Delight in the Lord
Psalm 37:1-37:8
Last week we looked at being strong in the Lord and standing firm in the Lord.
This morning we will look at delighting ourselves in the Lord.
You remember as a kid the excitement of receiving presents?
Truth is all of us enjoy presents. As a kid you didn’t do anything to earn them, they were given to you to show you how much you are appreciated and loved.
Presents uplift us, fill us with happiness and assure us we are important to others.
I think God enjoys getting gifts from us. (He would be hard to buy for)
I believe He gets joy when we give Him our time. Talents, treasures, and we give him ourselves and desire to have and keep an intimate relationship with Him.
He gets joy when we tangible show Him that we love Him and He delights to give us gifts as His children.
Psalms 37:1-37:8
Quick look at this passage
Do not fret- or do not worry about wicked people succeeding.
Trust in the Lord, and enjoy safety.
Commit your ways to the Lord.
Be still and wait on God for those things we do not understand.
Right in the middle of these verses (4) Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart (repeat)
2 questions come to mind
(1) What does it mean to delight in the Lord?
(2) What does it take for God to give you the desires of your heart?
If you would read all of this long Psalm- you would see that the theme is the contrast between the righteousness of God and the wicked. Who will inherit the land and who will enjoy the blessings of God?
I want you to see something here that is important. you may want to write this down.
When the lord is delighted with us, He will help us and keep us.
(23) “ If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm, though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”
“The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord, He delights in every detail of our lives.”
Giving is what God does and giving is what God expects out of us.
There is a covenant between God and us.
God delights to give to His children, and His children should delight to give back to God.
A covenant is a binding agreement between God and God’s people.
Giving is an act of Christian Community.
We cannot say we love God without loving others and modeling Christ. Christ loved and Christ gave to others.
Let’s go back to one of the first questions I asked you this morning.
I. What does it mean to delight yourself in the Lord
To be delighted is to be joyful- joyful in the Lord and finding joy in pleasing and being in God’s presence.
We see in (v1) that;
If we fret about what others have compared to us, we will be worrying instead of joyful.
If we are always fretting about the unrighteous getting more than what we have- we will be worrying instead of joyful.
If we think life is fair, and everytime wrong is done to us, we blow a casket- we will be worrying instead of being joyful.
The key to be delighted in the Lord is to be trusting in the Lord.
(3) “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the Lord and enjoy safe pasture.”
Trusting is the doorway to understanding- Psalm 24
“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it, for he founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters.”
God provides for His people-
Your body, your skills, your talents, the job you have or praying for- belong to the Lord.
That full checkbook or that empty checkbook belong to the Lord.
Trusting is the key
How are you doing in trusting God?
On a scale of 1-10, 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest- how are you doing?
Why do we have such a hard time trusting God?
Because it is contrary to our sinful nature. It is easier to worry and blame God than to trust God.
Trusting God in things we cannot see- when it doesn’t look good. When you don’t have all things figured out. Trusting God when it would be easier to worry.
We should trust God because we are recipients of God’s goodness.
We show Him that we love Him.
By our worship- Rev. 14:7
“ Worship Him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the spring of water.
By our Bodies- Roman 12:1-2
“ In view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship.”
By our Time and talents- 1 Cor. 10:31
“ So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
You show me someone’s checkbook, calendars, and I will be able to tell you what is important to them.
Down through the years, the Lord has been good to me- Even in the dark times.
Maybe you can say the same thing.
Maybe I have not eaten steak everyday, but the Lord has provided.
I may not have the best of the best, but He has taken care of me.
(25) “I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken, or his children begging bread.”
You know what he is saying here- David is saying as an old man- during every stage of his life, from cradle to grave, God has taken care of me.
II. Committing yourself to God
To delight in the Lord is to trust the Lord. Another side of delighting is committing.
(5) “Commit your way to the Lord; trust him, and he will do this. He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”
1 Peter 5:7- “Cast all your anxiety (cares) on him because he cares for you.”
Commitment is different for each one of us- heard it said this way
To a boxer- it is getting up off the mat one more time than getting knocked down.
To a marathon runner- it is running further when the strength is gone.
To a soldier- it is sacrificing self to complete the mission.
To a Christian- committed to excellence and standing on God’s word and obeying God’s word at all cost because there is no other option to you acceptable by God.
To delight yourself in the Lord is to surrender everything to God, and know that what is given back to you will be more than enough (repeat)
4 types of people
Cop-outs- people who have no goals and no commitment.
Hold-outs- people who are afraid to commit just in case something better comes along.
Drop-outs- people who quit when it gets tough.
All-outs- people who set goals, commit to them and sacrifice all to make it happen.
This is why David Psalm 40:8 says
I delight (desire NIV) to do thy will, O my God, thy law is within my heart.” (Commitment)
To delight in the Lord is to desire what pleases God more than what pleases you. (Commitment)
In our thinking- Isa. 26:3
In our looking to God- Heb. 12:2
In our hearing from God- Isa. 55:3
In our doing for God- Heb. 13:20-21
Commitment is all about the heart.
If you are going to be committed to God, He must have your heart.
If you want to make a difference in people’s lives, check your heart to make sure your committed to doing that.
Heart is what separates good from great and separates doers from dreamers.
Arthur Gordon
“Nothing is easier than saying words. Nothing is harder than living them day after day.”
Closing
How do you delight in the Lord?
Trusting God with everything, I mean everything! Being Committed to Him at all cost.
The desires of our heart become the desires of His heart. It becomes easy for God to You are committed to something, why not the things of God?
Illustration
Someone told me about a newly elected judge who had won office in a special county election. During his acceptance speech, he said, “I wish to thank the 424 people who promised to vote for me. I wish to thank the 316 people who said that they did vote for me. I wish to thank the 47 people who came out to vote last Thursday, and I wish to thank the 26 folks who actually did vote for me.”
There will be times when commitment is the only thing that will carry you forward.
