The Best Wedding of All Guest Writer: Leigh DeLozier
Today I am thrilled to welcome Leigh DeLozier. Leigh and I met twenty years ago when a publisher hosted a conference for our first books. I’m thankful social media has allowed us to keep in touch. Her name may be familiar to you because she served as my Launch Manager for Hope for Widows: Reflections on Mourning Living and Change. Read on for sweet thoughts about more than summer weddings.
Social media shows photos of weddings. We smile when we see a wedding invitation in our mailbox. Wedding season is in full swing, which has me thinking about one of my favorite chapters in the Bible: Psalm 45.
In it, the Psalmist tells of a perfect wedding between the king and his soon-to-be queen. The writer is full of praise for the king and is excited about what the wedding means for the kingdom. He begins by praising the king, but verses 10-15 focus on the queen instead. There are several details in that passage still true for our brides today:
- She leaves her family to begin a new life with her husband.
- People bring the couple many gifts.
- She wears special clothing: beautifully embroidered garments and a gown that’s interwoven with gold.
Isaiah 62:5b helps explain the connection: “As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.”
Have you ever seen a groom’s face absolutely light up as he watched his bride walk down the aisle? Or could you tell how in love they were simply by the way they looked at each other?
That’s how God feels about us! And He wants us to grow in our faith to the point where we see Him with the same joy. He wants us to open His Word looking for beautiful words.
When Christ came to earth, He changed how we understand many parts of the Old Testament. Several verses in Revelation say Christ is the groom and the church is the bride (such as Rev. 19:7, 21:2 and 21:9-10). When we pair those verses from Isaiah and Revelation with Psalm 45, we see that it’s more than a story about a royal wedding – it’s an illustration of our marriage to Christ when we become a Christian.
And that, without a doubt, is the best wedding of all.
One of the verses from this wedding story that most stands out to me is Psalm 45:11 (NIV 2001):
The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor him, for he is your lord.
The word “enthralled” is what makes me smile. Most other translations say that the king “desires” the queen’s beauty. I can appreciate that (after all, who doesn’t want to be desirable?) but in my mind the word “enthralled” says a lot more.
According to our trusty dictionary friend Webster, part of the definition for enthralled is “to be held as if in a spell; to be captivated; fascinated.” Other definitions include words like spellbound, enchanted, and charmed.
Do we stop to think about our relationship with God like that?
He doesn’t just like us – He’s enchanted by us. He doesn’t simply have a casual, passing interest in us or our lives – He’s spellbound by everything we do, from the most mundane to the most exciting. And He doesn’t just half listen to our prayers while He takes care of other business – He truly listens and is fascinated by our every word.
The concept of someone being enthralled with us – especially God – might be difficult for us to grasp. If that’s the case, we don’t need to feel guilty or “less than” because of it. Instead, let’s take a first step by asking God to help us believe it’s true. Let’s pray for each other, that God will shower us with love and remind us how special we are to Him.
And the next time we attend a wedding, may it be a beautiful reminder of how much we mean to God.
How has God reminded you of His love lately?
About Leigh:
Leigh DeLozier is a corporate writer/editor by day and a Christian writer, blogger, and book reviewer by night. She is the author of three devotional books, a graduate of She Speaks, and a member of American Christian Fiction Writers and Word Weavers International. Connect with her at www.AuthorLeighDeLozier.com or on social media, where she shares devotions, book reviews, and a bit of Scripture digging.
The Conversation
Thanks for sharing this beautiful example of Christ’s love for us, Leigh. When we begin to see our relationship with Him as a bride we can receive how much He does love us. Thank you, Marilyn, for hosting Leigh here.
What a wonderful, uplifting message, Leigh and Marilyn. To focus on God’s love for us, the fact he is enthalled by us is amazing–and such a blessing. As you mention, the love in a groom’s eyes as He views his bride, is so tender and sweet, it brings us to tears. To imagine and believe God views us with that tender and overwhelming love. Loved your message, Leigh. What a blessing!
Leigh, your explanation of God’s thoughts and feelings toward us is wonderful. I have meditated on some of these verses for myself, and I do sometimes have a hard time imagining myself as the object of such deep affection. But I know it’s true!
Thank you, Barbara, Katherine and Annie, for stopping by and joining the conversation. I completely agree — it can be difficult to imagine God loving us that much and looking at us with such love. Maybe that’s why He reminds us over and over again in the Bible of how special we are to him! I feel so unworthy of that love but am so grateful for it.
Thank you, Marilyn, for inviting me into your special space. God’s sweet blessings to you, my friend!
What a great message to show us God’s love for us. Thanks for sharing Leigh’s wonderful message.