Psalm 119:47
(This is an entry from a devotional commentary I am working on from Psalm 119 entitled God and His Word. The introduction can be found here, successive entries have covered the 22 sections of the Psalm, and following entries verse by verse.)
"I shall delight in Your commandments,
Which I love."
No one has ever accused me of having too much joy, too much delight. Yet, I have been known as someone who is serious about Your word. I am wired in such a way, that Your word revives me every day often just to survive, even if I am not overflowing with obvious delight. Would You move in my heart in such a way that this delight propels me to new heights and overflows to others? I want the reaction of others to my exhortations not to be so much of a ‘have to’ but rather, ‘look at what he is experiencing through Your word!' I want that, and I don’t want to miss out on the great wisdom, peace, and joy it so obviously brings.’ ‘Delight’ is the Hebrew שָׁעַע, šā‛a‛, A verb meaning to take delight in; to fondle. It refers to taking joy or enjoyment from something (Psa 94:19), especially God's laws (Psa 119:16, Psa 119:47, Psa 119:40). It describes exceptional delights in the Messianic Kingdom (Isa 11:8) in a figurative sense (Isa 66:12). It refers to the default place one goes to for pleasure. May it be Your word, Lord!
‘The more delight we take in the service of God the nearer we come to the perfection we aim at.’[1]
‘Next to liberty and courage comes delight. When we have done our duty, we find a great reward in it…Obey the command, and you will love it; carry the yoke, and it will be easy, and rest will come by it…David did not delight in the courts of kings, for there he found places of temptation to shame, but in the Scriptures he found himself at home; his heart was in them, and they yielded him supreme pleasure…Lord, let thy mercies come to us that we may love thy word and way, and find our whole delight therein.
The verse is in the future, and hence it sets forth, not only what David had done, but what he would do; he would in time to come delight in his Lord's commands. He knew that they would neither alter, nor fail to yield him joy…All the Psalm is fragrant with love to the word, but here for the first time love is expressly spoken of. It is here coupled with delight, and in Psa 119:165 with “great peace.”’[2]
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