Delighting in the Lord is one of those huge religious concepts – that disciples of Christ are called to do but may not understand. So, how do we delight in Him? This daily devotional looks at how delighting in the Lord provides us the peace of God.
Nuggets
- We find peace by delighting in God when we depend on Him.
- We are called to delight in the Lord, and He will give us our hearts’ desire – Himself.
- God will always reward those that are obedient to Him.
Devotions in the Peace Leads to Tranquility series
I know. There are some really tough concepts to understand when we are searching for and seeking God. When we are searching for Him – and maybe aren’t familiar with these terms – it can be very confusing.
Truthfully, even if we are seeking God – and have been around these terms (maybe even all our lives) – it can still be a bit strange.
Let’s tackle one of those confusing topics in this devotion. We won’t really experience God’s peace until we nail delighting in the Lord.
Let's Put It into Context
We’ve talked about peace several times. Peace is an inward tranquility or composure of the mind resulting from a balanced life with spiritual order, equity, and truth.
Glossary
Peace isn’t just the absence of conflict. It is a positive condition.
God wants disciples of Christ to experience peace in the midst of conflict. We can do that when we put our faith and trust in Him.
Delight, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is “a high degree of gratification or pleasure.”
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Peace Achieved by Delighting in God
“Then you will delight in the Almighty and lift up your face to God” (Job 22: 26 CSB)
A part of me questions using the word delight to describe our relationship with God. When Seed wrote that “… the due regulation of our pursuits of it must always be of great moment …,” to me, it kind of makes it worldly. Spurgeon called it sunshine in the heart.
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Nothing is always going to be of great moment. It strikes of being pollyanna-ish — or being delusional — to think it is all going to be sunshine and roses.
It kind of makes it look like we are supposed to ignore the truth and just put on our happy face. You know, slap a grin on us and call us happy.
But delighting in the Lord is what disciples are called to do. Maclaren wrote, “When we ‘delight’ in a thing or person, we recognise (sic) that thing or person as fitting into a cleft of our hearts, and corresponding to some need of our natures. Without delight in God there is no real religion.”
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I think that is my problem. I am focusing on is delight as the emotion of happiness. It is supposed to go deeper.
Norton indicated that the delight should be desire. Delight really takes it down to the dependence level.
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Wardlaw explains what all this dependence entails.
• Our focus is in remaining in God’s Will.
• We can have success only when we are living in God’s Will.
• “That it is therefore the imperative duty of intelligent creatures to own their independence, and to seek, on all occasions, the Divine countenance and blessing.”
• God calls us to certain tasks to expand His kingdom because it will grow us as people.
• God acknowledges our efforts to grow in His grace and knowledge and rewards us when we piously and humbly accept Him.
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So, we find peace by delighting in God when we depend on Him. Our dependence on Him should not be contingent on the circumstances surrounding us. We are to depend — and delight — on Him at all times.
Does Delight in the Lord Lead to Prosperity?
“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires” (Ps. 37: 4 CSB)
Psalms 37:4 says that, if we delight in the Lord, we will prosper. Does that mean nothing bad is going to happen to us? Are disciples of Christ ensured a prosperity gospel?
If we delight in the Lord, does that mean we are going to automatically get all the good stuff?
Okay, I would like a house and a million dollars in the bank. I want a job higher up the corporate ladder. I want to find my soul mate.
What? It doesn’t work that way???? Doesn’t this verse make it a prosperity gospel? We’ve talked about that several times.
Glossary
Maclaren debunked that theory. He wrote, “Only do not vulgarize that great promise by making it out to mean that, if we will be good, He will give us the earthly blessings which we wish. Sometimes we shall get them, and sometimes not; but the real desire of the man who delights in God will be God Himself, and this desire is ever fulfilled.”
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Seed said that we are not only supposed to depend on God, but we are also to be thankful. Thankfulness is a response of gratitude to an act of God. He contended that being thankful would elevate our delights from the carnal realm into the religious realm.
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We switch realms by focusing, according to Seed, on beauty and greatness. When we focus, we can see how God has provided for us.
Seed also included novelty in his list. He gave an example of something unique becoming common place after we have attained it.
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I can see novelty applying to unique things. I feel it can also mean new-to-us things. That acknowledges the growth we experience.
But just think how chaotic that would be if we got everything we wanted. If everything ran on our standards instead of God’s, chaos would reign.
It is probably a safe assumption that we would only want the best of whatever we were desiring. Gibson reminded that God wants to give us the best – and He knows better than we do what the best is for us.
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We are called to delight in the Lord, and He will give us our hearts’ desire – Himself.
Delighting in the Lord Means Rewards
“But the humble will inherit the land and will enjoy abundant prosperity” (Ps. 37: 11 CSB)
Don’t worry. God sets us straight in this verse.
Delight in the Lord is hooked to obedience. We know that obeying God is rewarded.
Prosperity is tied to humbleness. Humility is a character trait that diminishes pride and places dependence on God while holding a modest view of our importance with respect to others.
Oh, yeah. Full circle to dependence.
When we lead with humility, we get the prosperity. When we lead with the entitlement, we don’t.
When we lead with the humility, we get the tranquility. The tranquility comes when we realize peace comes from within.
Look what Maclaren had to say. He wrote, “The great reason why life is troubled lies not without but within. It is not our changing circumstances, but our unregulated desires, that rob us of peace.”
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If we look for peace outside of ourselves, we become dependent on others and circumstances to supply our peace. What happens if they no longer can or don’t?
God wants us to look for our peace within ourselves. Several of the versions translate this verse as “… delight themselves …” (Ps. 37: 11 ESV, NASB, NKJV, KJV).
I see two reasons God wants us to look within ourselves. The first reason is we are taking our focus off the worldview.
The second reason is because within is where Jesus and the Holy Spirit reside. We focus on Him instead of conflicting desires.
When we are focused on God to provide us peace through delighting in Him, we are free from the anxiety of the future, which can cripple us. Who better to focus on than the One who knows what will occur?
Knight brought up the fact the characteristic of meekness. He noted, “But the meek-spirited are here represented as not only possessing tranquillity or peace, but the multitude, the abundance thereof; and as being not only refreshed, but delighted therein.”
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Melvill took another track. He wrote, “Christian meekness must chiefly result, first from a deep sense of our own unworthiness; and, secondly, an earnest love of our fellow-men. He who is humble in the meek consciousness of his own vileness as a sinner, will invariably be averse from all overbearing; and he who is zealous for the well-being of others will forbear and forgive, and keep down resentment, however injurious the conduct of others.”
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God will always reward those that are obedient to Him.
Making the Connections
Do you get the idea that we have barely scratched the surface of delighting in the Lord? Allon stated that it is one of those big religious concepts that is almost too big to comprehend and accomplish.
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It is important that we get this concept right. We aren’t talking about delighting in the blessings God gives us. We are talking about delighting in Him.
Remember, God doesn’t give the material possessions or worldly priorities top billing. He is most concerned about our spiritual state. Do we have His character or not?
Sturgeon made a really good observation. Many worldview people give the argument that disciples have to give up most of the good things of life. They see this as self-denial.
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Instead, God has promised us prosperity when we follow Him. (No, it isn’t going to be the world’s definition of prosperity.) He will prosper us through our relationships with Him. He will give us peace.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
Delighting in the Lord has to start out with knowing Him. That means searching for Him if we haven’t ABCDed. If we have, we need to continually seek Him. That takes discipline.
How Do We Apply This?
We have to ABCD first.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Next has to come imitating God. If we don’t want to even try to imitate Him, we are not going to want to delight in Him.
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Delighting in the Lord brings us peace. Spurgeon wrote, “Practically put, this delight in the Almighty shows itself in the Christian when nothing else remains to him. If he be stripped of everything, he cries, ‘The Lord is my portion.’”
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This means that, even in our trials, we remain peaceful because we have placed our trust in God. Our peace is in direct proportion to our trust in God.
Norton made a good point. He wrote, “Our desire will control our thoughts, and aims, and actions.” If God is our desire, we are in control and are following Him. We make God our desire when we delight in
- God’s Word
- God’s purposes
- God’s character.
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This would be a good exercise. When we think about things in our worship that delight us, are we delighted about them for ourself or for God? Are we truly worshiping and sacrificing? Or are we going through the ritual for some other reason?
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To me, this all boils down to the wanna-be has got to be there. We want to be like God. We want to follow His laws and commandments. We want to have His character.
When we want that, the peace and delight will come.
Father. You are perfect. You are holy and righteous. We delight in Your character. We delight in Your love. Help us to want to be like You. Grow us so that we learn more about You. Amen.
What do you think?
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