Monday Morning Encouragement -- The Delight Of Delighting in God

 

"but the Lord delights  in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love." Psalm 147:11 (NIV)

If we ever wonder what delights God, we only have to look at scripture for the answer. In today's verse we find that the Lord's pleasure, His delight, is found in those who fear Him and hope in His steadfast love. According to StudyLight.org The Hebrew word translated as "fear" is yare, derived from the root word yirah, it signifies a sense of deep reverence, awe, and profound respect for God's majesty rather than sheer terror."

Is God some kind of egomaniac who needs constant yare from His people? No! That's not at all the truth. God doesn't need our reverence, and awe, and respect to feel important. He IS important because of the very fact that He is God. The Creator. The Sustainer of life. He is altogether lovely, pure and holy. He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent. He is unique. There is no other being like our God.

What I find interesting and inspiring about delighting in God is that the more I delight in Him, the more delighted I become. The more I meditate on His blessings to me, and the relationship that we enjoy because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, the more joy I find in life. The more I look to Him for guidance and strength for the day, the more at peace I am when things don't always go as planned. And at the end of the day, when I look back on the hours that I spent under His watchful eye, I know that I am "living my best life." I am not rich in material wealth, yet I am rich beyond measure because I belong to Him. He knows me and loves me. Everything that comes into my life is sifted through His kind, merciful hands. Even though I may not see it immediately, I know that just as Romans 8:28 tells us: "all things work together for good to those who  love God and are called according to His purpose." 

God has called me for His purpose, and if you are a follower of Jesus Christ He has called you for His purpose, too. Knowing this should cause us to delight in Him, and as we do so we find that we receive the blessing of delight in return. There is an old saying that "we can never outgive God." It's often used to encourage generosity in tithing, however I believe it covers more than just giving of our money. I submit that we can never outgive God with our delight in Him. He will increase our delight, and our hearts will respond with an overflow of gratitude.

Today's music video I Will Delight (In the Law Of The Lord) with lyrics by Maranatha Music encourages us to follow "the way of the Lord." In this we will truly be blessed.

I love you, I'm thinking of you, and I'm praying for you.