A Rejoicing Shepherd: What Makes God Happy According to the Bible?
We know a lot about the attributes of God. We know that God is omnipresent, meaning He is present everywhere. He is omniscient, which means He has unlimited knowledge. And we know He is omnipotent, which means He has unlimited power.
We also know that He is righteous, holy, compassionate, just, and loving. But we must not overlook this fact: God is joyful. In Luke 10:21, we read, “Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit.”
We always think of Jesus as being very serious. But I think He was generally a joyful man. But what specifically brings God joy and happiness?
God Is Happy When People Come to Him
God is happy when people repent and come to Him. We know it is the heart of God for people to believe in Him:
“I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” —Luke 15:7
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” —1 Timothy 2:3-4
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” —2 Peter 3:9
God Pursues the Lost Like a Shepherd
Jesus compared Himself to a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to find one stray sheep—and comes home rejoicing: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?” (Luke 15:4). That’s how much we matter to Him.
Jesus is also described as a shepherd at other times in Scripture. And by the way, a shepherd going after lost sheep is not an easy thing to do. A full-grown adult sheep can weigh up to 100 pounds. The shepherd would wrap the sheep around his neck, hold onto the legs with his hands, and return. So that is the point that He is making. This shepherd went out of his way to reach a lost sheep.
And just like this shepherd, God goes out of his way to reach what we would describe as the unreachable; think about the woman at the well, or even Zacchaeus the tax collector…
We Need a Shepherd of Our Own
We are portrayed as a sheep needing a shepherd. The Bible says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).
It’s interesting God chose sheep to compare us to. Sheep are defenseless animals, totally dependent on the shepherd.
Heaven Rejoices When the Lost Are Found
Despite the fact that he had 99 sheep at home, the shepherd sought out the stray and searched until he found it and came back rejoicing.
Jesus concludes the parable in Luke 15, “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (verse 7).
