Delighting in God’s People
“As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.” (Psalm 16:3)
You can tell quite a lot about a person by their tastes – what they enjoy and what they prize. In some societies, you can place a person’s social background and upbringing pretty precisely by those kinds of choices. A 2015 study at the University of British Columbia found that a person’s wealth and education had a huge impact on their musical taste. On the basis of a fairly large survey, they found that the rich and well-educated tended to prefer jazz and classical, whereas the less well-off and less educated enjoyed heavy metal, easy listening and so on. What we take pleasure in can, perhaps, say something about us. In Psalm 16, we see what the true believer – the one who has found “refuge” in God (v. 1) – delights in. And the portrait has a great deal to teach us.
The person who takes refuge in God delights in the Lord’s people. David declares, “As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.” (v. 3) What do you make of that sentiment? It would sound natural enough to speak of the Lord being our delight. But for the Lord’s people – those who have been made holy by Jesus and who have a share in His heavenly inheritance—their delight is in their fellow saints. If we have spent time with other Christians or if we have any experience of church life, then we know that the saints can bring us joy as well as pain. The holy ones of God can actually be difficult to deal with from time to time. We invest in relationships in church because we know they’re important. We bear with one another because we’re family through Christ. But to “delight” (v. 3) in the people of God sounds like a tall order sometimes.
Delighting in God’s people was challenging for David too. He knew the frustrations of sin and betrayal even within the community of God’s people. Nonetheless, David insists that there is reason to delight in them. He insists that they are the “glorious ones” (v. 3). There is something intrinsically wonderful about the people of God. This is highlighted in verse 4 by the contrast painted by David: “The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips.” As David delights in the people of God, he turns his mind’s eye to the surrounding peoples who worship idols. And David sees in them and in their pattern of life a way of misery. He sees that their sorrows are great and will only increase. In contrast, David sees that safety is found in the company of God’s people.
Are you delighting in the saints that the Lord has placed around you? Our truest and deepest relationships can be found among the people of God. That is not to say that we should not have friendships with others. Jesus modelled engagement with unbelievers to such an extent that he was accused of being a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But we must not retreat into a “holy huddle” and live in a carefully sealed-off Christian subculture. This week, ask God to reveal to you the inherent beauty and excellence of the saints of God surrounding you. Pray that your tastes would become attuned to the tastes of God Himself. May you see that which David saw—namely, that a life redeemed by blood of Jesus is truly, wonderfully, glorious!