It’s been more than a year of no graduations, no stands filled with cheering fans, no long hugs from adorable, snotty-nosed grand kids. The pandemic put a temporary halt to many of the things that give us joy. But as vaccinations are up and COVID-19 cases are down, it won’t be long before we’re back to what we like to do. After a long season of tears, and dark nights of the soul, it’s time to return to delight, hopefully, not just any delight, but a Jeremiah delight where what we like is what God likes.
Jeremiah—the weeping prophet—had his own pandemic-like woes. Apostacy sped like an air-borne disease. He had plenty to cry about: lying priests, false prophets, and stiff-necked people. With God’s judgment of exile to Babylon looming over Judah, Jeremiah urged the people—then and now—to understand what delights God. It’s time to like what God likes.
24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD. Jeremiah 9:24
First, God likes chesed—lovingkindness. It’s more than being loving or being kind. It is an amalgam of virtues that goes above being either of those two virtues alone. It means giving oneself fully, with love and compassion. There are elements of courage and imagination in chesed according to contemporary Jewish scholar and teacher Avivah Zornberg. The concept of chesed appears in the Torah more than 190 times. One of those appearances is in Exodus 34:6:
6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth… Exodus 34:6
God showed his chesed—His above and beyond lovingkindness. Instead of wiping out Israel for their golden-calve sins, He made a covenant with them, to continue His relationship with them to eventually bless all men (Gen. 12).
We are called to delight in this kind of chesed—this above and beyond lovingkindness like that of teacher John Butler who loaned his shoes to student Daverius Peters who showed up at graduation with the wrong shoes. He was allowed to walk because of his teacher’s delight.
Second, God likes mishphat—justice. That which is right in how we treat others is a delight to God. Conversely, that which is not right, God hates like the time Jezebel had Naboth killed so King Ahab could have his garden (1 Kings 21). For that, both Jezebel and Ahab were judged by God worthy to be eaten by dogs (1 Kings 21:19-23). When you see an injustice, right it because God calls us to “do just” (Micah 6:8). Like the justice God likes.
Finally, God likes tzedakah—righteousness. Closely related to justice, righteousness is the virtue of charitable giving. We are obligated to give to those in need as seen in the practice, at harvest time, of leaving crops standing in the corners of fields to allow the poor to reap needed food for survival (Lev. 23:22). Ruth, the Moabite, gleaned from the righteous man Boaz’s field, and she and her mother-in-law, Naomi, were fed. Eventually, Boaz and Ruth would marry. From the lineage of that union, Christ—our Savior—would come. You never know who’s at the end of your benevolence when you delight in righteousness.
After a long season of tears, it’s time for a little delight—God’s delights. Love beyond, right wrongs, and give as if your life depends on it. Like what God likes.
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