Image: A woman walks along a path across a green meadow. (silviarita/pixabay)
Blessed are you, Eternal our God, Ruler of all that is: all we can see, all we cannot see, all that has come before, and all that will come to be. You sat with me in my time of trouble. You listened to each cough, You felt each shiver. You walked with me through the valley of bad dreams, and You woke with me on the windswept hills of cold sweat. Eternal God, You play with the monster Leviathan and know the tiny viruses by name. You accompanied me on this journey through sickness back to health.
Thank You for the resiliency of this human body. Thank You for this reprieve from the mystery that is death.
I know that not everyone rises from their bed; who lives and who dies is a mystery to me. Help me to see purpose in the life that spreads before me like a broad landscape; guide my steps towards goodness and light. Having experienced trouble and pain, help me to feel compassion for those in trouble and pain. Help me to turn that compassion to action to relieve the suffering that plagues so many in this world.
Blessed are You, Eternal our God, Creator of all that is.
Amen
I wonder if I can ask you a theological question or two, not being part of your congregation (I’m a Christian living in England). The Psalm this morning (37 vs 23 in my Bible) says that God leads the steps of a person in whom He delights. I am amazed that such an early religion portrays so beautifully God’s delight for his people. Was “delight” a new concept among religions in those days? Where did it come from? I
I work with Muslims, and there does not seem to be much delight from God, even for the people who are so faithful to Him.
Judy Robinson
Judith, delight is very much a part of the Jewish encounter with God, and it goes back a very long time!
To use the specific word “delight” we can look in Isaiah 58, verses 13-14:
אִם-תָּשִׁיב מִשַּׁבָּת רַגְלֶךָ, עֲשׂוֹת חֲפָצֶךָ בְּיוֹם קָדְשִׁי; וְקָרָאתָ לַשַּׁבָּת עֹנֶג, לִקְדוֹשׁ יְהוָה מְכֻבָּד, וְכִבַּדְתּוֹ מֵעֲשׂוֹת דְּרָכֶיךָ, מִמְּצוֹא חֶפְצְךָ וְדַבֵּר דָּבָר.
אָז, תִּתְעַנַּג עַל-יְהוָה, וְהִרְכַּבְתִּיךָ, עַל-במותי (בָּמֳתֵי) אָרֶץ; וְהַאֲכַלְתִּיךָ, נַחֲלַת יַעֲקֹב אָבִיךָ–כִּי פִּי יְהוָה, דִּבֵּר.
13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then shall you delight in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
The initial narrative concerning the Sabbath is the first creation narrative, and at the very beginning of Chapter 2, God looks at creation, declares is “very good” and then rests. One might infer that God took delight in the accomplished fact of Creation. Later, God gives the command that we keep the Sabbath – and our only example for what that means is to do what God did: rest and enjoy.
So yes, delight has been there, quite literally from Genesis! But we also can see the word delight (“oneg”) in Isaiah, used repeatedly, from which I gather Isaiah is making a point: delight is a fundamental aspect of the Shabbat observance.
Thanks for your question!
As for Muslim delight in God or from God, I am not an expert on the Quran, although I understand that the Sufis take great delight in the presence of God, and some individuals I know seem to feel a deep fulfillment in their faith. Whether or not to call it “delight” I cannot say.
Quite simply, this is a most beautiful and complete prayer. And, I am so delighted that you have recovered!!