LifeLink Devotional

Thursday, February 6, 2020

Isaiah 61:10 I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

What an interesting word – delight. When heard, read, or spoken it immediately creates an emotional response. Yet at first glance it appears to be an oxymoron. To de-light means to make dark, yet the general use of the word means to brighten. So I looked up the etymology of the word.

I discovered delight is not the word light with the prefix de. The original word is French – delit – from the word delitier which means to please greatly. Until the sixteenth century it was spelled delite, so when you see it used that way in advertising it’s okay – let it go.

Okay, enough about the word. My love for words got the best of me and this is a word I love. Try it. Say it out loud right now. Look around. How many people are looking at you? They heard you say it and I bet there’s a smile on their face, right? They are either smiling because they think you are crazy, or they are smiling because the word you said affected them. I know it has affected you already. What you are feeling is delight.  It’s delightful, isn’t it?

I wonder what really gives us delight. What is it in our lives that instantly lifts our spirits and pleases us greatly? I take delight in a perfectly cooked steak. The beauty of a sunrise glistening on the water of a glassy lake as a screeching eagle soars overhead is even better. But the smile of a grandchild running to greet me with a hug is more delightful. There’s something deeply pleasing about the look on a child’s face as they smile back at me when their eyes meet mine. It is delightful when another person delights in us.

Delight is reciprocal. It’s contagious. It’s that way with people, and it’s most certainly that way with God. Did you know that God desires to delight in you? Our delight in Him always results in God delighting in us!

The Scripture is filled with motivation for us to delight in the Lord.

• We are to delight in His salvation – Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation. (Psalm 35:9)
• We are to delight in His Word – I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. (Psalm 119:16)
• We are to delight in God’s commands – for I delight in your commands because I love them. (Psalm 119:47)
• We are to delight in the fear of the Lord – and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. (Isaiah 11:3)

And when we take delight in the Lord, He takes delight in us.

• For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. (Psalm 149:4)

That reminds me of my favorite verse of delight in the Bible. It’s found in the book of Zephaniah, chapter three, verse seventeen.

“The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”

That’s delightful! Who dares let the snow or politics or financial crisis discourage them when the Lord Himself sings over us with delight because we have taken delight in Him. He has clothed us with garments of salvation and arrayed us in robes of righteousness. That’s delightful!

Pastor John