What Brings Me Delight? by Denise Loock

My guest today is Denise Loock, author of Open Your Hymnal: Devotions That Harmonize Scripture With Song, and Open Your Hymnal Again. Denise is a Bible teacher, speaker, writer, and editor. I know your heart will be touched as she shares about the things that should bring us delight!

2MefromHim Devotional

I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. Psalm 119:16

One of my daughter’s favorite pastimes as a preschooler was playing with a jar of buttons at Grandma’s house. Kelsey invested hours in sorting the buttons into “families,” studying their similarities and differences, regrouping them, and then scooping them back into the jar when she was ready for a new activity. Every time she opened the jar, it seemed she discovered a new treasure even though the jar’s contents never changed.

I experience a similar wonder every time I open God’s Word. Though the content never changes, I continually discover new relationships between verses and fresh applications for whatever circumstances confront me. If I’m faced with a perplexing decision, a verse like Psalm 119:35 challenges me to be patient: “Direct me in the path of your commands, for therein I find delight.” If a puzzling situation has recently been resolved, the same verse will confirm that waiting for God to act on my behalf was the right choice.

In Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, David used delight seven times to describe his fascination with God’s Word (vv. 16, 24, 35, 47, 70, 77, and 174). The Hebrew words that are translated “delight” have two shades of meaning. One of them means “to be blinded by” as in a focused devotion to one thing or person. The other word means “to bend toward” as a flower leans toward the sun.

How accurately do those images portray our attitude toward God’s Word? How much time do we devote each week to it? Do we lean toward its truth as our energy source?

When I see Grandma’s button jar, I always think of the hours of pleasure it brought Kelsey. I wonder if seeing a Bible reminds anyone of my love for God’s Word. How about you? Would seeing a Bible prompt your loved ones to think of your delight in God and His Word?

About the author:

Denise Kelso Loock is a former English teacher, Bible teacher, speaker, writer, and editor. Her work has appeared in a variety of well-known devotional publications. She is the founder and writer at http://digdeeperdevotions.com/.

A collection of Denise’s devotions, Open Your Hymnal: Devotions That Harmonize Scripture With Song, was released by Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas in 2010. To read more about the book or to order it, click here. A second volume of hymn devotions, Open Your Hymnal Again, was released June 2012. To read more about it, click here: Open Your Hymnal Again.

Denise taught a weekly women’s Bible study at the Montgomery Evangelical Free Church in Belle Mead, NJ, for 15 years. Over the last 5 years, she developed and taught her own Bible study curriculum: The Life of Joseph, The Life of Moses, and The Life of Joshua, and the books of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel. Denise is currently teaching a Bible Study on Ruth at Long’s Chapel, in Waynesville, NC.

Denise is an associate editor for Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas. She also accepts freelance editing projects. http://lighthousepublishingofthecarolinas.com/. She is also a staff writer and editor for a monthly online and print publication, The Journey Christian Newspaper.

She lives in Western North Carolina with her husband and their cat, Ginger. Son Jeff is a student at UNC Wilmington; daughter Kelsey is a student at Western Carolina University.

Connect with Denise:

Website: www.digdeeperdevotions.com