What do we delight in?

Because King David guided his people

wisely, he was like a shepherd to them

“I delight to do your will, in fact your law is firmly in my heart.” (Ps. 40:8) Attributed to King David.

Apparently when David wrote this, he had found a relationship with Somebody he respected and trusted.

In the cultures of his day, animal sacrifices to appease tribal gods would be commonly practiced for more than another thousand years. Yet he glimpsed a higher nature in the God he worshipped –something pure and fair and consistent. He wrote of a loving God, a God of tender mercies – who really wasn’t interested in burnt offerings or in sin offerings.

He understood something of the God Christ Jesus presented centuries later, the one Jesus identified as “Our Father,” a universal Spirit of Love who is keenly interested in how we relate to one another. “Treat others the way you want others to treat you,” Jesus explained. Take the initiative.

At a glance, it’s not an easy way to live. It goes contrary to knee-jerk reactions against insults and injustice. But there’s a spiritual logic to communing with this Love God and choosing behaviors He/She approves, that makes the long-term benefits outstanding.

Can we do better than to delight in the will of ever-present good? And to have His/Her law of goodness firmly established in our hearts sounds like a pretty healthy attitude.