Proverbs 11:20 Delighting Him_

The perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, But the blameless in their walk are His delight. Proverbs‬ ‭11:20‬ ‭NASB‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Can you imagine making the Lord delighted? At the core of my being I feel that desire to love God and please Him. This is what motivates me every day — at least that’s my goal. I read about Enoch in Hebrews and feel desirous to have the same experience:

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death; and he was not found because God took him up; for he obtained the witness the before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. Hebrews 11:5 NAS

And in Isaiah:

Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights… Isaiah 42:1

And again with Jesus at his Baptism:

After being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased. Matthew 3:16-17

I love the word delight. It’s has a different meaning than to accept or to tolerate someone and it is much stronger than simply to enjoy or to be pleased with another. Delight sparkles! It is an active, high degree of pleasure in something, striking an alignment with someone who at the core of my soul makes possibility a reality. And this is what I bring to the Father as I endeavor to live my life in a relationship with Him. The first and greatest command is “to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” Not only is my intent to please him, I actually walk it out and put actions to my intent. Pleasing Him is my core value.

But, it’s easy to be “perverse in heart.” It only requires that one live for and listen to your own desire or need while in pursuit of your own happiness — and to think you are alone in this pursuit—that nobody notices. Living in darkness is as simple as turning out the light or hiding in a cave somewhere. From it springs all sorts of behavior that just doesn’t align with good people or a good God.

The reality is that from birth He’s delighted in each of his kids. In me. I was wired to delight and be delighted in. In Psalms 139 David writes, “how precious his thoughts are toward us and how vast the sum of them.” It’s not my behavior that makes me blameless, He already sees me that way in the grace he extended through His Son. But the way I live it, signals what I’ve received in my heart. My actions are the thermometer of my faith. It’s that faith in His blamelessness, freely given to me, that I cling to. And in it He fully, freely, and really takes great delight in me. Amazing!