MERIDIAN MINUTE no. 11 ~DELIGHT~

MERIDIAN MINUTE  no. 11 ~Delight~

Fort Bragg, California, Pacific Ocean coastline

“(The LORD) brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me.”

Psalm 18:19

DELIGHT

From my perspective, to delight in someone or something is to experience the object with an inner joy. I find many things to be delightful. These things uplift me, make the day brighter, encouraging my deeper self in a place of happiness and contentment. Often times as I work in the walnut orchard I will observe a dandelion reaching its white head as it stands alone. I delight in this. I will see a nest with eggs in it. I delight in this. I see a flock of turkeys scratching at the base of the trees. I find delight in watching them. A hawk or an owl swoops out of the tree as I come too close. I joy in seeing it. My daughter works by my side as we move sprinkler pipe or pick up scattered sticks off the orchard floor. I smile to myself as she chatters away and I enter into her teenage world. These are small little delights. There are bigger delights, like having someone tell me that something I have said, written, or done has helped them in some way. A friendship that has a connection of the soul, soul mate quality, is one of the greatest delights I have ever known. Such a friendship includes full acceptance in a reciprocal fashion.

In this text it is King David who is penning these words. He has been haunted by his enemies who seem to pursue him relentlessly. “He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” Ps. 18:17-19 NIV  David is saying that God delighted in him. I was thinking about the implications of his statement. It is hard to fathom that God in Heaven could delight in us. . .in me! We have the capacity to bring joy to God. This is an emotional word. DELIGHT. Even the saying of it is like a pretty flower, it has a lovely sound to it. One delights in something that brings you satisfaction, happiness, joy, and pleasure. Relationship that is close, satisfying, rich, will have this same component in its center. God delights when His children look to Him, call out to Him, rest in Him. David did this. He loved God, his words document this fact over and over again. God brings him out of the trial and puts him into a safe place. He senses God’s love for him as he reflects back on the experience.

In my Bible this verse has a black ink dot to the left of it. I put the dot there one time when I was reading through the Psalms. I selected one verse in each Psalm that spoke to me in an uplifting way, one that encouraged me. I remember that experience. Often there were several verses I could have chosen in a chapter, so I would think carefully over them to find the one that seemed to have a content about it that made it stand out. Now I can glance through the Psalms and read all the verses with a dot by them when I am desirous of an encouraging word. I also have underlined one specific word every time I come to it. I underline the word “love.” This draws my attention to the context in which it is placed and makes me think of how love relates to the message of that particular passage of Scripture. These are small helps to guide me in my thoughts as I read a portion of God’s Word, making it personal and practical in my understanding.

I think it is wonderful that God delights in us. We are objects of His affection. The experience is especially rich when we turn to Him with open arms and open hearts leaving our opinions and self righteous ways behind. What a wonderful hope is ours when we turn to Him and find our true joy in His salvation and love. 
 Praise Him!