04/18/Su – Delight

Psalms: “How happy is anyone who has put his trust in the Lord and has not turned to the proud or to those who run after lies! …You do not delight in sacrifice and offering; you open my ears to listen. You do not ask for a whole burnt offering or a sin offering. Then I said, “See, I have come; in the scroll it is written about me. I delight to do your will, my God, and your instruction is deep within me.” I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly; see, I do not keep my mouth closed — as you know, Lord. I did not hide your righteousness in my heart; I spoke about your faithfulness and salvation; I did not conceal your constant love and truth from the great assembly.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭40:4, 6-10‬ ‭CSB)

A recurring word throughout the psalms is the word delight, which is translated from the Hebrew word chafets. Chafets, more than the English word delight, which means to take pleasure or enjoyment in something; means to be inclined toward, to cherish, and to love and desire something. One way I describe chafets is a primary pursuit and ultimate desire. David, through revelation from the Lord, said that sacrifice (the slaying of an innocent animal) and offering (the burning of that animal on the altar) was not God’s chafets for us. It was required for humanity to draw near to God, but it was not God’s ultimate desire. Using parallelism, David implied that God’s chefets for us was that we would chefets His will and instruction… and because that was God’s chafets for us, David made that his chefets… what he inclined his life toward… what he cherished… what he loved and desired… what he pursued before anything else. And David framed that by saying, “How happy (blessed) is anyone who places his complete trust in the Lord… who does not turn toward the ways of the proud, nor pursues idols (lies). In order that all in his kingdom may experience the same blessedness, he would not hide the Lord’s righteous ways and keep them to himself, but would declare them to all of God’s people.

The writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews wrote that verses 6-8 ultimately spoke of Christ (Hebrews 10:5-9). Because God’s chafets for humanity was not sacrifice and offerings, God sent His Son to become our sacrifice and offering that we may be freed to chafets God’s will and instruction. Because Jesus came and truly chafets God’s will, He obeyed God the Father – even to the point of willingly laying down His life as our substitutionary sacrifice and fully offered His life in our place. Because Jesus chafets God’s will, we now, through faith in Christ, can fully chafets God’s will and instruction by grace through faith. Through our faith in Christ, we now can experience the blessing and happiness that David celebrated by primarily pursuing the kingdom of God, the righteousness of God, and the will of God. And because the Lord God doesn’t want anyone to miss out on the blessing that He has provided, He has called all redeemed saints to not hide the good news of righteousness and keep the gospel of the kingdom to themselves, but to proclaim it unashamedly to all who will hear.

Prayer: Lord, Your ultimate desire for me – what truly delights Your heart – is for me to submit myself completely to Your word, will and ways, and to make Your kingdom and righteousness my primary pursuit and ultimate desire. Lord Jesus, because You endured the cross through the delight You had in pursuing the Father’s will and the joy it would bring You to see me and all of humanity set free from sin, I now am able to fully delight in what truly delights Father God. Therefore, by the grace You give me through the faith I have in You – I too, make Your word, will and ways my inclination, my primary pursuit and ultimate desire. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.