DELIGHT – the ability to enjoy joy
From my new book: INslated
Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Let’s start exploring the virtue of delight with a question and a clarification:
Question: Does God sing?
Answer: Apparently yes, God sings of delight when He thinks of you, the pinnacle of His creation. Listen to Zephaniah 3:17:
“The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
The Lord delights in us. What an overwhelming thought. No other god does this. He delights over us with singing. I don’t even know if other gods know how to sing. God delights in us delighting in Him.
You see, when God created heavens and earth, we read in Scripture that God looked at His creation and “it was good” (Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21,25) God was pleased. But when God created Adam and Eve, God observed all that He has made and behold, it was VERY good.[1] When God created man there was extreme satisfaction, a high degree of pleasure – God was not only pleased, He was DELIGHTED.
That is why God delights in us. Because there is a high degree of satisfaction when God looks at us through the lenses of the cross. Not because we are perfect but because we are redeemed[2], purchased[3] and saved[4] We exist not only to be delighted in our Creator but also to bring delight to Him. This is a glorious virtue.
Put the book down for a moment and think about this. God delights over you with singing!
Now that you have calmed down, let’s continue with the clarification.
Do not confuse delight with joy, and joy with happiness. Once we understand this principle, we would be able to find delight in the dark hours of our lives and joy in the times sorrow. And yes, there is a huge difference:
To DELIGHT in the Lord is simply to find full, overflowing and extreme satisfaction in Him. There is no virtue that radiates our joy in Christ more than that of delight.
I remember meeting a young Syrian refugee in a Church in Lebanon. She shared her story of losing everything during the war; her home, all her possessions, her friends, her family, and her freedom. But then she shared how she came to know Jesus. Her face lit up as she concluded with these words. “I have lost everything in Syria, but I have found Jesus in Lebanon. And now that I have Jesus, I have enough.”
That is delight. Being fully satisfied by Jesus
The virtue of delight is very much like a fireworks display on New Year’s Eve. It’s not only a display, it’s also an announcement and a great attraction .
How we DISPLAY our Lord to those around us will ultimately give life or drain life. There will be no neutral exchange. We will either make those who do not believe question their own disbelief by our delight or confirm their disbelief by our lack of joy.
If social media is the window into the heart of Christianity today, then the consensus would probably be that we are a bunch of very unhappy people, completely lacking joy and finding our delight in judging others, not in following Jesus . Finding delight in the Lord has systematically changed to finding delight in acting like the Lord.
This is not only my experience, but these claims are also confirmed by American pollsters and researchers:
Thom Rainer writes the following on The Church Leaders blog:[8]
“Over the past several years, my research teams and I have interviewed thousands of unchurched non-Christians. Among the more interesting insights I gleaned were those where the interviewees shared with me their perspectives of Christians. The number one answer was that Christians are against more things than they are for.
This was the general response:
“It just seems to me Christians are mad at the world and mad at each other. They are so negative, they seem unhappy. I have no desire to be like them and stay upset all the time.”
How desperately, desperately sad. The salt has lost its flavour.
George Gallop and the George Barna fund have written dozens of books, chronicling and assessing the state of play of the American church. And the findings do not look good.
As Barna puts it, “Jesus’ modern-day disciples do not act like Jesus. They fail to represent Him well not because they are incapable of Christlike behaviour or out of an absence of good intentions, but because they do not think like Him.”
Right behaviour must be based on right belief.
Perhaps it is not surprising therefore that non-Christians have a very negative view of evangelicals. In a recent poll, Barna asked non-Christians about their attitudes toward different groups of Christians. Only 44 percent have a positive view of Christian clergy. Just 32 percent have a positive view of born-again Christians.
Lord, have mercy!
But our delight, or the lack of it, also ANNOUNCES something. The reality is that we are the Bibles that non-believers read. It is through our outer delight that we ANNOUNCE our inner belief. When a pandemic hits the planet and everybody sinks into despair, our Source of joy remains faithful, and we have enough reason to delight in Him. Once we engage in conspiracies and rebellion, the fireworks stop, people go home, and we have nothing more to offer.
We choose whether we are happy or unhappy. If our circumstances rob us of our joy, then it is safe to assume that true joy was never part of our armour in the first place. If we lose our joy because of external circumstances we announce to the world that God is not enough. Our delight becomes conditional. This might sound harsh, but if you are unhappy because of circumstances, the chances are good that you are unhappy in general.
But DELIGHT also ATTRACTS. Nothing attracts people more than joy and delight.
Matt Boswell explains it as follows:[9]
“What we find enjoyable, we naturally find shareable. Why is this? Because joy shared is joy intensified. Shakespeare said it this way, “Joy delights in joy.” We love to see others discover joy in the things we have discovered joy in, and our joy is increased when they have praised what we have shared. We see this everywhere. When you hear a really funny joke, you call your best friend and laugh together. When you hear an incredible song, you post it to Facebook to let everyone hear it. When you take an adorable picture of your child, you send it to your extended family to get their “oh’s” and “ah’s.” This is the way God created us because this is the way God Himself is.”
When the fireworks start, people stop and watch, regardless of what they were doing. When you enter the room with someone who have joy, not silly or frivolous joy but that outward infectious delight, you stop and want to stay.
The Bible encourages us to delight in His word[10]. Theology without delight suffocates. Knowledge of God without delighting in His presence is of little value. Those who judge and condemn on social media do not attract people but repel people. They are insulting rather than insalted.
Delight is the ability to enjoy joy; to have pleasure in what God allows us to enjoy. His goodness is not found in good times only but in His unlimited presence, His undeserved salvation, His unmerited grace, and His unrestricted mercy. This never depends on external circumstances. Understanding this will make us better people to be around with.
Angry people generate anger. They are easily irritated, short-tempered, and generally not a pleasure to be with. Jesus, on the other hand, was slow to anger, always caring, and must have been a joy to be with (with the exception of the religious leaders who represent the Facebook Police in the 21st century).
So, contemplate this deep spiritual principle for a moment and ask yourself these two questions. What am I attracted to, and whom do I attract? My vibe will not only attract my tribe, but it will also be a public display of where I find my delight.
Get the fireworks ready to display, announce and attract!
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If we truly desire to embark on this journey by adding the virtue of DELIGHT as a garment of faith, we will have to make an intentional effort to pursue it.
So, before we look at six similar virtues that complete the SEPTENARY nature of DELIGHT, let’s consider how we can get more of this reflection of Christ in our lives?
To delight yourself in something is to get great pleasure from it—and show it. Here is a short-list of ways to delight in the Lord.
- Delight in God – write your own personal psalm to Him. Try this creative way of expressing your delight in new ways. It is personal and it is intimate. You don’t have to impress the Lord with great oracles. He already delights over you.
- Delight in the blessings you have – make a gratitude list of all the things you are grateful for and thank Him for the things He’s done.
- Delight in His word – read and memorize scripture. Jesus was the Fathers love-letter to His creation. Read it!
- Delight in your salvation – sing praises to Him. Nothing we do will make us deserve the cross, but our praises will express how much we appreciate it.
- Delight in those around you – encourage someone today. Encourage someone even if you need it and be surprised how delightful that will be.
- Delight in His presence – spend time with the Lord but keep quiet as well. Let Him speak to you. Listen to Him.
- Delight in wisdom – seek council from others and listen to the wisdom of other teachings than just your normal input.
- Delight in friendships – be a loyal friend. Contact a friend and tell them that you appreciate them. Do it now? Yes, before going to point number 9. Wasn’t that delightful?
- Delight in charity – bless someone today and discover the joy of giving anew.
Delight in sharing – talk about what the Lord has done for you at every opportunity.
[1] Genesis 1:31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.
[2] Luke 1:68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
[3] Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
[4] Acts 2:21 And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
[5] James 5:13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
[6] Nehemiah 8:10 … Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
[7] Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
[8] https://churchleaders.com/outreach-missions/outreach-missions-articles/163098-what-non-christians-really-think-about-christians-thom-rainer.html
[9] Doxology and Theology: How the Gospel Forms the Worship Leader
[10] Psalm 1:2 but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night