love to do Your will. We worship You today as Your children. We worship You because You already love us. In Jesus' name, amen."
We don't worship and obey to earn the Father's love. We do it because we already have it.