By: David McFadden

“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires.”— Psalms 37:4

These words seem odd if not surprising to those who are strangers to the vital godliness they infer. But to the sincere believer, it is the impartation of a living truth. The life of the believer is here described as delightful, as in full of delight. Ask any genuine believer and he or she will certify the great fact that true religion overflows with happiness and joy.

Ungodly persons and half-hearted Christians never look upon religion as a joyful thing. To them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they attend to religion at all, it is either that they may somehow gain by it, or else because they dare not do otherwise. The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most men that no two words in their language stand further apart than “holiness” and “delight.”

But believers who know Christ, understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts, find that His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace. Surrendered saints discover in their Lord such joys, such brimful delights and such overflowing blessings. Delighting in the Lord is a far cry from serving Him from obligation.

We fear not God because of any compulsion. Our faith is no fetter, our profession is no bondage, we are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight. Delight and true religion are as allied as root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty; they are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

“Tis when we taste Your love, our joys divinely grow, unspeakable like those above, and heaven begins below.”

—Charles H. Spurgeon, adapted from Spurgeon's Morning & Evening, Inc. All rights reserved.

Taking God’s Word Back to Him

Heavenly Father, thank You that I am no stranger in Your house, but a well-loved child. I am a living testimony of the delight You have in me. You first loved me and now it is my delight to love You back. It is there in the secret place of abiding with You that I lean against Your breast and hear  Your heart beat—You give me my heart’s desires. LORD, I can certify that my relationship with You brings me great joy and happiness. Even so, LORD, help me understand more each day that  delight and faith are so blessedly united. Help me see more how Your ways are ways of pleasantness, and all Your paths are peace. Instill in me the truth that “holiness” and “delight” are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold. O LORD, I have tasted Your love and my joy divinely grows. LORD, I praise You for You are my all-in-all. I pray these requests in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.

Excerpted and adapted from David McFadden’s “Deeper Life Series”.

For more articles from this series go to: https://www.deeperlifeseries.com/devotional-archive

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