Psalm 16:1-11
Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.”
As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.
The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods,
I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.
Lord you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.
I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
A number of years ago someone gave me a 100-year-old “pulpit Bible” – that is, a Bible published for the purpose of being displayed on a pulpit in a sanctuary and read in public worship services. It’s an antique – and a beautiful piece of work – but it’s huge. It’s as big as a table-top and must weigh 15 pounds. If you dropped it – it would break your toes!
It strikes me that that’s the way many people think about the Bible. It’s big, thick, heavy, intimidating, out-of-date, and filled with arks, cubits, commandments and judgment. They don’t see the Bible as a particularly joyful piece of literature. And that’s perfectly understandable because most people haven’t taken the trouble to actually read the Bible. For when we read the Bible – we find that, from cover to cover, the Bible is shot through with joy!
Look at Psalm 16 again – and pay attention to the words and phrases in bold print. Words like:
Delight
Pleasant places
Delightful inheritance
My heart is glad
My tongue rejoices
Joy
Eternal pleasures
We were created by a joyful God who wants us to experience his joy. But what is joy? Is joy the same thing as happiness? Is joy what I feel when the Bears win? Does my joy evaporate when they lose? Or does joy run deeper than temporary happiness? Is there a kind of joy that is indestructible and enduring – even in the face of disappointment and pain?
I think that Psalm 16 is telling us exactly that – but notice where this kind of joy begins!
I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, apart from you I have no good thing.”
The Psalm is telling us that true joy begins with God. The Hebrew word for “joy” carries a meaning of “bright and shining” – like the face of a child right as the birthday cake is brought to the table. Why does the child’s face beam with joy? Because he knows that someone (Mom and Dad, family and friends) has taken delight in him – and celebrates him – and that creates joy.
Did you know that God takes delight in you?
Zephaniah 3:17 says,
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.
I think that many of us carry in our minds an image of a God who is mildly irritated with us most of the time – rather than a God who takes delight in us and who rejoices over us with singing! So let me ask again: Do you know that God takes delight in you?
David is trying to teach us that joy begins when we take delight in the God who takes delight in us!
Ask God to help you trust and sense his delight in you – that you might take your delight in him!
Brian Coffey
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2 comments:
When you were saying that joy is on the face of a child when his birthday cake is arriving, because he knows that these people (parents, friends, etc.) feel ___ for him, I was thinking you would say "LOVE for him". But I like that you said DELIGHT instead. That's different, and I think better in this case. I think of myself as a parent, and how I always LOVE my children, but I often am irritated by their teenager ways. I seldom show enough DELIGHT in them. They need it; they will thrive on it; and it expresses my LOVE! Oh, Lord, help me to internalize that you are NOT always irritated with me, that you not only LOVE me, but also DELIGHT in me, my quirky ways, my silly mistakes, and my just being your child! And help me to show that delight to my own children... oh, they are truly wonderful, no matter how irritating!
I agree with Anonymous...delight can be "better" than love!! It is unexpected and filled with joy. Like a surprise gift. I find I delight more as a Grandmother than I did as a Mom. Love bursts with delight.
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