Blessed is the one… but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. (Psalm 1:1–2, NIV)
How great it is to delight in the Lord! How great it is to remember Him and all that He has done. How great it is to be reminded of His promises.
But how often do we not delight in the Lord. How often do we forget His Word and His promises. How quickly we forget the power that is simply in the name of Jesus. How quickly we forget these things when the business of life comes, when the trials of life attack us on every front.
Sometimes we just feel like we are in the middle of the ocean, with a storm all around us. Lightning coming down all around us. The thunder becomes deafening. The rain pours down with such force we think it is going to go straight through our little wooden boat. We are paralyzed with fear. We don’t know what to do. The chaos is too much. The storm is too great. Everything the Lord has taught us has gone out of our mind.
But then, we can feel that tap on our shoulder. The whispers become clearer. What is it saying? Again, we hear it. We pause so we can formulate it in our minds. There it is. The look of fear is now bewilderment, and then we look up and imagine Peter seeing Christ standing on the water. We can see Peter get out of the boat and start heading toward the Lord. Those words that went through our mind become clearer. “Trust me.” “I am with you.”
God reminds us of those promises. He reminds us of the stories we have heard many times before. Maybe He brings to mind stories we have only heard once. But we know He is with us. Whether we have been a Christian for many years or a few minutes. He strengthens us. He comes and reminds us of those promises.
That is why this challenge to memorize Scripture is so much more important for me and vital. In the times of great trial and tribulation, we can hold firm to those promises. The very words that He has spoken to us in His Word come alive. They bear fruit. They take root. How great it is when we are able to combat the attacks of Satan with words from the Word of God. It gives a sense of victory. I can’t explain it, but instead of feeling defeated, when we fight those attacks with Scripture and being reminded of who God really is, it is so renewing and refreshing. It is this amazing sense of accomplishment to use the sword of the Spirit to fight the evil one.
But we will never do it on our own. We will never win because we overcame it. It will only be done because of our dependence on the Spirit. It will be done because we cry out to God for help, fully admitting that this problem, this trial, is too big for us and we need Him.
That is why when times are “good” or “normal”, it is so important that we truly remember this verse and Scripture and meditate on the Word of God. That we think about what God is saying, we ponder it and we consider it. We consider how we can apply it, what it is saying and what the next steps are. That way when life becomes a struggle, we have a great foundation of Scripture to rely on.
We are able to remember the goodness of God. The power that is in the name of God. That God is so faithful and full of joy that we just want to be where He is because there is fullness of joy in Him. When we read His Word and are in His presence, what joy that is!
That is what I want to do. I want to truly delight in God. Delight in who He is. Stand in awe of what He has done and how He can love us and someone as awful as me. What pleasure it is to delight in our treasure. That is what God is to us though isn’t He? He is our treasure. Finer than silver, more precious than gold. He didn’t leave us to fight this battle of life on our own, but gave us His Son. He gave us His instructions in His Word. He gives Himself to us for us to enjoy and take pleasure in.
I am not going to say I have all the answers in how to delight in God or meditate on His Word. But I know that if we don’t seek Him, if we don’t hold true to His promises, if He doesn’t remain in us (like in John 15:5), we can do nothing and our lives won’t bear fruit. The best way to combat sin and Satan is to attack by the power of His Word. Each situation is different, but God is there. I and we need to rely on Him more and better.
I pray that we will delight in the Lord. That we will recall what He has done for us. The pain He has brought us through. The pain that He will get us through. The joy of knowing Him. The blessings He has poured out on us. The sheer delight of just knowing Him and being in His presence. I can’t go to any CEO right now and talk to them, but I can go to God any time, any place and anywhere and He listens. He truly listens. May we hold His Word firmly in our hearts and trust that God will bear fruit in us with those words.
Delight in the Lord, for He is good. He is coming back. He is here for you. He is with you. He hears you. His Word and His love never fail.