THE DELIGHTFUL WAY

Part 5

"Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors . . .
I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved."
(Psalm 119:24, 47).

Last week we looked at the people God Delights in. Today we are going to see who and what we should delight in. This means that the following will be the passion of our lives. We will . . .

1. Delight in God Himself

Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." What is the passion of your life? Is it God Himself? If this is true, it means that He has first priority over everything else. If means that He has first priority in your home. Read also Isaiah 58:13, 14.

2.Delight in God's Word

If God is our passion, His Word will be our passion, too. I love to read. I have a two piles of books beside my bed that are each three feet high--all waiting to read. I so desperately want to read them, and yet I find that my passion is even greater for God's Word and I am wooed to it first. So sadly, the pile of books just gets higher!

Psalm 1:1, 2 gives us the testimony of the blessed man or woman: "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night." As a mother who delights in God's Word, we will also want our children to delight in His Word. We will not want to send them into the public education system that promotes Islam, the gay agenda, humanism, atheism, and where children daily "sit in the seat of the scornful." Instead, we will want them to be in an environment (the home is best) where they can be filled with God's Word and it becomes part of their lives day and night.

What does it mean to "meditate"? It not only means to ponder and think about, but to whisper it, and to speak it out loud! Meditating is not only using your mind and heart, but your mouth as well. We must speak out the Word we are thinking upon. It is only when we speak it out that it becomes part of us. Refer to Isaiah 59:21.

Psalm 112:1, 2 says, "Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighted greatly in his commandments. His seed shall be mighty upon the earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed." When we greatly delight in God's commandments, we won't be able to keep them to ourselves. We'll constantly be sharing them. They will be overflowing from our mouth and going into the hearts of our children to mold their characters and shape their lives. Consequently, we will raise children who will be "mighty upon the earth."

The psalmist confessed in Psalm 119:16: "I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word." And again in Verse 143: "Thy commandments are my delights." (See also verses 24, 35, 47, 92, and 174).

3. Delight in God's People

Psalm 16:3 says, "O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight." The psalmist is full of love and praise to the Lord, but He knows that the greatest way He can show this love is by showing it to God's people.

We must see fellow-believers, even those who are not on our "wave length" or "our type" as those who have Christ living in them. Because Christ lives in them and I am filled with love for Christ, I will be filled with love for them. The most tangible way I can show my love for Christ is by showing it to His people for they are His body on the earth. Although we love the sinner and reach out to them with God's love, our delight is to fellowship the saints of God. We are exhorted to do this in the following Scriptures: Matthew 25:31-46; Galatians 6:9, 10; and 1 John 3:16-18.

4. Delight in Doing God's Will

Psalm 40:8 is a prophetic Scripture of Jesus coming to this world to bring salvation: "Then said I, Lo, I come in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart." Jesus was willing to do the Father's will even though it cost Him His life; not only His life, but shedding His precious blood, and taking upon Himself the sin of the world. But no matter what suffering He delighted to do the Father's will. In Gethsemane He prayed, "Father, if thou be willing remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done" (Luke 22:42).

Sometimes we are willing to do the Father's will until it becomes difficult. When it really costs us pain, sacrifice, or money we decide that perhaps it's not God's will after all. This is situational ethics. May God save us from only doing His will when everything is going well, but to be obedient no matter what the cost.

5. Delight in what God delights

Jeremiah 9:23,24 says, "Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord." In what does God delight? Lovingkindness, judgment (often translated justice), and righteousness. All these attributes belong to the character of God and therefore should become part of our character as we seek to walk in His ways. God deals with us in lovingkindness (notice this is No. 1), but also in justice and righteousness. As we seek God and learn from Him, this is how we should also deal with our children. It takes time to learn, doesn't it? We must learn the balance of lovingkindness and justice.

NANCY CAMPBELL

PRAYER:

"Dear Father, I thank you that I love you because you first loved me. I also want to delight in you because you first delighted in me. I want you to be preeminent in our home. I want your Word to be lifted high and become the delight of not only my husband and myself, but of all our children too. Move in us by the power of your Holy Spirit that we will delight to read and meditate in your word. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

We are a family of Word Delighters.