A Delightful Prospect
Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer
Pastor McCarty gave me a major edit to a manuscript we are working on. It concerned the meaning of delight. He used Psalm 37:4 as his focus text and the story behind his accepting the pastorate at UBC Fayetteville as his example.
As he prepared to graduate from seminary, he began examining his job prospects in light of his ministry and life goals. The three top desires of his heart were to be an Air Force chaplain, to work with and influence students, and to pursue his doctorate. He did not want to pastor a church, especially a Baptist church in Arkansas. Yet, what he wanted most was to be in the battle where the Lord Jesus would be pleased to have him.
Through a series of circumstances and sensitivity to the direction of the Holy Spirit, where did H. D. McCarty find himself? In Fayetteville, Arkansas, as pastor of a Baptist church for 39 years. As he wrote, it was many years before he could see how the desires of his heart had been fulfilled as he learned to delight himself in the Lord. All of thelife ambitions he had contemplated back in seminary were met. He not only became a chaplain in the Air National Guard but rose to the rank of Brigadier General with an assignment to the Pentagon before he retired. He was known as a student influencer, especially among athletes as the “Chaplain of the Razorbacks” for 30 years. He saw scores of college students set on fire for ministry and mission and counts numerous young people who followed him into Christian service as pastors, teachers, missionaries, and trend setters at home and worldwide. And, finally, he not only earned his PhD but was given two honorary doctorates as well. Doing two things brought all this to pass: delighting himself in his relationship with his Lord and being obedient to take up his cross and follow Jesus wherever He led—even to being a Baptist preacher in Arkansas.
We all experience delight in some manner, form, or degree. Our English definition of delight says it is “a feeling of great pleasure, satisfaction, or happiness or something or someone that gives this.”[1] This word traces its lineage back to delecare in Latin meaning “to allure, delight, charm, please.”[2] Some of its synonyms are joy, rapture, pleasure, charm, gratification, and wonder.
What causes delight for the individual can vary greatly. A thing that delights you may leave me unimpressed while we may both delight in yet another thing or person. For the Christian one of those common causes of delight should be our relationship with the Godhead. All three persons of the Trinity deserve and should inspire our delight.
That thought brings us back to Psalm 27, which anchored our reflections for this month (“Confidence in Prayer”, 5/6/26). David doesn’t use the word “delight” in it, but the concept runs through the whole psalm in the synonyms we noted earlier: joy, longing, wonder, satisfaction. David’s single consuming desire — to dwell in the house of the Lord, to gaze on his beauty — is itself a portrait of what it means to delight in God. Look again at these verses from this wonderful Psalm:
One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple. (Verse 4)
Then my head will be exalted
above the enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make music to the Lord. (Verse 6)
I remain confident of this:
I will see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord. (Verses 13-14)
King David believed that whatever difficulties he faced, the best place he could be was “in the house of the Lord.” Being there was delightful!
There are many facets to prayer. None are wrong and all are right (as long as they are Biblical). Two of these are duty and delight. While at first glance they seem opposed to each other, they share a deep connection. As we perform the duty of prayer, our delight deepens. And as we delight in prayer, we find our duty increasingly becoming easy, joyful, a light burden just as Jesus described in Matthew 11:28-30. He invites those with burdens to come to Him. That is exactly what we do in prayer with increasing delight.
God is a giver of gifts. Starting with the gift of creation, His gifts weave throughout the story of His people. In the New Testament we find at least six things He has given us: Christ Himself (John 3:16; 4:10); the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17; Acts 8:18-20); eternal life (Rom. 6:23); our abilities (I Cor. 7:7); salvation through faith (Eph. 2:8); and confident love (II Tim. 1:6-7).[3] All these gifts from God have a place in our eternal purpose “to glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (I Cor. 10:31; Ps. 73:24-26; Rom. 11:36).[4] It is no great stretch of the imagination to place delight in God’s gifts to humanity since it fits so well into our glorifying and enjoying God.
Paul addresses the practical application of this gift principle in Philippians 2:12-13, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” As we delight in the Lord in prayer, we are experiencing His gift. That experience feeds back into dutiful prayer as God works in us His eternal purpose. His beautiful gift of delight and His light burden of duty place us exactly where we should be to “work out our salvation.” Jesus told a parable that illustrates how our actions and God’s gifts interact, “The Sheep and the Goats” (Matt. 25:31-46). In it those who are praised and those who are punished both lived up to their nature not seeing the good or the evil they were doing. Ezekiel 36:2 gives us the classic statement of the difference between the two groups, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” One had a new life, and one did not. If delight is a gift from the Lord, then our duty to pray is but an expression of our delight in the Lord to whom we pray. Is that not a delightful and freeing thought?
Reflection Questions:
1. What delights you? Why are you delighted in or by these things or persons?
2. What does delighting in the Lord look like in your life? What are some of the desires of your heart you have seen fulfilled because you have delighted in the Lord?
3. What delights you about prayer? Can you join David in his desire to dwell in the house of the Lord forever? Why?
[1] DELIGHT | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
[2] Delight – Etymology, Origin & Meaning
