~By: Debbie Christopher
Psalm 119:35 (NKJV) states:
Help me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it.
For I delight in it--- I delight in walking along the path of Your commandments…Your words…Your instruction.
While going through our current ladies’ Bible study at our church, the author, Mary Wiley*, used the phrase ‘delight in’ when describing our response to God being a loving, kind Father and referred to the above verse. This caught my attention as I recalled Psalm 37:4 (HCSB) —“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires” —which contains the same phrase. So, this phrase intrigued me to dig into the concept of ‘delight in’.
Dictionary.com defines ‘delight in’ as willing, joyful commitment…to take pleasure in. The app uses this sample sentence: “She delights in going for long walks in the country.” Merriam-Webster adds the word satisfaction as part of their definition. Wm. Mounce’s expository dictionary also uses joy and satisfaction as a description of this word.*
I’d like to encourage you to take a moment to consider the implications of the sample sentence.
While leading Table Talk at my table during the Bible study time, I had the ladies complete the following ‘assignment’. (NOTE: Go ahead and follow along if you can; otherwise, I’m sure you will catch the purpose and outcome of the assignment as you continue to read.)
I gave each lady two sticky notes and developed this train of thought: How would you complete the sample sentence, “She delights in going for long walks in the country, so she……….”
· schedules a daily walk
· makes it a priority
· …Maybe you can think of other phrases…
Write the phrase you chose on one of the sticky notes.
Well, I’m sure you are seeing where I’m going with this, and like I told my ladies, I guess now is the time you want to ‘smack me!’
On second sticky note, write, “She (I) delights in walking in the paths of God's commanments, so she (I)…now add your first sticky note.) “Ouch!” See, I told you you’d want to ‘smack me’. Oh me!
Go ahead and read Psalm 119:35 again…aloud…and consider your sticky note.
“Where the heart is, the feet will follow.” Charles H. Spurgeon
Enjoy your walk—
~Debbie
*Bibliogrphy:
Mary Wiley, Everyday Theology:What you Believe Matters. Nashville: Lifeway Press, 2019.
William Mounce, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.