PSALM 35:27 – “Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, “Great is the LORD, who delights in the welfare of his servant!””
THEME OF THE DAY: HE GREATLY DELIGHTS IN US. The hymn Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing defines every believer. The third stanza comes home to us with much heart exposure . . .
“O to grace how great a debtor
daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here’s my heart; O take and seal it;
seal it for thy courts above.”
The words “bind my wandering heart to thee” and “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love” are painful experiences we know quite well and despise. We drift into periods of being spiritually lukewarm. We allow the world to draw our priorities away from the Lord. We succumb to the pull of the world replacing its pleasures in our lives above those of God. Yes, prone to wander, Lord, we feel it. But there is hope. We may shorten those periods in our walks with the Lord by today’s scripture – remember how greatly God delights in us. Yes, sheep prone to wander, He really does delight in us.
And the more we realize this tremendous display of love from Him to us, the less we are to wander. We put more zeal in safeguarding our hearts from wandering from Him. And today’s scripture is not the only place in God’s Word He shows His heart toward us . . .
“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17).
Jesus would even pray for us; praying that we would be with Him to see His glory. Such a prayer is that of His delight for our presence and company . . .
“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24).
It begs the question, “Why would God take great delight in us and want our company forever?” We may summarize the reason in one simple but profound sentence . . . “We are in Christ.” God the Father elected a people to be the Son’s possession. They are the apples of His eye, and He delights in them as Christ’s delights in them because of our union in the Son. Spend time and read the High Priestly prayer of Jesus in John 24. As we do, mark or highlight each time we read of God the Father giving to God the Son, a people for His possession. Why? He delights in them and in giving them to the Son! Yes, the Lord greatly delights in us. Let that motivate us to be sheep NOT PRONE TO WANDER and find ourselves reciprocating with greater delight in the Lord.
PRAYER: Father, I stand amazed You would take delight in me, a sheep of Yours prone to wander. Thank You!
REFLECTION: Let the wonder that God delights in us become a strong motivator to obey Him with more zeal daily.