He delights in me!

“He rescued me because He delighted in me.” - Psalm 18:19, II Samuel 22:20

There is some extraordinary truth in this statement for the believer. David, the man after God’s own heart, who just admitted that all of his foes were greater than he was reveals the truth to His success in battle and in all the he did. He was not primarily concerned with fighting battles. He did not identify himself primarily as a warrior. He saw himself as someone who was loved by God. He understood his value in Christ and it wasn’t as a conqueror. It was as a lover. He was called a man after God’s own heart because he sought to understand God’s heart and to reflect God’s heart in his own life.  In II Samuel 9:1-10 We read the account of Mephibosheth. He was the crippled son of Jonathan. David paid him a great deal of honor and bestowed upon him great wealth even though he was the grandson of his mortal enemy. He was moved more by the love of his friend Jonathan than he was by the hatred of Saul. Like a lion, many kings would eliminate the offspring of their enemies out of fear that they would some day rise up to avenge their forefathers. David had no such fear. Instead David honored this man and demonstrated the heart of God that says in Deut. 7:9 “He is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.” David loved the Lord his God with all of his heart and despite his failures and shortcomings we can see that example of his life.

I am encouraged by this fact because I am a man with many failures and shortcomings. At the end of my life, God will not judge me according to those failures. He will judge me on how I pursued the greatest commandment. Did I make it my number one goal to love him with all my heart or did I put the bulk of my effort into building a ministry empire or to promote myself in the eyes of my peers? Did I seek to conquer territories and collect trophies that pay more homage to my own accomplishments in the name of advancing the kingdom or did I lay aside all agendas to serve others?

David understood his own frailty. He understood that without the favor of God he was nothing. He also knew how to remain in God’s favor and how to find his way back when he went astray. As Christians, what is our highest perceived value in God’s eyes? Is it our works that we bring before him? Doubtful. God doesn’t need us to do anything for Him. He is completely self-sufficient. He did create us for one purpose though, to bring him pleasure.  He created us to worship Him and He places the highest value on our worship.

God is looking for people who commit themselves fully to him and relate to Him as He determines. We have to worship Him in the way He prescribes. God’s highest value for us is in his love and affection for us. We sadly relate to God mostly in two ways: Either we relate to God in the context of what He can do for us or in the understanding of our usefulness to Him. In other words, we use biblical precepts to worship ourselves either by using Christianity to fulfill are wants and comforts or by seeking accomplishments to bring before him so that we feel justified in our self worship. God wants true worshippers.  He wants something more that works or hollow acknowledgments. . He wants us to understand His love and enjoyment of us as his children.  He wants us to demonstrate our love for him by seeking to know His character and seeking to obey his word. If we can always prioritize deeper knowledge of the person of Jesus Christ and a pursuit of true friendship with Him and seek to walk out obedience every day, we will draw nearer, grow more and become more like him.  The core essence of being a Christian is to become like Christ. If you’re not building on that foundation, you’re not pursuing God’s highest calling.

We want to think there is something more important than a life of worship. There isn’t. We were created to be worshipers first. We were created to bring delight to the father. David knew this and we must follow his example.