I Delight in Your Will

We have all had the experience of having a song stuck in our head. The song is stored in our memory and seems to come to mind at random times. Some songs seem like prompts from the Holy Spirit. A song that has been stuck in my head for the last couple of weeks is ‘I Delight in Your Will’. A song written and composed by Joseph Mathias from the Servants of the Word. The song is based on Psalm 40, a psalm of David, expected to have been written after deliverance from danger.

Verse 1
Patiently, I sought the Lord;
He has heard my cry,
And He has drawn me up,
And made my steps secure. (repeat)

Pre-Chorus
And I said, “Behold, I come,
In the steps of my Savior before me.
Behold I come to you!”

Chorus
I delight in your will, O my God;
And your law is within my heart.
And I come to serve your Word.

And I will speak of your steadfast love,
And I’ll tell of your faithfulness.
Yes I come to do your will,
For you have set me free.

Verse 2
Sacrifice and offering,
You do not desire,
But you have given me,
An open ear, O Lord. (repeat)

Bridge
Great is the Lord! Great is the Lord!
Let all who love him say it:
Great is the Lord!

“I delight in your will, O my God” the chorus declares. Brothers and sisters, do we delight in the will of God? Figuring it out and knowing it is one thing, but do we take delight in it? It can be easy delighting in God’s will during moments of consolation, when we receive blessings. This is what caused David to write the Psalm. But how can we take delight in the will of God when we are in the midst of suffering, when we have ongoing health issues, when we are struggling with our jobs or finances, when addictions from the past seem to take over our freedom.

As someone who enjoys playing football, I would see the football teams I played in as an opportunity for evangelisation. It gave me the opportunity to behave differently, to encourage teammates instead of bringing them down, to only smile back and forgive when someone tried to mock me on the field. But all of a sudden, during a game 2 years ago, I tore my ACL (the ligament that prevents the bones in your knee from collapsing). I was now not able to play football, the sport that I have played competitively almost every year for the last 20 years. To play again, I had to undergo surgery and then undertake 12 months of rehabilitation. Lord, how can your will be that I just sit around during the most active stages of my life and not play the sport you have made me good at? We may be in similar or worse situations and have similar questions.

One can only imagine Jesus, despite His moment of agony in the Garden of Gethsemane, recalling the words of Psalm 40 and delighting in God’s will as He says, “not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).

Of course, God does not will our suffering, but He permits it for various reasons. During these times God brings our vices and barriers to the fore. Our control, our fear, our pride to name a few. He wants to heal these areas so that we can receive and reciprocate His love.

During these times of desolation, let us do what David writes in Psalm 40 in his moment of consolation, as recounted in the song:

• Let us approach these times “patiently”.
• Let us recall times when God has shown us “His steadfast love”. 
• Let us recall times when God has shown His “faithfulness” to us. 
• Let us open our ears to Him – what is the Lord telling me during this time? 
• Let us continue to be obedient to the law that is within our hearts.

If we do not see anything changing temporally, we can still say “Great is the Lord! Great is the Lord!” because we know that eternally He has indeed “set us free”. 

Let us take delight in His good and perfect will despite our circumstances, knowing that ‘in all things God works for the good of those who love Him who have been called according to His purpose’ (Romans 8:28). 

You can listen to ‘I Delight in Your Will’ by Joseph Mathias here: https://worship.swordofthespirit.net/i-delight-in-your-will/

Maybe the song will be stuck in your head as well!

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Top image credit: Man with outstretched arms praising the Lord, photo from Bigstock.com, © by pjcross, stock photo ID: 2649589. Used with permission. Verse from Psalm 40 added.