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July-15-0468-Delighting in God
July 15
468_Delighting in God
Psalm 36 Transgression speaks to the wicked
deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God
before his eyes.
2 For he flatters himself in his own eyes
that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
3 The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
4 He plots trouble while on his bed;
he sets himself in a way that is not good;
he does not reject evil.
5 Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
your judgments are like the great deep;
man and beast you save, O Lord.
7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light do we see light.
10 Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you,
and your righteousness to the upright of heart!
11 Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me,
nor the hand of the wicked drive me away.
12 There the evildoers lie fallen;
they are thrust down, unable to rise.
A few years ago, a man named Brother Lawrence, a simple lay monk in a 17th-century French monastery, became widely known—not for preaching sermons or writing books, but for how he washed dishes. In his small kitchen, cleaning his dishes, Brother Lawrence “practiced the presence of God.” He said, “We can do little things for God. I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of Him… It is enough for me to pick up but a straw from the ground for the love of God.” His heart delighted in God in the most ordinary routines of life – his joy was not reserved for the sanctuary or the psalms. Rather, it flowed into every act of his day.
Psalm 36 celebrates this deep, personal delight in who God is. David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, introduces himself in this psalm with a rare and special title: “The servant of the Lord.” Only one other—Psalm 18—bears that heading. Though he was a mighty king, a fearless warrior, and a celebrated poet, David was first and foremost a servant of the Most High God. And Psalm 36 flows from that humility.
David begins by contrasting two heart conditions—the heart of the wicked and the heart of the righteous. He sketches a sobering portrait of the wicked. What marks their lives is an inward posture: they have no fear of God. In their own eyes, they are not so bad. Their words, David says, are filled with trouble and deceit. Even in the quiet dark of night, on their beds, when the heart reflects, they do not repent of evil but rather plot it, and eventually practice it. Not just behavior, but their inner vision is disabled. They cannot see themselves from God’s vantage point.
But what a glorious contrast is God! He turns from the corruption of man to the constancy of the Lord. His steadfast love reaches to the heavens, His faithfulness to the clouds, His righteousness is like the mighty mountains, and His judgments are like the great deep. God’s character is vast and immeasurable. Frederick William Faber captured this in his hymn when he wrote:
“There’s a wideness in God’s mercy
like the wideness of the sea;
there’s a kindness in His justice
which is more than liberty.”
God’s mercy wasn’t merely a theological concept. It was deeply personal and precious. He saw it as a place of refuge for both man and beast—a shelter from the storm, a sanctuary for the soul. The wicked hide in darkness, but the righteous hide in God.
David then uses another powerful image: “They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.” God is not stingy with His blessings. He is a generous host who feeds and fills those who come to Him. He doesn’t ration His grace—He lavishes it. There is a river—not a trickle—of delights in Him. And those delights are not merely in the gifts of God, but in God Himself.
David continues, “For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light do we see light.” God is both the source of life and the source of all true understanding. Without Him, we grope in darkness. But in His light, everything becomes clear. This verse echoes in the words of Jesus when He said, “I am the light of the world,” and again in the Sermon on the Mount when He said to His followers, “You are the light of the world.” There are not two lights—only one true light. We are simply mirrors, reflecting His radiance to a world in shadows.
C.S. Lewis captured this truth with brilliance when he wrote, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” When we delight in God, our perception of life changes. We begin to see things rightly—through His light.
The psalm ends with a prayer—a longing that God would continue His steadfast love to those who know Him, and His righteousness to the upright in heart. David’s desire was not for abstract knowledge of God, but for a lived experience of His character. He understood that to truly delight in God, we must walk in His ways. Mercy is experienced when we are merciful. Righteousness is encountered when we pursue a righteous life.
Jesus affirmed this in the Beatitudes when He said, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” To delight in God is not a vague spiritual feeling. It is concrete, practical, and deeply relational. It is seen in how we live, how we forgive, how we treat others, and how we trust in God’s character, especially when life is difficult.
David ends with a contrast between the destiny of the wicked and the righteous. He pleads for protection from the proud and violent. He recognizes that the wicked will fall and will not rise, but the righteous—even if they fall—will rise again. As Proverbs 24:16 says, “Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.” God upholds His servants. He lifts them from the dust and sets their feet upon the Rock.
So, what does it mean to delight in God?
It means to feast on His abundance, to drink deeply from the river of His delights, to see life in His light, to trust in His steadfast love and righteousness. It means to make His attributes our joy, and to let them shape our lives. When we delight in God, we reflect His glory. We magnify Him not because we can add to His greatness, but because we can display it more clearly. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
Delighting in God goes beyond Sunday mornings and quiet times. It spills into dishes and deadlines, into traffic jams and tearful prayers, into victories and valleys. And in every moment, we are invited to see God’s steadfast love, to drink from His river of delights, to walk in His light.
But beware: when we stop delighting in God, something else fills the vacuum. Evil lurks at the door. As God told Cain in Genesis 4:7, “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” When our joy is not rooted in God, our hearts become susceptible to lesser loves, counterfeit pleasures, and self-centered ambitions.
Let us instead fix our gaze on the God whose mercy is higher than the heavens, whose faithfulness reaches to the clouds, and whose justice is full of kindness. Let us be like Brother Lawrence—finding joy in the presence of God, not just in grand spiritual moments, but in the common rhythm of daily life. And let us be like David—delighting in God, not because of what He gives, but because of who He is.
May our hearts echo the prayer of David: “Continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright in heart.” And may our lives reflect that love in every word, every thought, and every action—delighting in God, and glorifying Him forever.
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