Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” This episode talks about how we can delight in the Lord. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Delight In The Lord
Psalm 37:4 “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”
I am not sure if you have noticed but I have been sticking to Psalm 37 this week. I read it on Friday after my prayer group and the verses given at prayer group were Psalm 37:1-7. However, when I read them, I realized that there was so much packed into those 7 short verses. Then I was going to do 2 verses each day, but even 2 sometimes was too much. For instance yesterday’s verse was “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pastures.” The second verse would have been this verse, but by the time I finished talking about trusting the Lord and doing good, it was the end of the episode. I could have probably just made it a longer episode and squeezed this verse in, but I didn’t want to rush past this very important point.
Have you ever thought about taking delight in the Lord? I am sure this is not the only time this idea is presented in the Bible. Actually there are more than 10 instances in the Bible where it talks about taking delight in the Lord or in His law. I have never thought of taking delight in the Lord before. I mean, I love him and I spend time with him, but to be honest, when I read this verse I wondered how I would even do take delight in the Lord. I literally typed into the search bar on my computer, “How does one delight in the Lord.” I tell you this because I don’t want you to think because I am doing this podcast, I have everything figured out. I don’t want you to think when I speak I am speaking with any authority as if I was an expert. I am on the same journey you are on. We could study the Bible our whole lives and still not have it all figured out.
When I read a scripture verse I listen to what the Holy Spirit has to tell me about the verse, I also think about what I have learned up until this point, and sometimes, many times, I go to the internet to see what others say about this verse. My goal with this podcast is for us to be on this journey together to discover God’s Word more fully and to see how we can apply that word to our daily lives. I am not choosing versing that I already understand. Actually I am not really choosing the verses. I am using the verses from my prayer group that people feel inspired by the Holy Spirit to share. This means often times I will get a verse and I don’t completely understand what it means. Sometimes the Holy Spirit gives me an understanding and sometimes I find that understanding through research.
I do know that it is important to read the scripture and to try to understand it. This was confirmed at my prayer group the other day, someone felt strongly that the Lord wanted to tell us that His word is as pertinent today as it was then. We have the Lord right in our tabernacle and he is right there with us in adoration and in everything. His word is still as powerful today as it was. That is why it is important to read his word and fill us so that we can fill ourselves with what God wants to tell us.” God will speak to you directly through the scriptures if you let Him.
Ok, back to today’s verse. How does one delight in the Lord? I found two really good articles and I will put a link to them in the show notes. One of them was titled, “What Does It Mean To Take Delight In The Lord?” and was written by Tracy Kulwicki. In this article Tracy talks not only about this verse, but the verses we discussed yesterday. Psalm 37:3-4 ““Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” The author said before you get the desires of your heart you need to trust in the Lord, do good and take delight in the Lord. She says the reason we need to do these things first is not because we need to win God over, or because we need to work hard to get things from God. The reason we need to do these things is because when we do these things first, then our desires become His.
We talked a lot yesterday about how to trust in the Lord and do good. Today we will talk about how do we delight in the Lord? Here is what Tracy says about how we can delight in the Lord.
“When I take delight in my children, I spend time with them. I watch the things they do. I notice who they are. I notice their features and character. I laugh at the funny things they do. I hold them close. I talk with them. I listen to them. I recognize the unique things about them that make them who they are. I think about them often. I focus on the great things about them that I love. I remember the words they’ve said that melt my heart, the great memories we’ve created together, and the times when we overcame something challenging together.
She went on to say, “We can do the same things with God. We take delight in God by spending time with Him, watching the things He is doing in our lives. We can notice who He is, learn about His features and characteristics. We can laugh at the funny moments in our lives that come from His hand. We can hold Him close, talk with Him, listen to Him. Recognize who He is, think about Him all throughout our day and focus on His greatness and love. We can remember the times He has moved in our lives, the things He has done for us, and the prayers He has answered.”
I think this is both a great description of how we already delight in things and also how we can apply what we are already doing to God. Just listening to that description of how we delight in our children made me smile. It made me think of how much I love my children. If you don’t have children, I bet you do have something that you delight in as she described above. It might be a pet, friends, nieces and nephews, cousins, friends. Whatever it is that you delight in, that was a pretty good description of how we go about doing it. Then thinking about how I could apply that to our Lord made me smile as well. I love our Lord. I am sure you do too, or you wouldn’t be listening to a podcast titled, “Walk Boldly With Jesus.” Thinking about all the ways we can delight in him, makes me smile and warms my heart. Let me break down some of the things she said so we can really remember them.
There is so much more in Tracy’s article. I urge you to read her full article. (click here for article) You can click on the link in the show notes or even just to google “What does it mean to take delight in the Lord?”. Her website is workingmomsbalance.com It was a great article and it went into more detail than I could in this episode.
I just want to leave you with the question, “What can you do today to delight in the Lord?”
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that you bless all those that listen to this episode today. Lord we love you and we want to delight in you. Lord, help us to get to know you better and help us to spend more time with you. Help us to notice where you are in our lives Lord and help us to remember all the funny things you have done. You are amazing Lord and we are so very thankful for all that you do for us every day. You keep showing up for us even when we aren’t the best at showing up for you and we are grateful for that Lord. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Another great article Titled "Delight Yourself in the Lord: This Changed My Life" by Kelly R Baker. (click here for article)
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