Delight

The Lord's been reminding me quite a bit about the fact that he DELIGHTS in me and that he loves me immensely. This morning I decided to look up "delight" in the concordance and these are some of my findings (sorry it's a little long):

Genesis 3:6
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,[1] she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.[1]Or to give insight

Deuteronomy 30:9
The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers,

1 Samuel 15:22
And Samuel said, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.

2 Samuel 22:20
He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

2 Chronicles 9:8
Blessed be the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and set you on his throne as king for the Lord your God! Because your God loved Israel and would establish them forever, he has made you king over them, that you may execute justice and righteousness.”

Nehemiah 9:25
And they captured fortified cities and a rich land, and took possession of houses full of all good things, cisterns already hewn, vineyards, olive orchards and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and became fat and delighted themselves in your great goodness.

Esther 6:6, 7, 9, 11
So Haman came in, and the king said to him, “What should be done to the man whom the king delights to honor?” And Haman said to himself, “Whom would the king delight to honor more than me?”

And Haman said to the king, “For the man whom the king delights to honor,

And let the robes and the horse be handed over to one of the king's most noble officials. Let them dress the man whom the king delights to honor, and let them lead him on the horse through the square of the city, proclaiming before him: ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.’”

So Haman took the robes and the horse, and he dressed Mordecai and led him through the square of the city, proclaiming before him, “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor.”

Psalm 1:2
but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.

Psalm 5:4
For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.

Psalm 18:19
He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

Psalm 37:4
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:11
But the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

Psalm 40:8
I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

Psalm 44:3
for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.

Psalm 51:6, 16
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart... For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

Psalm 119:35, 47, 77, 92, 174
Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it... for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love... Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight... If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction... I long for your salvation, O Lord, and your law is my delight.

Psalm 147:10
His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man,

Proverbs 3:12
...for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights.

Proverbs 5:19
...a lovely deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts fill you at all times with delight; be intoxicated always in her love.

Ecclesiastes 12:10
The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

Song of Solomon 2:3
[She] As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men. With great delight I sat in his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.

Song of Solomon 7:6
How beautiful and pleasant you are, O loved one, with all your delights!

Isaiah 1:11 (Show me Isaiah 1)
“What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats.

Isaiah 11:3
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

Isaiah 42:1
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations.

Isaiah 55:2
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.

Isaiah 62:4
You shall no more be termed Forsaken,and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.

Isaiah 65:12
I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because, when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in.”

Jeremiah 9:24
...but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

Jeremiah 15:16
Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.

Micah 7:18
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

Malachi 3:1, 12
“Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

Romans 7:22
For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being
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A few observations (from the verses above but also from the exhaustive list): the word "delight" is used in friendship (such as that between David and Jonathan), between lovers, about one with whom the Lord is pleased, about God's joy, His love, one being happy. Interestingly the word "delight" in the ESV is hardly used at all in the New Testament. I didn't have time to look it up in the Hebrew & Greek, but I'm sure that would provide more insight.

According to Vine's Expository Dictionary, the word we translate into delight is the same root word from which we get "hedonism."

Here is what they say (in Vine's):

Pleasure - NOUN - hepes, 2656 - "pleasure; delight; desire; request; affair; thing"

With respect to "pleasure" or "delight" the example they give is 1 Sam 15:22 - "Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?" Based on some of the verses in my little search, it can be applied to food, love between a man and woman (such as in Song of Songs),...

Hepes can mean not simply what one takes pleasure in or what gives someone delight but one's wish or desire: "Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow." "To do one's desire" is to grant a request (1 Kings 5:8). "Stones of desire" are precious stones (Is 54:12).

VERB - "to take pleasure in, take care of, desire, delight in, have delight in."

ADJ - "delighting in, having pleasure in" - Psalm 35:27 - "Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant."