Delight, an active approach

I've been pondering what it means to delight for quite sometime. At cursery glances, I assumed that it means to be happy with/in. This would imply that I believe that delight is an adjective regarding my heart's attitude towards God. Let me share with you what I've found and some conclusions that I've come to in the last few weeks.

First off, all good biblical exegesis begins with Webster's dictionary.

/dɪˈlaɪt/ Show Spelled Pronunci–noun

1.	a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy; rapture: She takes great delight in her job.

2.	something that gives great pleasure: The dance was a delight to see.

–verb (used with object)

3. to give great pleasure, satisfaction, or enjoyment to; please highly: The show delighted everyone.

–verb (used without object)

4. to have great pleasure; take pleasure (fol. by in or an infinitive): She delights in going for long walks in the country.

So, upon my initial observation of just the definition alone, I noticed that I believe the correct translation would be "You, Delight/Give great pleasure, satisfaction or enjoyment to; please highly....the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Meaning this relationship is not so much about my enjoyment, as much as it is His enjoyment. My job here is to bring pleasure to Him. But even by titling it "Job", I miss it. My pleasure, is to bring pleasure to the one who will in turn pleasure me. It's really the reality of the Trinity played out in humanity. The Great love dance if you will.

What a relief! I can be at peace and set my heart to striving to please Him, in the sense that striving to please someone is really no task at all when they love you unconditionally.

And yet, I am left with the question....what is it that makes your heart glad?

If you look up delight in the Strongs, verse after verse speaks of meditating on the law/scripture daily. There are also mulitple verses that talk about God prefering obedience over sacrifice.

One of my personal favorites is:

Psa 119:24

Your testimonies also are my delight; {They are} my counselors.

I specifically like this because God told the Isrealites to build alters of rememberance everywhere the went in the Old Testament. God told them to remember at what He had done for them. That's what each of the festivals is meant to accomplish as well. God knows that we have a tendency to forget His character. So if we will remember His faithfulness, his testimonies of goodness and allow the truth of who He is to counsel us as we make future decisions, we will be found wise.

The Psalmist goes on to say:

Psa 119:92

If Your law had not been my delight, Then I would have perished in my affliction.

If you don't spend time in remembering, then we are quick to get our eyes off of God and onto our circumstances. Then we will effectively perish in our affliction.

In Song of Solomon 2:3 it says:

Sgs 2:3

"Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, So is my beloved among the young men. In his shade I took great delight and sat down, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.

Again, the Shulamite, a metaphor for the bride of Christ, is basically saying I am going to rest in the truth of who you are, and allow your character to be a shade tree to me, protecting me from the harsh realities of life. I will taste and see that you are good. (Ps. 34:8)

Isa 55:2

"Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And delight yourself in abundance.

Eat what is good....delight yourself in abundance. Who promised an abundant life?

Isaiah 58:13-14 says, "If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD's holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,then you will find your joy in the LORD and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has spoken.

Jer 9:24

but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.

We hear Paul echo that sentiment thousands of years later....let no man boast in anything but that they know the Lord. (paraphrased) Also, Jesus says, that Justice and Righteousness are the foundations of his throne. The place where he will sit and judge the nations rests on justice and righteousness.

Finally, some New Testament references for you who would freak out if I didn't include them.

Rom 7:22	For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
1Cr 13:6	Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
2Cr 12:10	That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

My favorite is the last. It's practically the theme for this blog. I delight in my weakness, for then I am strong.

I am weak and cannot love Him like I want to, nevertheless it is in my honest examination of my heart, that I am made strong to try again to love him all the more today.
May his grace cover us all as we try to pursue Him, to actively delight him. Take great pleasure in my childish attempts at loving you today Lord. It may be a spiritual equivalent of a maccaroni painting, that you will hang on your refridgerator in heaven, but as long as your heart is thrilled by my attempt, that is all I can ask for.

Song of Solomon 4:9 You have overwhelmed my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.

Jesus, let your heart be overwhelmed as we glance our eyes towards you. Establish our affections as set solely upon your heart. Let us no longer be satisfied by the lesser things of this world.