D Is For Delight Series

Introduction

1. “Mind your ABCs”...

That might be something a teacher would tell his/her young student...

but it is also good advice for the Christian who wants to learn more about God and about His Word...

Tonight, I would like for us to look at the letter D...

D is for Delight.

2. According to the dictionary...Delight: 1 : a high degree of gratification : JOY; also : extreme satisfaction 2 : something that gives great pleasure1

Read Text:

God Delights

1. Ps. 35:27-28 God delights in the well-being of His servant

A. David actually speaks of 2 different “delights”...

one is the delight of his friends because they see that David has been vindicated by God...

The other is the delight of God...

David writes, “The Lord be exalted, who delights in the well- being of His servant.”

B. God delights in our well-being...

God derives great pleasure when are happy, healthy and prosperous...

Certainly we can give praise to God for those things...

In fact, in verse 28, David writes, “My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long”.

Our well-being comes from the hand of God...

and it delights Him to bless us in that way.

2. Ps 36:8, Job 20:17 God gives drink from His “river of delights”

A. What is this “river of delights”?...

well, from the context, it appears that this refers to blessings from God...

God blesses His people...

and, as we said when we studied “abundance”...

it’s not just a thimble-full of blessing...

He blesses us in abundance...

Or, in our verse in Psalms, we FEAST on the abundance His house...

we drink from God’s river of delights...

B. One of the great pleasures that people have is in food and drink...

we love to eat!!

We see that at church...

Whenever we plan for a big attendance day...

we always plan a meal...

because we have learned that more people will come when you serve food versus when you don’t!!

And boy do we have some good cooks at our church!!

and, I’m sure that if I took a poll here this evening...

it would be a strong majority of people who would say that enjoy our church dinners...

Well, I doubt this is anything new...

even in David’s day, people enjoyed eating...

and here, David uses the image of eating and drinking to describe God’s blessings...

A feast, with a river of delights.

C. Sometimes we get to feeling sorry for ourselves...

and during those times, perhaps we don’t feel as blessed by God as we really are...

During those times, the songwriter recommends,

“Count your many blessings,

name them one by one

and it will surprise you what the Lord has done”.2

If you will take the time to count your blessings...

I’m sure you will agree with David...

We feast upon the abundance of God’s blessings...

We drink from the river of His delights.

D. On the other side of the coin, the writer of the book of Job says the person who does NOT follow God...

that “He will not enjoy the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.” Job 20:17

3. Ps 37:23-24 tells us that if God delights in a man’s way, that He will make His steps firm...

What do we have to do for God to delight in our way?...

A. First of all, we must trust God...

We place our faith in Him...

We believe what He tells us in His Word...

We trust in His forgiveness for our sins...

B. After we have placed our trust in God...

Then, we begin to follow God...

God desires to lead us and guide us in the way we should go...

Like a good parent, God tells His children how to live...

Like a good parent, God tells us some things that we need to avoid...

And, when we follow God...

Then that brings great delight to Him...

and, as we bring Him great pleasure...

He helps us as we walk along the path that God has laid out for us...

That doesn’t mean that we never stumble...

David acknowledges that we do stumble...

But, we don’t fall...

because the Lord is holding our hand...

In our minds eye, picture a farmer holding his son’s hand...

as they walk across a freshly plowed field...

as the young boy walks along that uneven ground...

he may stumble...

but, as long as he keeps his hand in the hand of his father...

he will never fall.

It is only when he decides to step out on his own that he will fall flat on his face.

C. And as Christians, we do the same thing...

God delights in us as we walk with Him...

and He helps to make our steps firm...