Delight

No, I'm not talking about the Turkish treat, but about the action verb. Delight means (according to Dictionary.com) something that gives great pleasure, a high degree of pleasure or enjoyment; joy; rapture. An antonym of delight is disappointment.

I decided to look up the meaning of this word, delight, after coming across Psalm 41:11 last night. 'By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.'

I love this verse for two reasons: 1) it tells me that the victory over my enemy comes because He delights in me and 2) it gives me hope that my enemy will not shout in triumph over me. I think a third reason I love this verse is that it speaks truth. He delights in me. Wow. What a jaw-dropping realization! I can't even begin to explain what this means. What I do know is that I am not a disappointment to God, and that is pretty cool, especially when I feel like a disappointment to so many people. He delights in me because He created me, not because of anything I do or don't do. And that is pretty awesome.

I was writing in my journal today and a verse came to my mind. I was writing about how I want to be back in Indiana for my birthday (Oct. 18), and that I have a lot of people in different places that I want to visit. As I was writing these desires down, it came to mind that He knows the desires of my heart. I did some searching to see if this was a verse, and came upon Psalm 37:4, 'Delight yourself in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.'

But, what does 'delighting in the LORD' mean?

I found this on the web. It's from Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary on Psalm 37:
We must make God our heart's delight and then we shall have our heart's desire, v. 4. We must not only depend upon God, but solace ourselves in him. We must be well pleased that there is a God, that he is such a one as he has revealed himself to be, and that he is our God in covenant. We must delight ourselves in his beauty, bounty, and benignity; our souls must return to him, and repose in him, as their rest, and their portion for ever. Being satisfied of his loving-kindness, we must be satisfied with it, and make that our exceeding joy, Ps. 43:4. We were commanded (v. 3) to do good, and then follows this command to delight in God, which is as much a privilege as a duty. If we make conscience of obedience to God, we may then take the comfort of a complacency in him. And even this pleasant duty of delighting in God has a promise annexed to it, which is very full and precious, enough to recompense the hardest services: He shall give thee the desires of thy heart. He has not promised to gratify all the appetites of the body and the humours of the fancy, but to grant all the desires of the heart, all the cravings of the renewed sanctified soul. What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him.

I love this: "We must not only depend upon God, but solace ourselves in Him." I looked up the definition of solace and it means comfort in sorrow, misfortune, or trouble; alleviation of distress or discomfort; something that gives comfort, consolation, or relief. I am to not only depend on God, but comfort myself in Him, allowing Him to alleviate my distress or discomfort.

I understand that God isn't necessarily going to give me all of the desires of my fleshly heart/body, but He knows what they are and He knows that which is good and best for me. I think the desires that are good for me and that are in accordance with His will, He will grant. But, that's what I think, not what I know to be true.

So, What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him.

He delights in me. Do I delight in Him?