God's Delight
Psalm 18
"He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delights in me" (Psalm 18:19).
I remember Saturday mornings, sprawled on the floor with our boys, watching a grainy, black and white, RCA television set, and singing the Mouse Club song along with the Mouseketeers:
Now it's time to say goodbye
To all our company.
M-I-C (See you real soon),
K-E-Y (Why? Because we like you);
M-O-U-S-E.
The song gets in your head. I used to sing it all through the day and I sang it again this morning when I read this psalm.
Why does God like me? Well, because He likes me and for no other reason. It's not that I'm young and vigorous, strong and able, rich and famous, smart and clever, or tall, dark and handsome—which is a very good thing because I'm not, have never been, and will never be any of those things. God likes me because I am... me.
What’s more, God’s delight precedes my being! Before I could do anything good or bad He liked me—no, he loved me. What are the chances now, based on my current behavior, that He will remove his affection? "It is not love that alters when it alteration finds."
God loves me freely—though at what cost to himself only the cross will reveal. And what does He ask of me? To say, "I love You too.”
I think of an old poem:
Isn’t it odd
That a being like God
Who sees the façade
Still loves the clod
He made out of sod?
Now isn’t that odd?
Odd indeed.
David Roper
