Delight

SCRIPTURE:  I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8 ESV

THOUGHT: Delight. What a delightful word. It’s fun to say, and fun to see, and fun to feel. It’s a little child skipping around and singing when unaware you are watching. It’s that first bite of your favorite desert, or the enormous snowflake that falls on your glove so you can examine its crystals in detail. It’s a cool morning in the mountains, or the perfect wave to give you a thrilling ride into shore.

Although I’m a journalist by trade and should know all the parts of speech and rules of language, it was my girls who taught me about onomatopoeias when they went through AP Lang. I surely didn’t know how to spell it, even this morning! An onomatopoeia is a word that sounds something like what it actually means. I think delight is like that. Even if I wasn’t certain what the word meant, I could guess.

David felt delight in knowing and doing God’s will. Wow. Think about that for a minute.

I have to confess, I might not attach that word to my relationship with God or to knowing and doing his will. Gratitude. Awe. Humility. Worship. Willingness. Courage. Yes. But delight? Joy, pleasure, enthusiasm? I feel convicted. And the Psalms don’t just use this word delight once – when I started looking, it was a common theme, including this familiar verse: Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart (37:4). What an invitation! And Psalms 35 and 149 both say God delights in those who serve him. Mutual delight.

I’m grateful David didn’t stop with lament and worship and humility and gratitude. He pressed into delight, a king dancing undignified before the God whose rule and reign over him filled him with joy.

That’s where I’d like to be.

PRAYER: Oh God, I’d like delight to color my relationship with you, and with your rule and reign in my life. Could you get me to that place?