Pursuing Delight

I went for a walk this morning, and pretty much had the town to myself, it seemed. Few people were out and about at 5:30 in the cold, dark, pre-dawn. This was the first time this year I've had to wear a coat while walking and the first time I've been able to see my breath misting the air around me. Winter is fast approaching.

I was thinking, as I walked, about Proverbs 11:1. It is one of my favorite Proverbs, for reasons I'll explain at another time. It says simply, "A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight." As I thought about it I began to wonder what else Proverbs has to say about "delight." Delight is something I think about often. I find myself increasingly wanting to delight in what delights God. I find myself increasingly want to move from being a dutiful Christian to being a delighting Christian. Yet delight often comes slowly; it often comes only with great difficulty. Duty is simple enough; delight is a battle.

When I got home I searched through Proverbs and found all that it has to say about delight. I haven't quite decided what to do with all of this, so for today I simply list it for you. Here is what God tells us in Proverbs about delight:

Foolish people delight in their folly. "How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple? How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing and fools hate knowledge?"

Foolish people delight in evil. "…who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perverseness of evil…"

God disciplines us because he delights in us. "…for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights."

The adulteress seduces with false delight. "Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love."

A man is to delight in the wife of his youth and, further, to delight in her beauty and in his desire for her. "…a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love."

God delights in wisdom: "then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man."

God delights in those who conduct business morally. "A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight."

God delights in those who live upright lives. "Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the Lord, but those of blameless ways are his delight."

God delights in those who are truthful in word and deed. "Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight."

God delights in those who are pure and true. "Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right."

God delights in truth and uprightness. "…but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them."

Discipline makes for delight. "Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart."