Throughout the Scriptures we see how God takes delight in His people. For we read: “the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.” (Psalm 147:11). And (Psalm 149:4) says: “For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.” My question to you is do you take the same delight in the Lord and His amazing word?
As Christians we are blessed that not only does God delight in us and lavish us with His love and mercy, but He has given us the holy Scriptures that we can constantly read, study, and meditate on. Oh, if we could only be like the psalmist who penned (Psalm 119). In this wonderful psalm, nine times we read how the psalmist takes delight in the word of God:
(Psalm 119:16) – “I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.”
(Psalm 119:24) – “Your statutes are my delight; they are my counselors.”
(Psalm 119:35) – “Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight.”
(Psalm 119:47) – “for I delight in your commands because I love them.”
(Psalm 119:70) – “Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law.”
(Psalm 119:77) – “Let your compassion come to me that I may live, for your law is my delight.”
(Psalm 119:92) – “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction.”
(Psalm 119:143) – “Trouble and distress have come upon me, but your commands give me delight.”
(Psalm 119:174) – “I long for your salvation, Lord, and your law gives me delight.”
And to cap this theme off the psalmist is so full of joy over the Scriptures that he proclaims: “I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure.” (Psalm 119:162).
I personally can think of nothing that brings more joy to my heart than meditating on the Scriptures. What an incredible blessing to read about the Creator of the universe, to learn how to bring Him glory, and to get to know Him more intimately! As we meditate and delight in the word of God an absolutely awesome thing occurs. He begins to change our heart and give us new desires that are far better than our old desires. (Psalm 37:4) says it so well: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” As we delight in the Lord His desires become our desires and our desires become His! And when this happens sheer joy takes over because having God’s desires are always the best.
And meditating on the word of God is guaranteed to bring you rich blessings because as you fall in love with the Scriptures you will also want to do His will. In closing I ask you to spend some time meditating on the Scripture below and remember that the Christian walk is a wonderful eternal journey with Jesus:
“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” (Psalm 1:1-3).
Divine Delight & the Time Left on the Clock
Curt has reminded us beautifully that God delights in His people and in those who delight in His Word.
Divine Delight: That is not religious poetry; it is covenant reality.
“The Lord takes delight in his people” (Psalm 149:4), and “the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love” (Psalm 147:11). God is not bored, distant, or mildly interested. He rejoices over His children. He sings over them (Zephaniah 3:17). That truth should warm your heart.
But if all we do is bask in that warmth and never deal with sin and salvation, then we are like a man asleep in the sun while the last bus is pulling out for eternity.
God’s Delight Is Real… and So Is the Clock
Years ago I preached at a rescue mission, surrounded by men and women who knew the hard edges of life: homelessness, addiction, broken relationships. I began with a simple question:
Do you know what time it is – the amount of time you have left before you pass away, and leave this world that God created?
Not “What time is dinner?” or “When do lights go out?” but how much time do you have left before you step into eternity?
Ecclesiastes tells us there is “a time to be born and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). God has numbered our days. We don’t know how many we have, but we do know this:
Every day you wake up, you are burning time.
Every choice you make is spending time on something.
And one day, without a calendar alert or a courtesy text, your time in this world will be over.
So yes, God delights in His people. But that delight is not permission to drift. It is an invitation to respond now to the One who delights to save.
Sin & Salvation: What God Actually Delights In
In that same rescue mission message, I told them God is concerned about two basic things as we live out our numbered days:
Sin.
Salvation.
Sin is not a churchy word for “minor mistakes.” It is willful disobedience against the will of God. It is the barrier between a holy God and an unholy people. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
From the first rebellion in Eden, sin has separated us from the God who made us. Yet even there, in Genesis 3:15, God promised a Redeemer who would crush the serpent’s head. That promise runs like a scarlet thread through the Old Testament and finds its fulfillment in Christ, the One who took our sin upon Himself at the cross.
God does not delight in our sin. He delights in His Son and in sinners who are united to His Son by faith.
“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son” (John 3:16). In other words, God delights to save. He delights to show mercy. He delights to welcome prodigals home. But that delight is received on His terms, not ours:
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith… not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9)
Grace is free, but it is not cheap. It cost the blood of Christ. And the God who delights in His people is the same God who will judge the living and the dead.
The Bus Ride You Can’t Avoid
In that mission sermon, I used this picture:
If you knew you were about to take the longest journey of your life, a one-way bus ride with no return ticket, would you prepare for it? Would you say goodbye? Would you make things right? Would you tell the truth to the people you love?
Each of us stand at that bus stop. Some feel strong, some feel broken, some are clean and sober, others are barely hanging on. But the bus is still coming.
Here is where Mr. Blattman’s emphasis on delight and the psalmist’s love for the Word collide with the urgency of time:
The person who delights in God’s Word (Psalm 1; Psalm 119) is the one who takes seriously what that Word says about sin, judgment, and salvation.
The one who knows God’s delight does not treat grace as a warm blanket covering an unrepentant heart.
True delight flows from a heart that has surrendered to Christ, received forgiveness, and now desires what He desires.
“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4). That is not a promise that God will fund our idols; it is a promise that He will rewire our desires so that what pleases Him begins to please us.
Here is the hard truth wrapped in the cotton of God’s love:
If you love the idea that God delights in you, but you refuse to repent of sin and trust in Christ, then you are borrowing warmth from a fire that will not keep you through the night.
God’s delight is not sentimental approval of whatever we choose to do with our time. It is holy joy in:
His Son’s finished work on the cross
The sinner who turns in repentance and faith
The child of God who walks in obedience, even when it costs.,,everything we used to be.
The cross is where God’s delight and God’s justice meet. There He showed how much He loves us and how seriously He takes our sin. You cannot stare at that cross honestly and still pretend that sin is harmless or that you have “all the time in the world” to decide.
For Those Who Call Themselves Evangelists:
Curt’s audience includes believers who love quotes, Scripture, and the work of evangelism. So let me speak plainly to you.
If you treasure verses about God’s delight, do you also tremble at verses about judgment and accountability?
If you rejoice that God loves you, do you grieve over the sin He died to free you from?
If you share the Gospel with others, do you speak about both His delight and His demand that all people everywhere repent (Acts 17:30)?
Those men at the rescue mission were not theoretical. They were souls on the edge of eternity. My message to them is the same message to you:
You don’t know how much time you have left to respond to this God who delights in saving sinners.
For the unbeliever, the call is simple and urgent:
Turn from sin and trust in Christ today. Not tomorrow. Not “when life settles down.” Today.
For the believer, the call is just as clear:
Delight in God’s Word the way Psalm 119 describes, not as a hobby but as your lifeline. Let His delight in you fuel your obedience, your holiness, and your urgency to reach others while there is still time.
One Last Question
So let me bring the two themes together and leave you with this:
The God of Scripture truly does delight in His people. He rejoices over the sinner who repents, over the saint who clings to His Word, over the weary believer who still gets up and follows Christ one more day.
But you and I are not promised unlimited time to respond to that delight.
You know God delights in His children.
You have heard of His love, His Word, His Son, and His cross.
You have been reminded that your days are numbered.
So I’ll ask you the same question I asked at the rescue mission:
Do you know what time it is?
Not on the wall.
On your soul.
If you do, then use the time you have left not just to bask in God’s delight, but to choose, clearly and finally, between sin and salvation, and to point as many others as you can to the Savior who delights to save.
(Thanks Curt)