Psalm 119:143 Delightful

Trouble and distress have come upon me,
but your commands give me delight.

Psalm 119:143

Which commands do you think aren't all that delightful?

This might seem like a somewhat odd question. Well of course, you say, all his commands are delightful.

Really?

I have to admit I have trouble always delighting in I Peter 2:13-17.

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

There are some government leaders whose behavior tempts me to rant and rail at them. My sarcastic side wants to ridicule them with the same sort of untruths and insults the politicians throw at each other. It would delight my worse self to join in on the ignorant talk of foolish people.

But that's not what God is about and it's not what I really want to be about. So instead I'll delight myself in being unique, approaching my freedom as an opportunity to do do things for the Lord's sake.

God commands his people to love their spouses and their children. We're to love our friends and neighbors and fellow believers. He even says to love our enemies.

Not all of those commands are easy or even comfortable. But if we give ourselves over to obeying for his sake, we will come to delight in his commands.