Skip to main content

Soul Delights


 
            At the beginning of Holy Week I heard a familiar scripture in a new way.  When the reader recited Isaiah 42:1: Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations, I thought about God’s soul for the first time. 

            Before really hearing that scripture, the words soul and delights seemed more applicable to describe something like dark chocolate candy.  Thinking of the pride God the Father takes in presenting to the world God His Son to fix up the problem of sin in the world leaves me in awe.  For the first time I let my mind conceive that God has a soul.  He has a soul like me (or the other way around, He saw fit to give me a soul like His).  His soul is capable of being delighted by Jesus!  His soul longs to be delighted by me. 

            As I sat in that service, I began to think about the reality that how I live, what I think, the words I speak and write—all of them can bring delight or despair to the soul of God.  Jesus always brought delight.  I wish I could say the same.

            This image of bringing delight to the soul of God encourages me to want to do what He asks of me and assures me of what I am capable.  A personal, loving God has a soul that is impacted by the actions and affections of human beings.  God’s soul is impacted by my behaviors, thoughts and words.  I honestly want to delight His soul like Jesus did.

            I pray that my Lenten journey has delighted God’s soul.  It is not worth taking if that is not the result.  I know that my soul has been delighted by Jesus’ journey to the cross.  Though I felt overwhelming sadness at the reality of what it cost to redeem me, I feel extraordinary expectation that it means that, just as Jesus conquered death, so can I. 

            It’s easy to imagine that God’s soul delights in Jesus.  It’s harder to think that His soul could be delighted by me.  There is nothing in Isaiah 42 that would cause me to know that He does feel delight in me.  The passage is about His Son—His soul’s delight.  Just grasping that is enough to keep my mind, heart and spirit full.  It was God’s will to crush Him (Is. 53:10), but not because He lacked delight in Him.  He wanted to give Jesus more glory than He already had.  At the name of Jesus, God delighted so much that every knee will bow and every tongue will proclaim that He is Lord (Phil. 2:10).

            This relationship between God and Jesus, the love they feel and express for each other, is the delight of the world.   It delights my soul to think of how they delight each other.  Webster’s dictionary describes delight: a high degree of gratification; joy; also : extreme satisfaction.  Amidst all the ugly realities that the Easter story brings out, underlying is the delight that is the joy set before Him (Hebrews 12:2) that motivated Him to endure the cross. 

            I want to live my life motivated by joy.  I know it’s a longshot, but I want to be one of those in whom God’s soul delights.  I want to live my life like Jesus, focused on delighting God!

Copyright © 2013.  Deborah R. Newman www.teatimeforyoursoulcom  All Rights Reserved.     
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Pilgrimage that Started with Tears

                Who would think I would shed tears deciding to set out on a wonderful journey that I have longed to take for many years?   Before I was ready to fully accept God’s invitation for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, I had to journey to a place of agreement between what my soul wanted and what the Lord wanted for me.   For years I have been declining opportunities to travel to Israel—not because I didn’t want to go but because I wanted to go with my husband by my side.   I know that God could have arranged that for me, but instead He asked me to accept that He wanted me to be willing to go and leave everything behind.   When I was asked to make a decision about going on a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, God gave me this verse in answer to my prayer -- Debi, observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are cr...
2 comments
Read more

Why Me?

              When something tragic or unexpected happens, our first question seems to be, Why me?   It’s only human to feel this way and wonder why life has got to be so hard.   God has helped me look at my unwanted circumstances with a different question.   Rather than keep the focus on my pain and ask, Why me?   I focus on Him and wonder, How can You be glorified when everything is going wrong?             Adding one more word to that question makes a huge difference spiritually and opens my soul to find so much more than just my pain.   Another way to look at life’s tragedies is, Why not me ?   Sure, we each have our own amount of personal sorrows. These are the kind of sorrows that have no answers.      We can't explain away death, cancer, rape, bankruptcy and other heartaches.   It is easier to explain...
Post a Comment
Read more

Holy Saturday

Nothing is written about the events of Holy Saturday except Luke 23:56, “they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” These few words speak volumes about our life with Christ.   What was it like for these ladies to rest on the Sabbath?   They had watched carefully, they knew how quickly Jesus’ body was laid in the grave. The men had brought spices and linens, but they had little time to properly anoint this most precious of all bodies.   As the women watched carefully, they made mental note of the supplies that would be necessary to complete this sacred act of burial as it should be. They spent the last few hours before sunset to prepare the spices for this holy act of reverence. The Sabbath signaled the time for rest.   I’m sure they didn’t feel like resting, but by complying out of obedience they were probably served by its benefits.   Their minds racing from the horror they had just witnessed, at best they could allow their bodies to rest and ...
Post a Comment
Read more