Delight in the Lord

“Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, So says Jehovah, I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothals, when you went after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.” (Jeremiah 2:2)

The Lord was saying to the people, “I remember you when...” We remember the Lord when we are troubled, when we need help and as a last resort. People make all kinds of promises to the Lord in the face of difficulty. But then, we are casual with His mercy and neglect His presence in our lives. And when disaster hits, we run to Him asking for His help. And again, when all is well, we forget Him. The Lord has every right to say to us, “I remember you when...” like He said to the people of Jerusalem.

What were the kindness in their youth? They revered and believed on Him. “And Israel saw that great work which Jehovah did upon the Egyptians. And the people feared Jehovah and believed Jehovah and His servant Moses.” (Exodus 14:31) They sang songs to Him, extoling His greatness. (Exodus 15:1-20) They made a covenant with the Lord saying, “All the words which Jehovah has said, we will do.” (Exodus 24:3) But they quickly forgot. And we forget. We forget His help in the face of trouble. We forget the miracles on our behalf when there was no way out, but the Lord made a way. We forget His daily graces until we need Him again. We are fickle with our love and devotion.

But the Lord sees the end from the beginning. He saw us when we were nothing. The Lord tells Jerusalem the same thing through Ezekiel. “And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto Jerusalem; Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite. And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live. I have caused thee to multiply as the bud of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and thou art come to excellent ornaments: thy breasts are fashioned, and thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers' skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk. I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck. And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head. Thus wast thou decked with gold and silver; and thy raiment was of fine linen, and silk, and broidered work; thou didst eat fine flour, and honey, and oil: and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom.” (Ezekiel 16:3-13) Although this is long, every bit of it describes how they were like a bloody aborted baby unwanted and discarded. But God gave them life and adorned them. This is a picture of how God saw us dead in our sin. God the Lord is the One Who gives life to us like He gave Israel life and adorns us with His glory.

We owe the Lord our lives, all our gains, successes and favor, which are because of Him. Our response is gratefulness. “To the Chief Musician. To die for the Son. A Psalm of David. I will praise You, O Jehovah, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.” (Psalms 9:1) We can broadcast the wonderful working of the Lord in our lives every day because every day God is good to us. And everyday we can show our gratefulness by telling Him. He takes great delight in hearing it from our lips every day. “Jehovah your God is mighty in your midst; He will save, He will rejoice over you with joy; He is silent in His love; He rejoices over you with joyful shout.” (Zephaniah 3:17) God told Jerusalem, I remember when you sought Me. But when we spend time with Him it delights Him. “For Jehovah takes pleasure in His people...” (Psalms 149:4a)