The Discipline of Delight

"I know how to abound'' (Phil. 4:12).

   Some people seem to get all the good things in life; and to our way of thinking we get quite the reverse. They seem to have abundance of resources, and all that goes with money, clothes, car, companions, ease, and education, while we plod along, quite penniless; theirs, abundance of health in energy, endurance, athletic ability, and good looks, while we carry weary body and aching heart. They have prosperity and prominence, poise and position, friends and favor, family and affection, home and hospitality; in the words of the Psalmist, ''They have more than heart could wish'' (Ps. 73:7).

   Pride is a great enemy of the soul; and Scripture has much to say on that point. ''When pride cometh, then cometh shame'' (Prov. 11:2). ''Only by pride cometh contention'' (13:10). ''Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall'' (16:18). ''Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope for a fool than for him'' (26:12). ''A man's pride shall bring him low'' (29:23);

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and above all, ''God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God'' (I Pet. 5:5,6).

   The discipline of delight humbles the haughty heart, sweetens the spirit, mellows the brimming mind, and chastens the churlish temper. Self-sufficiency and sophistication are distilled by this discipline into the sweetness that says, ''Not that we are sufficient: to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God'' (II Cor. 3:5).

   The career of Moses illustrates excellently this discipline of delight. By native endowment he had everything one might covet; but he gave all away that he might have heavenly enduement for a worthwhile task. Justifiably, he might have been proud, for from babyhood he was very handsome. (His parents saw he was a ''proper'', a beautiful child, Heb. 11:23; ''exceeding fair,'' Acts 7:20; ''a goodly child,'' Exod. 2:2). ''Face value'' is often in contrast to ''real value,'' whether we think in terms of economics or of character; because for some, fair features create a ''pride of face'' that shrivels the soul and makes it ugly. A good face and a good heart go together; a pretty face may presume to itself prerogatives that its heart does not possess. Withal, handsome Moses became the humblest of men, unlike many others who could endure no humbling of heart.

   Moses also might have had ''pride of place.'' He was recognized as belonging to royalty, ''the son of

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Pharaoh's daughter'' (Heb. 11:24; Exod. 2:10; Acts 7:21). An adopted son often assumes airs that a real son would disdain. We might expect Moses to lord it over his lowly fellows, as would any small soul raised to such dizzy prominence; but on the contrary, ''he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens'' (Exod. 2:11). Place had not made him proud.

   Nor had learning! Because of place he had opportunity for education in a day when very few were even literate. ''Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians'' (Acts 7:2). ''A little learning is a dangerous thing,'' and it seems that many become silly or ridiculous when they strut their meager achievement. They seem educated beyond their intelligence. Their language resounds with pompous polysyllables in place of plain AngloSaxon words; their manner is marked by condescension toward the less-informed rather than by meekness of wisdom as was the Apostle Paul. He, like Moses, had understanding of the deep mysteries of God, yet he came not with ''excellency of speech'' or ''enticing words of man's wisdom'' (I Cor. 2:1-4). Learning had not made him proud.

   Nor had achievement! Moses was ''mighty in words and deeds'' (Acts 7:22). Tradition has it that he became commander-in-chief of the armies of Egypt; and his leadership of the unruly children of Israel in the wilderness revealed the organization and discipline that came from military training. Accomplishment makes some people proud, be

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their product large or small. ''Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?'' said Nebuchadnezzar before pride removed his season; and he was seven years in learning to ''honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment!'' (Dan. 4:30, 37). Mighty deeds make some men mad, as though achievement had set them apart from other toilers; and they become impatient or overbearing in their attitudes. Not so with Moses, for the discipline of delight made him ''very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth'' (Num. 12:3).

   Looks and books, society and industry, these and a thousand other factors make for some of us ''the pride of life''; and only by drastic disciplining of ourselves can we be useful for God and for our fellow men. Rather than delight in himself and his distinctions he concerned himself with the difficulties of others. ''It came into his heart to visit his brethren'' (Acts 7:23). Unselfish interest in the welfare of others makes us unconcerned about any natural gifts and graces we may have. We forget ourselves in helping others; and others are then conscious, not of our person and position, but rather of the Christ who dwells in our hearts.

   Choosing to suffer affliction for others becomes a genuine delight to us (Heb. 11:25). We identify ourselves with a Cause that is humanly unpopular, but which has the approval of Heaven. We renounce our rights in order to be on the right side;

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and a title to which we are entitled (as ''the son of Pharaoh's daughter'' belonged to Moses) becomes a mere trifle, if only we be known as ''the sons of God.'' The portion belonging to God's people is far more important to us than the ''pleasures of sin for a season'' (Heb. 11:25); to be reproached for the Cause of Christ, to bear His Name, to us exceeds the choicest treasures of earth (Heb. 11:26; I Pet. 4:14). We depend not upon our knowledge nor ability; rather we also ''endure as seeing him who is invisible'' (Heb. 11:27).

   There is satisfaction in serving the Lord Jesus; sweetness in suffering for His Name; blessing in bearing His reproach; pleasure in becoming a pilgrim; delight in doing His bidding. To have every natural delight: face, form, education, erudition, personality, position, achievement, and acclaim of others is to need the discipline of delight, that every gift be acknowledged as from the Giver, that every talent become a sacred trust, that every honor become a humbling of heart before Him, in order that He have all the glory. Then, like Moses of old, with lowly heart and veiled face, we shall walk where He leads, shall be thankful for daily manna, shall endure as seeing Him who is invisible, shall believe Him when every other friend fails. Then comes to pass the word, ''Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart'' (Ps. 37:4).

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No Scar?

Hast thou no scar?

No hidden scar on foot, or side, or hand?

I hear thee sung as mighty in the land,

I hear them hail thy bright ascendant star,

Hast thou no scar?

Hast thou no wound?

Yet I was wounded by the archers, spent,

Leaned Me against a tree to die; and rent

By ravening wolves that compassed me, I swooned:

Hast thou no wound?

No wound? no scar?

Yet, as the Master shall the servant be,

And pierced are the feet that follow Me;

But thine are whole: can he have followed far

Who hath no wound nor scar?

                                   —Amy Carmichael.*

*From TOWARD JERUSALEM by Amy Carmichael. Used by permission of the publishers, Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London.

Chapter Twelve  ||  Table of Contents