God Delights

Read Proverbs 11

The LORD detests the use of dishonest scales, but he delights in accurate weights.

Proverbs 11:1

We tend to think of God as a reactor rather than a responder. Because God is good, he reacts to anything that disturbs his normal pattern. However, this view of God seriously diminishes our capacity to appreciate God’s divine delight over good.

We know God delights because we know he delights in his own work. After each day’s worth of the creation masterpieces, God didn’t summarize his effort with the resounding declaration, “This is normal!” No, God’s delight must have reverberated through every fiber of his expanding creation when he thundered, “This is good!” Six times in the first chapter of Genesis we are told that God saw his creation as good. By the end of the sixth day, God concluded that his work was excellent in every way (Genesis 1:31). God responds to good with delight.

God desires to delight in us. He does this partly, this proverb tells us, when we practice honesty. The test of honesty comes when we are tempted to think what we do doesn’t matter because no one is watching. But we always have an audience. Does God delight in what we do?

A WORD FOR TODAY

Offer God delight each day.

Dear Lord, help me live this day with a constant recognition that you enjoy the good in my life even more than I do.