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Christian Delight
Question ninety in the Heidelberg Catechism asks, “What is the birth of the new man?” In other words, it wants to know what it is that distinguishes the believer from the unbeliever…or more personally, what distinguishes your life today as a Christian from the way you lived before as a non-Christian. The answer to this question is both telling and convicting. It is simply that we take a “heartfelt joy” in the Lord. So, beloved, up front, does that describe you when it comes to your church attendance, your devotional time, your family worship, and your prayer? If it doesn’t, then you may need to reevaluate your priorities a bit.
Yet, in case we are unclear as to what “heartfelt joy” looks like in our lives, the question goes further. It describes heartfelt joy as taking delight in two things: living according to the will of God and doing good works. In English, “delight” means that we take pleasure in these things — that they satisfy our hearts.
But do we really “delight” in living according to the will of God? You know, this ties in with Jesus’ statement that “if you love me you will obey my commandments” (John 14:15). Is obedience to God something that satisfies our soul and brings pleasure to our lives or is it something we do out of some sort of legalistic obligation? Do we groan on Sunday morning when it comes to getting out of bed and contemplate whether we really need to go on a given morning? Or to we rejoice that Sunday morning has come and look forward to being in the House of the Lord on this day with God’s own? Do we look forward to our personal Bible reading and devotional time, protecting a block of time so that we can practice it undisturbed? Or is it something we do some of the time so long as the “urgent” matters of the day do not distract us? Does our sin create in us a genuine and heartfelt sorrow? Or, do we just brush off our sin as no big deal, figuring that “God will forgive me anyway.” And, if you fall into this category, you may want to read Deuteronomy 29:18-20 just to refresh your mind as to God’s view of those who think this.
And, do we really delight in good works? Perhaps that is one that weighs easier on our souls because we all enjoy those random acts of kindness that we sometimes do. But, wait, the next question in Heidelberg reminds us that Good Works have three characteristics: they are done in faith, according to the Law of God, and are done for God’s glory alone. If all three of these criteria are not met, a work that someone does, no matter how noble, is not truly “good.” So, if we get the credit for it…or if anyone but God gets the credit for it, it is not good. So, do we truly delight in such works as are defined here?
Psalm 37:4 reads this way:
“Delight in Yahweh and he will give you the petitions of your heart.”
Does this mean that God gives us anything we want when we ask him? No. Does that mean that if our heart is in the right place and we pray in faith, God will give us anything for which we desire? No. What it does say is that if we truly delight in God, then our desire will be for a deeper and deeper relationship with God, and that he will give to us. Our error (and especially the error of the so-called “prosperity gospel” and the “word faith” movements) is that we tend to focus on the outcome and ignore the command. We need to focus on the imperative command that we find at the beginning of the verse: “Delight in Yahweh!”
Think about it this way. If you delight in the Lord then you will desire for your life whatever the Lord desires for your life. And God places into your life what he sovereignly designs for your life because it is designed to conform you into the image of Christ (and is thus, for your good). Sometimes that “good” is hard to see when you are in the middle of the “slough of despond” or the “valley of the shadow of death,” but through your delight in the Lord, these things become your heart’s desire and you can embrace them with thankfulness.
Delight in Sacrifices of Righteousness: Psalm 51 (part 20)
“Then you will delight in sacrifices of righteousness—
a burnt offering, even a whole one;
then bulls will go up upon your altar.”
(Psalm 51:21 {Psalm 51:19 in English Bibles})
“Then,” David begins, pointing back to the verse that stands just before it—then, in light of the goodness of God as it is expressed to Israel, then, David suggests, the people will respond in righteousness—not only with proper sacrifices on the altar, but in faithful living. As David stated above—apart from faith and righteousness and a heart that is broken and supple in God’s hand, sacrifices are of no value to the individual. And note how I translated the first clause of this verse. Most of our major translations translate it as “right sacrifices” (ESV, NRSV), or “righteous sacrifices” (NASB, NIV), which implies nothing more than a proper sacrifice of animals on God’s altar. Yet, the Hebrew literally reads, “sacrifices of rightousness”—righteousness being a noun and not an adjective—and should be translated as such (KJV). David is not reflecting on the proper sacrifice of animals on the altar—that would contradict what he wrote in verses 15-17 (in the English numbering), David is using parallelism to connect the personal righteousness and holiness of God’s people to burnt sacrifices that are raised to heaven. In other words, righteousness itself was the sacrifice before God.
There is also a note that must be said about the sacrifice of bulls. In the ancient tabernacle and temple worship, many different animals were brought as sacrifice, and the kind of sacrifice that was to be given determined the animals that were to be brought. One important aspect of the sacrifice of bulls is that they were used as part of the peace offering (Numbers 7:88; 15:8). Thus, in the context of this psalm, a psalm of repentance where David is seeking to be restored to peace with God, a more appropriate allusion could not have been made. At the same time, there is a stern warning set before us in that peace with God requires more than just the slaughter of bulls, but it demands righteousness on the part of the believer.
Oh, how we tend to neglect this important teaching as we seek God’s forgiveness for our sins. How often do we simply apologize to God and then go right back to the sin that has been a part of our lives? How often do we take for granted the promise of forgiveness that God gives us in His word? How often do we live carelessly, neglecting the terrible price that Christ paid on our behalf as a result of sin? How often do we go through the motions without backing up our prayers with righteous living? How often do we seek God’s help in seeking righteousness? We could go on, yet, beloved, remember these words of David and be reminded that without righteousness in living, sacrifices will avail you nothing.
Gracious God, my heart renew,
Make my spirit right and true;
Cast me not away from thee,
Let thy Spirit dwell in me;
Thy salvation’s joy impart,
Steadfast make my willing heart.
-from the Psalter of 1912
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