The Discipline to Delight

Our brains and even our bodies are being re-wired by technology. There are some great advances that technology makes, but there are also negative impacts. In a 2014 blog post on the physiological effects of technology on our bodies, the writers summarized their findings in this way:

Technology has altered human physiology. It makes us think differently, feel differently, even dream differently. It affects our memory, attention spans and sleep cycles.

The post goes on to talk about how we experience things differently because of technology:

We dream in color more - the vivid images and diverse colors that we see on our phones, computers, and televisions provide some resources from which our minds can draw when formulating dreams.

We experience FOMO (the fear of missing out) - frankly some people already have a proclivity for this. I remember as a child having difficulty going to sleep when my parents had people over because I wanted to be a part of what was happening. I assure you, social media wasn’t around then. But social media has enhanced this desire to experience what other people experience.

We experience “phantom vibration syndrome” - that’s the feeling that your phone is vibrating when it’s not.

We can’t get to sleep or stay asleep - Some doctors suggest that the glow from our phones, tablets, computer screens, and even televisions prevent our brains from being able to get into or remain in a state of rest.

Finally, the writers of this post found that…

We can’t remember or pay attention to things - They write, “Back in the old, old, old days, learning by rote was a prized skill. So prized, in fact, that students were often expected to recite entire books from memory. In a Google-happy world, when virtually any scrap of information is instantly at our fingertips, we don’t bother retaining facts, let alone whole book passages. Who needs to memorize the capital of Mozambique when you can just ask Siri?” (Incidentally, that’s Maputo.) They go on to note how we don’t really even read things very deeply either. We tend to skim articles for the important facts and even then for only a few moments. A good friend of mine noted how he used to be able to read ancient texts for a long period of time - 2-3 hours. Now, he feels like his brain is in a bit of a fog and he simply can’t concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time.

I bring this up because it seems that this re-wiring of our brains and our bodies has also impacted our spiritual lives. At least it has impacted mine. I have to fight to focus in my devotional time. As I silently pray, I find my mind wandering from one topic to another - like mouse clicks on hyperlinks. Before long, my mind has wandered so far that I have forgotten that I’ve been praying.

Maybe I’m alone in this, but I suspect that I’m not.

Over the next several weeks, we’re going to be discussing how we can delight in the Trinity through spiritual disciplines. The purpose of this series is to help us deepen our affection for and knowledge of God. My hope is that exploring these disciplines will make us familiar with tools that will help us to grow in godliness.

Rather than walking through a book of the bible, we’ll be hitting on various passages as we reflect on the disciplines.

Today, we’re going to begin with something seems like a foundational discipline - that of delighting in God.

Delighting in God

We’re going to look at several different passages today, but if you have your copy of God’s word, let me encourage you to open it to Psalm 37.

Psalm 37:4 ESV

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

In some Christian circles and traditions, the idea of pleasure or delight is taboo. Some people would say that pleasure is a sin. And yet Scripture commands us to delight in Yahweh or to find pleasure in Him.

The NT writers use the word “rejoice” to describe our enjoyment in God. In fact we were called to worship this morning with one of those famous verses on the enjoyment we find in the Lord.

Philippians 4:4 ESV

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

But…

What is delight?

The oxford dictionary defines delight as a verb meaning to “please greatly.”

The Hebrew word that is translated delight carries with it the idea of pampering or refreshing oneself or take great pleasure in something; in this case in God.

There is an enjoyment that comes with delight.

It’s like going to an art museum and reflecting on a painting for hours. The longer you look at it, the more you see in it. You begin to appreciate the skill of the artist - her creativity, precision, technique. You begin to see how the artist might have moved her brush along the canvas.

In much the same way, when we delight in God, we linger on His qualities, His creativity, His mysterious work. We set our affections on Him and His will for our lives.

That begs another question…

Why is delighting in God important?

First of all,…

Delighting in God is commanded (Psalm 37:4)

As we read earlier from David in Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” It’s an imperative - a command.

Now, the challenge is that the things that we are commanded to do often make us not want to do them because they are commanded. Piper reflected on this dilemma in his book The Dangerous Duty of Delight…

God is not honored when we celebrate the high days of our relationship out of a mere sense of duty. He is honored when those days are our delight!

John Piper

It seems like Piper is speaking specifically of things like Christmas or Easter or even an average Sunday. These times of gathering in worship should be a joy for us.

(consider reflecting on this point more)

Secondly, at least initially,

Delighting in God leads to salvation

When we truly begin to delight in him, we start to be able to see and appreciate God for who he is - his holiness, his splendor, his majesty, his purity, his love. Seeing him in that way allows us to get a clear glimpse of who we are - unholy, stained with sin.

Let’s look at Isaiah’s encounter with God. We don’t see the word “delight” here, but we get to witness him delighting, observing and responding to his encounter with God.

Isaiah 6:1–4 ESV

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.

Notice that Isaiah is paying attention. He is noticing all sorts of things. The year, the place (throne room), the train, the attendants (seraphim), the praise, the smoke. As best as he can understand, he gets a clear picture of God.

But then, as though he is looking in a mirror and seeing his own fallenness, Isaiah responds,

Isaiah 6:5 ESV

And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

He could see his sin, his fallenness, his imperfection in the face of God’s holiness, righteousness, and perfection. His response is repentance.

In response to repentance, Isaiah receives forgiveness, in essence he receives salvation…

Isaiah 6:6–7 ESV

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Friend, if you are not yet a follower of Christ, delight in God. Bask in his glory. Take in his holiness. Respond with repentance for your sin, and receive His salvation through Jesus Christ. Yes, He is a holy God. He is just. But He is love and loves you!

John 3:16–17 ESV

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

He loves you, delight in that love!

1 John 4:10 ESV

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

In addition to being commanded and ultimately leading to salvation, it seems that

Delighting in God keeps us from sinning

John Piper in his book Desiring God describes this delight or enjoyment in God as “Christian Hedonism.” He writes…

“The goal of Christian Hedonism is to find most pleasure in the one and only God and avoid the sin of covetousness, that is idolatry (Col. 3:5)” (p 24)

In other words, delighting in God keeps us from sinning against Him. Said another way, Delighting in God promotes holiness. Delighting in God helps us to think, act, and speak like God.

A bit earlier we read from Psalm 37. Let’s consider a bit more of this…

As we read, I want you to circle or note the imperatives or the commands. Notice what the Psalmist says:

Psalm 37:1–8 (ESV)

Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not envious of wrongdoers!

For they will soon fade like the grass

and wither like the green herb.

Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

There is really a lot more in this Psalm, but notice what is taught here.

don’t worry about evil doers - they are going to go away - their evil is only temporary

Trust in Yahweh - after all, he is eternal.

Do Good - don’t respond to evil with evil - do good.

Live in the Land - live in the land he has appointed for you, while living there…

befriend or cultivate faithfulness

Delight in Yahweh - he will give you the desires of your heart - in part because our desires will be in line with his desires for us.

Trust Him - he will act, he will bring justice

Be still

don’t worry/fret

don’t be angry

I think part of what we see here is that when we walk with God, when we delight in him, when we align ourselves with His ways, He brings about justice and vindication. We set our affections and our intentions on Him. Essentially we focus on the things over which we have some control and in turn we trust God to accomplish His good work in His perfect time with the things that he controls, which is everything.

As the famous hymn says,

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

look full in his wonderful face,

and the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

in the light of his glory and grace.

The command to delight, the salvation that delighting ushers in and the holiness that is produced in our lives challenges us to ask another question…

How can we delight in God?

Throughout his book Desiring God, Piper discusses finding pleasure in God through worship, work, scripture, prayer and so much more. It’s as though every part of his life, every discipline in which he engages is a means by which he delights in God. It seems there are several things that we can do in order to foster delight.

First of all, slow down. The busyness of our society, the fast-paced schedules that we keep prevent us from engaging fully. In our times with God, we need to slow down a bit. Allow our minds to take in all that we are reading. Slowing down allows us to hear/feel the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, linger on his attributes and qualities. As we read Scripture, hopefully a bit more slowly, let’s pay attention to who God is, how he is working in the world. Let’s delight in him. Let your mind bask in the wonder of His love for you.

Thirdly, be fully present. This may mean putting your phone away, turning off the podcast or television, turning off notifications on your watch. I know there are many of us who read scripture on our devices - I don’t think that is bad, but don’t let the notifications of email or text messages or games pull you from being with God. Maybe even consider getting a printed Bible out - read, circle, underline, highlight, journal, etc.

Fourthly, engage in the spiritual disciplines. Richard Foster categorizes the disciplines in three ways:

Inward Disciplines

Meditation

Prayer

Fasting

Study

Outward Disciplines

Simplicity

Solitude

Submission

Service

Corporate Disciplines

Confession

Worship

Guidance

Celebration

Over the course of the next several weeks, we’re going to talk through some of these - including taking in scripture - reading, hearing, meditating, memorizing; prayer; worship; fasting; serving; and more.

In all of this talk of delight, I believe we need to..

Be disciplined to delight in God

In other words, be intentional about it.

Years ago, someone encouraged Danielle and I to continue to date even after we got married. There have been seasons when we’ve been able to go on weekly dates - disciplining ourselves to be together. Lately it’s not been as frequent, but we do still try to intentionally delight in each other. In fact if one of us sees the clock read a repeated number like 10:10 or 11:11 we will send a text message if we are apart or kiss if we are together. It becomes a regular reminder that we are thinking of each other.

One of the reasons that people challenged us to date is that it kindles our affection for one another. It keeps our minds on each other.

In an even more significant way, our delighting in God requires that we be intentional about it.

In 1 Timothy 4, Paul commented to this young pastor about the ways in which some people will depart from the faith. They get enticed and lured in by distracting things, even intriguing things. Paul urged Timothy to go into intentional, rigorous spiritual training because it has rewards both now and in eternity.

1 Timothy 4:7–8 ESV

Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

You may or may not be the kind of person to set resolutions. Many people do and fail at them. I know I have failed countless times. But when it comes to our spiritual lives, when it comes to our delighting in God, I believe we need to make a plan. It doesn’t have to be full of details. Maybe it’s just a certain time of day that you’ll spend with God. Maybe it’s a discipline to turn off certain influences. Maybe it’s a plan to read together as a family. We’ll look at this more over the next several weeks, but even now, as you look at the beginning of this new year, prayerfully ask God to reveal to you what He might have you do, adjust, start, or stop?

Closing thoughts

In sharing this and in walking through this series, please know that I am very much a work in progress. I’ve done an okay job getting in habits or being disciplined about reading and trying to pray, but I have not done well delighting in God - simply enjoying him.

Will you join me in this journey? It may require us to put down our devices, to turn off our distractions, to create new patterns and habits in order to delight in Him. As a result, may we reflect him more fully.

Let’s pray.

Benediction:

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 ESV

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Discussion Questions:

Consider reading: Psalm 37; 1 Tim. 4; 2 Peter 1:3-11; Deuteronomy 6:4-9.

What spiritual habits do you have? (individually, family)

What does it mean to delight in God? How do you delight in other things?

What keeps you from delighting in God?

Memory Verse:

1 Timothy 4:7–8 “Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

Sources:

Foster, Richard J. Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth. San Francisco, CA. Harper Collins, 1998.

Piper, John. Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist. Sisters, OR. Multnomah, 2003.

Piper, John. Providence. Wheaton, IL. Crossway, 2020.

Reeves, Michael. Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith. Downers Grove, IL. InterVarsity Press, 2012.

Torrey, R. A. The New Topical Text Book: A Scripture Text Book for the Use of Ministers, Teachers, and All Christian Workers. New, revised and enlarged edition. Chicago; New York; Toronto: Fleming H. Revell, 1897.

Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. NavPress, 2014.

Whitney, Donald S. TEN Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health. NavPress, 2001.

https://www.schoolsthatcan.org/8-ways-tech-has-completely-rewired-our-brains-mashable/