Sunday, March 30, 2008

What does God delight in?

This is a profound thing to think about, isn't it? Most of the time I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what He loves, but it's always better to go to the source. What does He delight in? I looked up the words "delight," delighted" and "delights" in my Bible, and here's a (nearly) exhaustive list of what I found (except for the "Thee's" and "Thou's" which I changed to modern English.)

"Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord?" The prophet Samuel speaking to King Saul. 1 Samuel 15:22

"Since I know, O my God, that You try the heart and delight in uprightness..." King David praying. 1 Chronicles 29:17

"The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way." I love that one. Psalm 37:23

"Then I was beside Him, as a master workman; and I was daily His delight..." Wisdom "speaking" in first person, referring to God. Proverbs 8:30

"A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight." Proverbs 11:1

"The perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord, but the blameless in their walk are His delight." Proverbs 11:20

"Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal faithfully are His delight." Proverbs 12:22

"The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight." Proverbs 15:8

"Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights." Spoken of Jesus, according to Matthew 12:18. Isaiah 42:1

"'...but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,' declares the Lord." Jeremiah 9:24

"For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings." God speaking through the prophet Hosea. The word "loyalty" there is the Hebrew word "hesed," which means a loyal, steadfast, faithful love (love for God, in this case). It also carries the idea of a belonging together. Hosea 6:6

"Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love." There's the word hesed again. Micah 7:18

Uprightness. Wisdom. Honesty and justice. Unchanging love. And us! And I'm sure that's just a partial list. "Delight" has many synonyms. If you know of other verses, I'd love to hear about it.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

A thought I had after reading all the verses you listed was... God delights in us! In the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 30 verses 9 and 10, God says that He delighted in the Jews, the people of Israel when they obeyed His commands and followed Him with their whole hearts and souls. Likewise, today God delights in anyone, regardless race or ethnic roots, if they choose to obey Him and love Him. Through Christ this is possible! The supreme power of the universe takes delight in me. Awesome!
---Sue

Holly said...

I love that, too. It's great to just sit and think about that for awhile. It is amazing.

Unknown said...

I will say know peace be within you because of the house our Lord our God I will seek you're peace. There are an immense affirmations from God to his people throughout the entire Bible this was one that came to mind God bless all you

Unknown said...

Very insightful, thank you for this. I was reading Colossians 3:2, and was looking for what it means to set our minds on things above. And then it got me thinking about what it is to set our affections on what pleases God, what He loves and What is His delight. The word is rich and God is clear about what is His delight. I pray that I may continually pursue what God delights in. God bless

Anonymous said...

Thank you
These are great verses.

Hillard said...

God bless you sister the Lord put it on my heart to delight myself in Him and focus on Loving Him seeking Him thats why He created us to know Him and Love Him

Unknown said...

Psalm 36:8 jumped off the page this morning which always means Pay Attention. This list gave me a jumping off place to reveal what the ‘stream of His delights’ is.