My Delight is in Her
Weddings are such a joyous occasion! After the procession of the wedding party, the music dramatically changes, and the minister beckons the people, “Please, rise.” The radiant bride enters, and all eyes are fixed on her. Maybe you are like me, turning your gaze to the groom. What expression marks his face? He is always beaming, and sometimes tears are streaming down his face. How would you characterize a bridegroom on his wedding day? Pure joy, unhindered rejoicing, laser-focused delight!
Have you ever stopped to consider that this is God’s heart for His people, His posture toward you, dear child of God? All too often we are tempted to think of our God as an angry parent, wagging His finger at us in disapproval, rolling His eyes, huffing, “Not again!” But this is not the posture of our God toward us. His posture is one of rejoicing and delight! Just as the bridegroom on his wedding day experiences laser-focused delight in his bride, so too our God rejoices over us.
Consider Isaiah 62:5, “…as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so your God will rejoice over you.”[1] Just as a bride takes on a new name, we are given a glorious new name by the Lord. “You will no longer be called ‘Deserted’…instead you will be called ‘My Delight is in Her’” (Is. 62:4). And Psalm 16:3, “As for the holy people who are in the land, they are the noble ones. All my delight is in them.” And Psalm 149:4, “For Yahweh takes pleasure in His people. He adorns the humble with salvation.”
Yahweh your God is among you,
a warrior who saves.
He will rejoice over you with gladness.
He will bring you quietness with His love.
He will delight in you with shouts of joy.” (Zephaniah 3:17)
Who are we that God should take this posture of delight with us? Jesus paid it all; all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow.[2] This posture of delight was hard-earned by the Lord Jesus Christ. He donned human flesh, lived a perfect life, and suffered the death of a criminal…for us. Because of His sacrifice, all of God’s wrath has been absorbed in Christ, so that by faith in Jesus, all that remains is God’s posture of delight toward His people. Pure joy, unhindered rejoicing, laser-focused delight. Because our God delights in us, we can live into the glorious freedom of life in Christ. “We love because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19). As we consider His love and delight in us, we are then moved to love and delight in the Lord just a little bit more each day. And we await that final day when our faith will be sight, when we see our Bridegroom face to face (Rev. 19:7), when our delight will match His unhindered.
How does God’s delight in us impact our daily lives? Here are seven things to consider:
I no longer have to feverishly spin my wheels trying to prove myself to God and to others. I can love God and love my neighbor with the peace and confidence that God delights over me each day.
I no longer have to focus on myself, wondering if I am good enough, doubting His love and care for me. I can remember that in Christ, God delights in me.
I don’t have to worry about what people think of me. Knowing that God delights in me is enough.
If I carry with me a painful past, I can know that this doesn’t define me. It is a part of my journey in a sin-cursed world, a part of my story embedded into God’s grand, eternal story, but my painful past doesn’t define me. Who I am in Christ and the Lord’s delight is what defines me.
When I miss the mark, failing to live into the life that Jesus has purchased for me, I can confess my sins to God and repent before Him (and to others if needed), remembering that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection secured God’s eternal delight.
When I am plagued with anxieties or some other thorn in the flesh, I can know that in my weakness, his strength is perfected in me. I can draw near to the Lord in my weakness, knowing that he still loves me and delights in me.
When life hits hard and trials seem to abound, I can abandon the thought that God is a stern Father punishing me. Instead, I can remember that He is a loving Father who sometimes disciplines His children. But trials are not always discipline. Sometimes they are just the result of living in a fallen world. He still loves me and His delight remains.
If you are struggling to believe that God is for you and that He delights in you, we at Burke Care would love to walk with you, helping you to see the Lord’s great love for you in Jesus.
[1] All Scripture references are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Version.
[2]Elvina M. Hall, “Jesus Paid It All,” 1865, https://hymnary.org/text/i_hear_the_savior_say_thy_strength_indee
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