The last couple days, I’ve been camped out in a single verse from Psalm 44:

We didn’t fight for this land;
we didn’t work for it — it was a gift!
You gave it, smiling as you gave it,
delighting as you gave it.
— Psalm 44:3

I keep meditating on this verse in the context of my tree. I mentioned yesterday that I experience these images from Jesus as a gift, and this image of being a great oak tree planted on a jutting cliff, where birds come and find nest in its branches is certainly that.

So in this psalm, I find resonance. I didn’t fight for this place I’ve been planted. I didn’t work for it at all. It was a gift! Jesus accorded me this identity as a tree, and he led me to the place of my planting.

And then the psalm says that he gave it, smiling as he gave it, delighting as he gave it.

Yes.

I’ve learned that Jesus loves doing what he does in our lives. He loves being present. He loves spending time with us. He loves hearing what we have to say — he really listens. He smiles!

And he loves doing the work only he can do in us: the work of excavation, of restoration, of building up, of leading, and of planting.

He delights in us and in the ever-new realities he is making of our lives.

Do you feel connected to the delight of Jesus in you?