Delight in the Lord Devotional: Finding Joy in God Alone

Delight in the Lord Devotional

What Does It Mean to Delight in the Lord?

What do you delight in? The Bible uses the phrase, "delight in the Lord." This isn't something we say much anymore so, what does it mean to "delight in the Lord"? When we delight in something it brings us great pleasure, joy, or satisfaction. In the modern world we often look at the rich and powerful and find our delight in them. We see them as successful, which they are as far as the world views success. We see they have influence. We often model ourselves after them as much as possible. But do we delight in God?

Where We Misplace Our Delight

We may spend time finding out about the people we admire and "delight" in by reading the latest news online or watching videos. We may see what new things they are into so we can be on trend. We can't wait to hear what new things they have to say or movies they are in or songs they are singing. If we have similar aspirations to theirs, we may see what we need to do or change to follow a path like theirs to success. Delighting in God will lead us down a different path.

Delighting in God’s Ways

When we delight in God, we will do many of the same things we might do for a famous person in whom we delight. In Psalm 119:35 the psalmist asks God to "make me walk in the path of your commandments for I delight in it." If God says to do something the psalmist is intent on doing it because God is his great pleasure and joy. Because we have a natural tendency to be sinful and go astray, the psalmist recognizes his need for God's help.

Turning Our Hearts Toward God

In Psalm 119:36-37 he continues and asks God to "incline his heart" not to "covetousness" and "worthless things" but towards God's holy ways. He wants to have a heart for God, not for money or power or pleasure. He knows that God will help him do this when he is sincere in his request. He wants God to "turn away" his eyes.

Looking on sin often makes us more easily desire it. We have a choice what we look at. Being reminded of God and His presence should make us desire to turn away from looking at temptation or sin. Think of an alcoholic seeing a friend with a drink or a married man stumbling on pornography online. God please turn away our eyes.

To live a righteous life in Psalm 119:40, he says he has "longed for His precepts". This means his desire is to obey the commandments of God or His instructions for conducting a righteous life. Just as Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:6 there are those who "hunger and thirst after righteousness." They will be filled and blessed with a desire for holiness and justice.

The psalmist asks God to "quicken me in Your righteousness", in other words make me alive in You, Oh God. Because this is the only place there is true righteousness. This Delight in the Lord Devotional reminds us that true joy and satisfaction come only from walking closely with God. When we delight in Him, He shapes our desires to align with His will, filling our hearts with peace and purpose.

The Blessings of Trusting and Delighting in God

There are rewards for delighting in the Lord. Psalm 37:4 tells us,

"Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

So you may be thinking, "All right! I want a new house, a great spouse, a new car, and a great vacation, Lord. You said you would give me the desires of my heart." But didn't we just read in Psalm 119 a prayer to incline our hearts from covetousness, which is an excessive desire for worldly possessions? You see when we truly and totally delight in the Lord the desires of our heart will be spiritual ones. We will desire to know Him better, to be more obedient to His will, and to be content with what we have.

Psalm 37:5 promises that when we are committed and trusting in the Lord, He will act on our behalf to give us our desires. Those desires are not the same as worldly wants. In the world however, reality often shows that the most powerful and successful people are also evil. They have gotten to their position by unscrupulous means. They have used and abused those around them, especially the poor and unimportant people in their eyes.

Psalm 37:16 explains that though the righteous may have very little, what they have is better than the wealth that many wicked people have. This Psalm explains the wicked will be judged for their ways but Psalm 37:17 says the righteous will be upheld by the Lord. They may stumble we are told, but they will not fall (Psalm 37:24).

Psalm 37:18-20 tells us the inheritance of the blameless will last forever, but the wicked will perish, be consumed, and go up in smoke. Those whom God curses will be destroyed (Psalm 37:22). But for those who delight in Him, He will provide security and guidance (Psalm 37:24).

David relates in Psalm 37:25 that, though he is an old man at the time of this writing, he has never seen the children of a righteous person have to beg for food. Although this may not be your experience, it is generally true that those who delight in the Lord tend to be wiser in their financial decisions, harder working, and less prone to purchasing frivolous things that waste their money. David's observations are more of a principle than a promise.

Psalm 37:26 says that the one who is righteous is generous and gives freely to those in need. Generosity flows naturally from a person who delights in the Lord. They have been blessed by their Father, not necessarily with money, but with grace and are willing to give to others as He has commanded them to do. He says their children will be blessed by God. The friend of the father is the friend of the family. The God of Abraham is the God of Isaac and of Jacob.

As David continues his psalm he tells us to depart from evil, do good, and wait on the Lord. Before we rely on ourselves to make decisions, we patiently wait on God to act in his perfect timing and fulfill his promises for us. We know God has a plan for us and it is good. We rely on God.

Our future is peace, he tells us, and our salvation comes from the Lord alone. He is our strength and our deliverer because we can trust in Him. David wasn’t the only one to speak about delighting in the Lord; the theme continues in Psalm 112.

Again and again we read about the blessings of delighting in God. Psalm 112:1 says,

"Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who delights greatly in His commandments."

We don't fear God like a slave with a tyrannical master would, but like an obedient child toward a gracious and kind father. We reverence Him and don't want to offend Him. Yes, it really is possible to find happiness in being obedient to His commands.

Only someone who is cheerfully obedient is truly obedient. If we only obey out of obligation or fear of discipline then it is obedience that lacks faith. And how can we obey if we don't know what His will is? We must study and work diligently to be approved (2 Timothy 2:15).

Generations Blessed by Righteous Living

We are reminded again that the "generation of the upright shall be blessed" (Psalm 112:2). Barnes Notes on the Bible says this,

"The best security for the virtue and success of children is the virtue and the piety of parents; the surest inheritance as pertaining to happiness, respectability, and usefulness in life, is that which is derived from the example, the prayers, the counsel of a pious father and mother."

This is something modern society seems to have sadly forgotten. Children model their parents. A pious parent is one who models reverence and obedience to God. To have the blessings of a "pious father and mother" helps our children live the happy and productive life of a faithful Christian. This is true success!

Psalm 112 continues to describe this righteous person as gracious and compassionate (Psalm 112:4). He will be someone who is unafraid of bad news (Psalm 112:7). His heart is said to be steadfast and established (Psalm 112:7-8). He gives generously to the poor (Psalm 112:9). Such a person is not thinking about the worthless things we read about above. They are living with trust in God and delighting in Him.

Think about your everyday life. How much time do we spend reading and watching things about the rich and famous that could be spent studying God's word and trying to be obedient to Him? How much time do we spend coveting what others have, wanting things we don't need and longing to be like people who are anything but a role model? Because the days are evil Paul tells us we need to be making the most of the time we have (Ephesians 5:16).

Choosing the Path of Eternal Delight

As this Delight in the Lord Devotional draws to a close, let’s remember delighting in God is more than a feeling. It’s a daily choice to seek His presence, obey His Word, and trust His ways. Our lives could be blessed if we turned around and looked at the other path. The one God wants to lead us down. That is a path with eternal blessings and eternal joy, not just momentary happiness that never brings us to a fulfilled life. Jesus offers us that life. Let's ask Him to help us find it.