Where will we find the most true and only pure delight? Where we dwell with God and experience the joy found in His presence.

And where is that presence found? In the desert tabernacle? Or the local cathedral? Or the span of the whole earth? Or the heart of His redeemed child? Or the Heaven awaiting us?

Yes.

Aren’t God – and His Word – awesome? The promises are seamlessly fulfilled: from beginning to end, old to new, age to age, Father to Son to Spirit.

“Come we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known…” Isaac Watts, 1707

Yesterday, I highlighted an old, classic song. Today, I would like to highlight a new song that I just heard for the first time yesterday.

This wonderful song by Andrew Peterson was released about a year ago. The combination of lyrics rich with the truth of many different Bible passages and reverent music stirs the spirit. Because it magnifies the truly Awesome One.

As I listened to the song several times in a row, I started this piece by drawing the heart. John struggled to find earthly words to describe images of Heaven when he wrote of his visionary experience. And I certainly do not have the drawing skills to capture exactly what my mind sees when I think about the overwhelming, woven loveliness of Jesus’ heart. What would it be like if we could see it?

One day, when I meet Him face to face and have my first closer look, I am guessing I will weep simply because it is so beautiful.

And to think of that day now brings me so much hope, so much delight.

While talking with a loved one this past week, the theme of contentment rounded off our conversation.

Contentment. What a delightful — and yet difficult — state for human hearts to maintain.

Psalm 131 speaks to the delight, of the content soul being like a tiny child drifting off to sweet sleep in his mother’s warm arms. (This is something I also tried to capture in my simple, abstract design today: the crown of the child’s fuzzy hair from above where his head rests against her shoulder.)

Philippians 4:11-13 speaks to the difficulty, of the soul that must learn and choose contentment. As the song says, the ability to embrace humility and find peace in the swirling circumstances of life: that ability is also a gift.

Whether it comes easily for you today or it ends up being a struggle to make the choice, may you find delight and contentment in God’s embrace.

Does today’s design mess with your head? I wanted to visually express some of my favorite lines from this pair of verses. So I used vertical lettering to represent the most endearing factor that sets Him apart: how He is the only one among all the gods who has come down to us.

And His motivation for doing so as well as our ability to trust Him are both set on the solid foundation of His mercy.

Thanks be to God.

For you, Dad.

Our Heavenly Father, the only source of true and lasting hope, delights to watch us continually grow in every season.

I have never thought of Psalm 111 as a specific Messianic prophecy, but I see it today when I continue reading…

He provided redemption for His people; He ordained His covenant forever–holy and awesome is His name. (v. 8)

Oh, how great, how delightful, are His works!

The one who secretly struggles to hope. The one who has lost everything. The one who mourns. The one who is invisible. The one who is infertile. The one who is alone. The one who is broken. The one who is open. The one who is waiting. The one who aches. The one who asks. The one who cries. The one who needs.

These are the ones God sees, hears, knows, and exalts. Because He delights in them.

Thank You.