Delight

de-light [di-lahyt] - noun - a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment or satisfaction; joy; rapture

There are a lot of things that I enjoy, that I delight in. Spending time with treasured friends. A sunny summer day spent on the beach. Snowboarding. Watching a good movie. Getting a child to laugh. Reading an inspiring book. Making a positive difference in someone’s life. Getting a big hug. Laughing at a funny joke. Eating ribs. Listening to good music. These things give me much joy and enrich my life.

This morning I was thinking about how God delights in us as His children. And also how we find delight in God. I decided to do a word search on “delight” in the Bible. This is what I discovered…

God delights in you – “He will take great DELIGHT in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17)
God delights in our well-being – “The Lord be exalted, who DELIGHTS in the well-being of his servant” (Psalm 35:27)
God delights when we tell the truth – “The Lord detests lying lips, but He DELIGHTS in men who are truthful” (Psalm 12:22)
God delights in saving us – “He rescued me because he DELIGHTED in me” (Psalm 18:19)
God delights in our obedience – “Does the Lord DELIGHT in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?” (1 Samuel 15:22)

It is hard to comprehend how I can give God pleasure. This is my ability and choice to give God delight, to make Him happy, to give Him joy. I can make a difference in God’s life! What an honour that is. At the same time I can break God’s heart with my actions. It's easy to forget how I can impact God's life.

We delight in God’s presence – “I was filled with DELIGHT day after day, rejoicing always in his presence” (Proverbs 8:20)
We delight in God’s works – “Great are the works of the Lord; they are pondered by all who DELIGHT in them” (Psalm 111:2)
We delight in God’s words – “His DELIGHT is in the law of the Lord” (Psalm 1:2)
We delight in God’s rescue – “My mouth boasts over my enemies, for I DELIGHT in your deliverance” (1 Samuel 2:1)
We delight in honouring God – “O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who DELIGHT in revering your name” (Nehimiah 1:11)

I think of all the things that I take delight in – and all those things are great. But the amazing promise of God is that He is better than life. Whatever joy and pleasure I can from this world is chump change compared to the delight I receive from God. The joy He gives far outweighs the joy the entire world can offer. Isn’t that absolutely mind-boggling? What great news! If only everyone in the world could know this truth.

This is the beauty of a relationship with God.
We’re better together.

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”
~Psalm 37:4~