Caryn Rivadeneira 0:07
Welcome to Elmhurst CRC's daily dose of the word of God. It's Thursday, November 3, and Sunday's Coming. This is Caryn Rivadeneira. I serve as Director of Care and Worship Planning, and I'll be reading Psalm 149, verses 4 through 5.
Caryn Rivadeneira 0:21
For the Lord takes delight in his people. He crowns the humble with victory. Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor, and sing for joy on their beds.
Caryn Rivadeneira 0:32
So I had a weird reaction to today's passage: "Oh man. I thought we just talked about God delighting this last week!" - as if this is something we could ever hear enough of. I'm pretty sure that most of us could stand being reminded that God loves us, that God is for us, and that God even delights in us every last hour, of every day; especially as people in the Calvinist and Reformed tradition. We like to talk about our total depravity and about our brokenness. While we may be totally depraved - by the way, this means that we are not entirely evil, but that every aspect of creation in human life is tinged by sin - and while we all have our own brokenness or struggles, and while we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (as Paul writes in his letter to the Romans) still, God delights in us.
Caryn Rivadeneira 1:24
As a mother, this is so easy to understand. In fact, I figure if I love and delight in my kids as much as I do (despite knowing all their foibles), then how much more does God - the perfect parent - love and delight in us? The other week, my colleague and fellow devotionalist Kyle Olson, shared one of his favorite quotes. He said, "Satan knows our name and calls us by our sin. God knows our sin, and calls us by our name." How great is that? That's a testament to the perfect parent who delights in us.
Caryn Rivadeneira 2:00
So. If you've been beating yourself up lately, perhaps over so-called brokenness, repeat after me: "God delights in me." If you've been wrestling with your self-worth or your value, repeat after me" "God delights in me." If you've been feeling worn down by life, and your hope is waning, remember: "God delights in me." If you have no doubt of God's love and delight in your life, still repeat after me: "God delights in me." But if you're tempted to wonder about how God really feels about other people - especially those folks who bother us -repeat after me: "God delights in them."
Caryn Rivadeneira 2:44
God is so good to remind us of God's delight repeatedly through the scriptures. In fact, God's love for and delight in us (God's wayward, wandering people), is the whole point of the scriptures. So once again, let's rejoice in this honor as the psalmist says, and sing for joy in our beds, because God delights in US.