1 / Delighting Despite Opposition

Delight / ša ‘ǎšu ‘îm / a Hebrew word that means “a feeling of extreme pleasure or satisfaction.”

When I was a child I delighted first in candy. I loved going to the corner store near home, or even better to the little pink house converted into a store on East Bear Lake Road near Kalkaska to get something colorful and wonderful to snack on.

Later, I found comic books and as a young boy delighted in the pages and the artwork. I remember being very little and seeing pages of the Fantastic Four or Iron Man — those books set my heart aflame (flame on) and kindled my imagination. They were my delight.

As I became a young man it was music that I delighted in. Listening and collecting the modern music of the day — the rock, the pop, the metal — was intoxicating and I would spend hours enjoying those wonderful records of my youth.

Even more strong is the delight we get from people we love. My wife. My children. I found a picture of my youngest two in a bed, they couldn’t have been more than 6-7 years old at the most — and that photo brings back the delight I had in them. Not that its gone, but it has changed. I delighted in spending any time with them whatsoever, regardless of what we were doing.

Each of these activities or relationships gave (or give) intense, extreme pleasure to my heart and my very soul. I am not exaggerating.

This word defined above shows up five times in the epic Psalm 119 — in simplistic summary the psalmist delights in the Word of God. God has given truth in his Word, and the one who records these thoughts found extreme pleasure in them.

I haven’t always lived in delight of the Word. Sometimes I’ve rejected it. Sometimes I’ve given it very little bandwidth in my mind. Over the last 7 years, however, I would say it has become to me what it was to the psalmist — I want to learn to have this delight grow, not diminish.

Clues to Delighting from these passages

So, how can we increase this delight for the Word? Let’s look at the instances this word is used in Psalm 119 for some clues.

Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors (v24) — this verse is hardwired to the context of its passage, and in the passage he is assailed by lying, accusing “princes” who are putting him down. He finds delight in the Word because it is helpful in the overcoming of derision that people are casting his way. The Word is his counselor, one to speak truth and wisdom to him when all he is hearing is the opposite — lies and folly.

He delights for the word is the faithful aspect of his life, like counselors who can give good direction and set his feet on solid ground.

Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight (v77) — in a similar context we see that he longs for the comfort and mercy of God in light of the insolent (arrogant ones) who persecute him. It is a catch 22 in that delighting in the law is probably the reason people pursue him unjustly, and it is the Word of God that brings him so much comfort.

He delights in the word for it brings mercy and life.

If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction (v92) — again, the affliction of the “wicked” who “lie in wait to destroy” him are present. The Psalmist gives his delight in the Word of God as his salvation that kept him alive. This passage states this as a negative “I would have perished” and as a positive “by them you have given me life.” They are a protection against difficult people and situations in your life.

He delights because the word protected him from harm and death.

Trouble and anguish have found me out, but your commandments are my delight (v143) — Are we beginning to see a pattern here. Each of these usages of the word “delight” are packed in times of intense pain and suffering. The Psalmist finds himself struggling with “foes who forget” God’s words and persecute him. The delight of the Word keeps him afloat as the waves of pain and sorrow begin to take him over.

He delights in the word because they sustain him in trouble.

Putting Words into Action

The common context of all the passages above is in conflict and adversity the delight of the Word is the comfort and the protection he needs and longs for.

This world gets us down. We get frustrated by so many things; politics, finances, work relationships, family relationships and if we are honest — our own selves frustrate us more than we would like to admit.

I want to challenge you to take 20 minutes in the Word of God at least 4 times a week — and by saying this I’m saying you cannot count church events as part of this time. Take time for yourself, reading and studying firsthand the Word.

Before you begin I’d ask you to confess to God your apathy toward the Word — and ask him to change your heart — to give you a soft heart toward God and his Word. The word is life, it will and does change us.

On our next meeting we will look at the final usage of “delight” from the 119th Psalm. It is a beautiful reference.