Psalm 1:2 - "But his delight is in the law of the Lord..."
We have looked at the first verse of this Psalm to this point, and we have discovered that a person who desires to be blessed by God will avoid all the lifestyles of those who have turned their back to God. The second verse then describes the things that a blessed person will do. I have found that far too many people behave as if the only thing they need to do to receive God’s blessing is avoidance of obvious sin. While it is always admirable to avoid sin, it does not bring the rich blessing of God to our life. In addition to the, “what not to do”, there is always the counterpart of “what should we do”. Thus, this Psalm continues with the “what to do.”
The first thing that we notice about a blessed person is what it is that brings them joy. The Psalmist says that a blessed person has their delight in the law of the Lord. At the time this Psalm was written, the law of the Lord primarily referred to the first five books of the Old Testament; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. What is important here is the fact that this blessed person is taking great joy and delight in the word of God. To delight in something indicates that we have placed great value on that thing or person. There is joy in our hearts whenever we think about that which brings us delight. For instance, I take delight in thinking about my wife, children and grand-children. They are my pride and joy. When I am not with them, I miss them. When I do not talk to them for awhile, I begin to miss their voice and long to hold them in my arms. They bring pleasure to me just to be able to see them.
I remember watching my children when they were young. There were times when I just sat back and watched them play. I enjoyed seeing their enthusiasm, and zest for life. I was proud they were my children. I have the same feelings when I watch my grand-children play. Delighting in something is pleasurable. We do not delight in things that do not bring us pleasure. Some people do not like sports, because it does not bring them pleasure, maybe because they were never good in sports. Some people may like sports, but do not take pleasure in watching sports.
Delight is something I think we can all relate to on one level or another. We understand it in the natural world. In the life of a blessed person, their primary delight is found in God’s word. It is not just a once a week activity they do to mark the passage of time. It is not a daily exercise they feel they must do or else they fear something bad will happen to them. Delighting in God’s word indicates that it takes priority in their life. They gladly take time to read it and study it whenever they can. It is not drudgery to them to spend time in God’s word. Every time they pick up their Bible they approach it with an expectancy that God will speak to them. It is picking up a love letter and reading it over and over because every time you do it reminds you of the person who wrote that letter and of the expression of love that it conveys to you.
It is unfortunate that most Christians today do not find delight in God’s word. Most Christians do not read their Bible daily or even weekly. Most Bible sit all week on the spot where they were placed when they were brought home from church. One of the saddest things I’ve seen is when someone leaves their Bible at church and it stays in the lost and found for several weeks. I wonder if they missed it. Does not the lack of delight in God’s word indicate that there is something wrong within our heart? Have we let bitterness or resentment, unfulfilled expectations and dreams or some type of disappointment rob us of our enjoyment that we should be finding in God’s word? Why is it that we find more pleasure in the things of the world than we do in the things of God? Have the momentary pleasures of this world captured our hearts and carried us away from the joy found in knowing God? Maybe it is time for us to confess our sin and turn back to God, seeking Him with all our hearts until we once again find delight in His word.
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