“Blessed
is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of
sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the
Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” –Psalm 1: 1-2
(ESV). “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.” – Psalm 37:3-4
(ESV).
“Delight”…what
a beautiful word. As a noun it means a
high degree of gratification, extreme satisfaction, something that gives great
pleasure (also the power of affording pleasure, joy). From the Middle English deliten and the Old French deliter, delectare, as a verb, delight
can mean “to allure,to take great pleasure in, to give joy or
satisfaction.” As I thought of the word
delight, my mind had a pleasant journey back a number of years recalling a
visit to the Shaker Village in Pleasant Hill, Kentucky, where we heard those
dressed as the eighteenth and nineteenth century Shakers perform in their
“delightful” religious dance and sing the words attributed to Joseph Brackett
(1797-1882) from the Shaker dance song, “Simple Gifts.” You might remember the words, too, from Aaron
Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” of 1944.
Once you think about the song (and if you know the words) it is hard not
to sing it over and over in your mind:
“’Tis the gift to be simple, ‘tis
the gift to be free
‘Tis the gift to come down where we
ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the
place just right,
‘Twill be in the valley of love and
delight.”
I
could see those Shaker performers taking delight both in the words and music
and the movement of the dance they performed for us at the Shaker Village at
Pleasant Hill. I
get great delight now in visits from my great grandchildren. We like to go exploring in my back yard. One day Jake and Cydni were here and by
digging down a little in soft dirt, we found a beautiful smooth stone. We talked about its beauty, its smoothness
and color, and, best of all that God Who created our wonderful world formed the
earth and its contents, even stones that water and the elements have made
smooth over a long time. The stone found
a favored spot at one of my flower beds.
Now when any of the great grandchildren come, and especially the two who
found the stone, they take great delight in seeing the stone again and
remembering how they discovered it.
My
mind turned not only to the “Simple Gifts” song and its invitation to “the
valley of love and delight,” but I
recalled and meditated upon Psalm 1 which is itself a song and the gateway (or
prelude, if you want to think of it in musical terms) to the entire book of
Psalms, inviting us into the delights and fellowship of the Lord God: “Blessed
is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of
sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law
of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2, ESV). Come!
Early every morning and throughout each day, take delight in the Lord: “”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” (Psalm 37:3-4, ESV).
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