Grow Your Delight In God’s Word (Part 5) – Know God’s Delight

“He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.”

Psalm 18:19

Read the others posts in this series – Post #1 Series Intro; Post #2 Pray for Delight; Post #3 Plan for Delight; Post #4 Read With Others Who Delight. Post #5 Know God’s Delight. 

The Delight of Grandparents

Last week we drove through a roundabout on the way to visit my parents. My daughter Krista said of her Grandma Dawn, “Grandma Dawn is the only one who has ever gone around a roundabout twice for me.” For Krista, it was one of many examples of how her grandparents delight in her. 

There’s something special about the way grandparents delight in their grandchildren. I’ve experienced it with my grandparents and I see it with my daughters and nieces and nephews with each of their grandparents as well. Grandmas and grandpas offer a unique love not often experienced elsewhere. 

It’s remarkably easy to want to spend time with someone who absolutely delights in you. Grandparents are evidence of this. The delight grandkids receive from their grandparents makes them eager to spend more time with Grandma and Grandpa. 

God Delights in You

In the same way, understanding God’s delight in us can help make us eager to spend time with him. 

Psalm 18:19 says, “He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.”

Other passages make clear that God’s delight in us isn’t because of how righteous or holy or morally good we are. Deuteronomy says that it was not because of Israel’s great numbers (Deut 7:7) nor their great righteousness (Deut 9:6) that God chose them and made them his people. Deuteronomy 7:8 says God chose Israel “because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers.” 

His delight in us is not a product of our great quality, but of his great ability to love that which seems unlovable. He delights in us simply because he loves us. 

And I don’t just mean that he delights in humans in general, or even believers in general. I mean he delights in me personally. He delights in you personally. As Paul wrote in Galatians 2:20, Jesus, the Son of God, “loved me and gave himself for me.”

God’s delight in us is personal, not distant and generalized. 

As you understand and reflect on the truth that God deeply and personally delights in you, let his delight help draw you to spend more time with him in his Word.