“Delight yourself in the Lord.” Psalm 37:4

The teaching of these words must seem surprising to those who have never known real godliness, but to the sincere believer they only restate a recognized and profound truth. The life of the believer is described as a “delight” in God, and therefore true religion will always overflow with happiness and joy. Anyone who doesn’t actively cultivate a relationship with God, including secular scholars who study religion as merely an intellectual pursuit or as a social curiosity, never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they are personally involved in religion at all, it is either for personal gain or for cultural reasons only.

The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most people. No two words in their language stand further apart than “holiness” and “delight.” But believers who know Christ understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts find that His ways are ways of joy, and all His paths are peace. Such joys, such overwhelming delights, such overflowing blessedness, they can continually discover in the Lord. Instead of merely serving Him out of habit, they follow Him even if all the world were to curse His holy name.

We do not revere God because of any compulsion. Our faith is no chain, and our confession of faith is no enslavement. We are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.

Delight and true religion are as united as root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty. They are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

“‘Tis when we taste Thy love, Our joys divinely grow, Unspeakable like those above, And heaven begins below.”

Question: What brings you delight? What ways does/should the Lord bring you delight?

By Charles Spurgeon
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

God is My Delight

My Great Delight

Delight Yourself in the Lord

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“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” Psalm 37:4

When my first child was placed in my arms he wrapped his little fingers around my heart and never let go.

As I watched this little man grow, I delighted in his sweet way of wrapping his chubby little arms around my neck, the way he looked at life, his sorrow over the “broken moon”.

God gives us a promise in Psalm 37:4 but there’s also a condition to the promise. Do you see it? In order to get our heart’s desires, we must delight in our God.

Unreserved. Outrageous. Audacious. Delight.

Delight in the way He knows us best and loves us most, the way He cares for us in our brokenness, the way He reveals Himself to us, the way He satisfies our deepest longings.

And the more we delight in Him the more our desires become His desires. We want what He wants. We can’t get enough of Him. Our hearts are satisfied.

But when we neglect keeping company with God, all sorts of overwhelming desires clamor for our attention. Each calling out in their own way, claiming to feed our need for identity, worth, and importance. Each promising satisfaction but never seeming to satisfy.

Why do we choose the temporal over the eternal? Why do we delight more in a ballgame or burger than in our Creator?

Awake my soul, O Lord! Teach me to follow hard after You. Let me delight in Your presence more than anything else. May my desires become Your desires for You are the One who satisfies fully, loves completely, and never lets go. Amen.

By Kristi Huseby
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

Delight in God

God is My Delight

My Great Delight

The post Awake My Soul appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“Be delighted with the Lord.”  Psalm 37:4a

Looking out the window of our friend’s boat while traveling up the inner passage of the west coast of British Columbia, I was completely awed by God’s creation. The acres of lush green forests, the rhythm of tides and currents, the changing weather and the variety of birds and the marine life on the island we explored all made my heart soar with praises to God with the song, “How Great Thou Art!”

We had the opportunity to visit two different areas of B.C. that summer. In addition to the ocean experience, we also spent a week in the interior of BC – the desert part of our province. Each morning, quails with their chicks came down to the house to get their breakfast our hosts provided for them. What a treat to watch these bird families.

One of the most satisfying aspects of our summer adventure was the solitude. Quietness. There was time to commune with God.

Philip Keller writes about special times like this in his book, God is My Delight:

“At such moments there wells up within us an overwhelming outpouring of profound praise. Often an acute awareness of His presence is so intense it is difficult to articulate or express our deep exaltation. He understands our limitations; He perceives our profound affection, our simple faith; He is pleased beyond measure; He delights to draw near; He deigns to commune with us in spirit.

These are precious, private interludes of great intimacy and open transparency. Here a man or woman is in company with God Himself.”

Be delighted with the Lord!

Oh God, thank You so much for the privilege of communing with You. You are so awesome that I cannot express my deep exaltation. But I love You and want to know You more. Thank You for creating me to have fellowship with You. Amen.

by Katherine Kehler
Used by Permission

Further Reading

•  Delight Yourself in the Lord 

•  The Desires of the Heart

•  Salvation Explained

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“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

Thoughts on today’s verse

Rather than seeing this as a way to get our wish list granted, let’s see it for what it really is — an invitation to seek a love relationship with God above all other things. In finding him, we will find our priorities properly aligned and our hearts tuned to know what is really valuable and what is not. Then we will see that what we have in him is our heart’s greatest desire.

Prayer:

Awesome and Gracious Father, I confess to you that so often my heart is full of selfish things. But in moments like these, Father, I recognize that you are what I most need and your will is my heart’s desire. Please kindle your Spirit in me so that I may see through any selfish, deception that would rob me of having you first in my life. Forgive me when I’m petty, selfish and shallow. May I know you as much as is possible for a mortal to know you, not so that I may be full, but that you may be honored. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.

by Phil Ware
used by permission.

You can also follow Phil’s daily devotionals on https://www.verseoftheday.com

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