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...
But, if we decide to step out on our own...
Well, certainly God’s delight is NOT with us...
And we will surely fail and fall.
4. Ps 147:11 The Lord delights in those who fear Him.
A. God delights in those who worship Him...
Looking at verse 10, we see that God does NOT delight in the strength of a man’s horse or the strength of a man’s legs...
In today’s vernacular...we would probably say...
God could care less about what kind of car you drive...
or how good looking you are on the outside...
What God cares about...
Do you worship Him?...
Do you your your hope in His unfailing love?...
Those are the people whom God delights in.
5. Pv 11:20 Blameless
A. God delights in those who live a holy life...
God receives great joy and pleasure by people who life a pure and clean lifestyle in the midst of a dirty world.
This is the message of sanctification and holiness...
God delights in those who embrace a deeper walk with Christ.
6. Pr. 12:22 Truthful
A. God delights in people who are honest...
honesty and truthfulness are fundamental to Christianity...
and when God’s people speak truth...even when it is difficult...
when we speak honestly, without deception...
That brings God delight!
Man
(Negative)
1. Pv 15:21 Delights in folly
A. People who lack judgment delight in folly...
in other words...things that are foolish...
or, even more serious...things that are evil or sinful...
There are many people today who are attracted by sin and sinful living...
they celebrate their sin...
Certainly this is a negative trait in those people...
B. On the other hand, a person of understanding will keep straight course.
In other words, people with the mind of Christ will walk the way of Christ...
But there are certainly a great number of people who lack judgment...
They decide to go their own way...
they delight in their error.
2. Pv. 18:2 Delights in own opinion
A. A fool delights in airing his own opinions...
Ouch!!!
When we are so caught up in sharing our opinion...
and we think that “our” way is the only right way...
and we get up on our bully pulpit and start spouting off...
Well, Scripture calls that person a fool.
B. What’s wrong with airing our own opinions?...
Well, when we get caught up in that...
it just points to our selfishness...
it’s all about us...
it’s all about what we think...
we don’t really care about someone else and their feelings...
James 1:19 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry”
When Christians delight in their own opinion...
instead of being HUMBLE with their own opinion...
When Christians delight in the sound of their own voice...
instead of listening to others...
When Christians delight in arguing and tearing other people down...
instead of LOVING those who disagree with them...
they commit sin...
and they certainly need to repent before God...
and if there is someone who they have offended with their argumentative and opinionated ways...
then, they need to repent to that person as well.
3. Ecc. 2:8 & 11 Delights in silver, gold, harem
A. When people delight in material wealth...again they sin...
When people run after wealth...
they take their eyes off Christ...
and wealth has become their god.
B. Solomon was a wealthy man...
he had many wives and concubines...
he had many servants and palaces...
and yet, when he looked over everything that he had...
and everything that he had worked so hard to accomplish...
he said, “that it was all meaningless...
it was like chasing after the wind...
and it accomplished absolutely nothing”...
(Positive)
Now, on a positive side...
men and women can delight in certain things that are good and right...
and Scripture tells us about them...
1. Pv 10:23 Delights in Wisdom
A. A man of understanding delights in wisdom...
Wisdom comes from God...
you can gain knowledge in College...
but true wisdom, insight and good judgment come from God...
They are SPIRITUALLY attained.
B. And when we delight in wisdom...
we are delighting in the things of God...
we are delighting in the wisdom that we gain from the reading and practicing of God’s Word...
In fact, throughout the Psalms, we see where the Psalmist DELIGHTS in God’s Word...
at least a dozen different occurrences of the word “delight” describe delighting in God’s laws, precepts, statutes and decress.
And, when we delight in wisdom...
we are also delighting in the insight gained through prayer and spiritual discernment...
2. 1 Sam 2:1 Delight in God’s deliverance (in faith)
A. Hannah delighted in God’s deliverance...
She prayed a great prayer of faith for a son...
and the Lord answered that prayer with the birth of arguably one of the greatest prophets of all time...Samuel...
B. When we pray and God answers...
we could learn a little something from Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel chapter 2...
when God hears and answers prayer...
it certainly ought to be cause for great delight in the heart of the Christian!!
That’s why I enjoy testimony time so much...
it gives us the opportunity to share our delight in God’s deliverance...
Has God answered prayer in your life?...
Don’t be so quick to move on...
express your delight in God’s intervention...
Has God blessed you in special ways?...
Be sure to delight in the Lord...
In fact, Isaiah 61:10 tells us to do just that...
It says, “I delight greatly in the Lord;
my soul rejoices in my God.”
3. Finally, let’s look at Man’s response to God’s delight Him (Ps 149:1-5)
A. In this passage of Scripture...
we see that the Lord has taken delight in His people...
and it is important to note the author’s response...
He says, “Praise the Lord”...
He says, “sing to the Lord a new song”...
He says, “rejoice in your maker”...
He says, “praise Him with dancing...”
Praise Him with musical instruments”...
Conclusion
1. God delights in His people...
God delights in His people’s well-being...
God delights when we are happy and following Him...
God blesses us with His “river of delights”...
God delights in us when we worship and praise Him...
and When we follow Him and do His will...
God delights in us when we walk that deeper walk of holiness...
2. Unfortunate, many times we delight in foolish things...
things like material things...physical things...
or we delight in our own opinion more than we care about other people...
But, if we want honor God...
instead of delighting in those negative things...
we will delight in positive things like wisdom...
delighting in God’s Word...
delighting in God’s deliverance and His answers to prayer...
and when God delights in us...
and He blesses us so much more than we ever deserve...
we respond by praising Him...
making music for Him...
dancing for Him...
singing unto Him a new song.
3. Well, as Christians, we need to mind our ABCs...
and one way we do that is to avoid delighting in those negative things...
and delighting ourselves in the things of the Lord...
and when we do,
it is a delight to Him as well!
