LICC - Word for the Week - How to find delight

LICC - Word for the Week - How to find delight

Happy are those.who do not take the path that sinners tread, but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. Psalm 1:2

I can't remember why, but I once was required to learn Genesis chapter 12 as a school detention punishment. Not very cruel, but certainly unusual, and definitely nothing to do with delight! But even now, 50 years later, meditation and delight are not the first words that come to mind when I reflect on my own experience of engaging with the biblical text. So this first psalm, probably written as an introduction to the whole collection, is a challenge.

The biblical word 'law' sometimes simply means commandments, but can often refer to the whole biblical revelation. So our delight is to be found in everything that God has revealed to us in the bible - delight in finding out what the Lord is like, delight in learning how to live so that we please him. Meditation implies giving it quality time, thinking about it, remembering it within the patterns of daily life. However, in practice the process so easily becomes a guilt-ridden burden. The pressures of day-to-day living often lead to a quick read and a quick tick for that day's passage. Even if we are employed to teach and write about the bible, there is still a tendency for it to become like any other academic discipline, a relationship of delight slipping away.

So how do we meditate? What practices will lead to delight? Jesus said, 'When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth'. The promise is that the Holy Spirit will illuminate, surprise and delight us. Practically, we have to organise our schedules to give the Spirit space and time to do that, even if just once a week. We need to let the words sink into our hearts and minds, and then to meditate on and pray them into our lives. If we have no time for this, then the branch will not bear fruit and the leaves will wither.

Margaret Killingray

their delight is in the law of the Lord. when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you.