prayed, asking God for this thing that you desired so greatly, only to have your spirit crushed
when you never received it.
Psalms 37:4 "Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of
thine heart."
How often have you quoted this verse back to the Lord and ended it with the question, "Why
didn't you give me the desires of my heart God?" There is a simple reason...did you delight
yourself in the Lord first? You can't claim the promise at the end if you haven't fulfilled
your responsibility at the beginning! The end hinges on the beginning. When we delight
ourselves in the Lord then the desires of our hearts will line up with His will for our lives.
This was brought to my attention again this past week by a sermon I heard. How easy it
is for us to dismiss the parts of a verse that requires action on our part. We just want God
to be someone who gives us whatever we want, when we want it. Thankfully our Heavenly
Father knows what is best for us, and when our hearts line up with His Word we will ask
for things that He will delight to give us.
How do we delight ourselves in the Lord? Here are a few ways.
1. Psalms 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the
heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."
Psalms 4:4 "Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon
your bed, and be still, Selah."
Are we still enough to know God? Can we still our busy thoughts and bustling spirits
to hear His still small voice? He wants us to know Him, He wants our fellowship,
friendship and worship. It is only when we are still and quiet that He can speak to us.
Are we listening, or are we so intent on our activities and plans that His voice is erased
in the business that surrounds us? Are we delighting in His voice?
2. Psalms 47:6 & 7 "Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises unto our King,
sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with under-
standing."
Psalms 69:30 "I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him
with thanksgiving."
We delight ourselves in the Lord when we sing of Him! How much we have to praise
God for. When we concentrate on all that the Lord has done for us, songs of praise will
just come bubbling up from our hearts and overflow from our lips. How can the desires
of our heart not line up with His will when we are singing of His loving kindness, protection,
amazing grace, promised presence, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, free salvation
and constant provision. Wow the list is endless of what He gives to us. Are we delighting
in singing His praises?
3. Psalms 119:97 & 160 "O how love I Thy law, it is my meditation all the day.
Thy word is true from the beginning; and every one of Thy righteous judgements
endureth for ever."
Psalms 77:12 "I will meditate also of all Thy work, and talk of Thy doings."
Can we honestly say that we love the Word of God, that we meditate on it all the day?
If we are truly delighting in the Lord, then His holy Word will have first place in our
lives! His Word is our daily bread, we can't live without it. If we deny ourselves the
"Bread of life," we will be weak Christians, we are cutting ourselves off from the
Lord Jesus Christ and we will become useless in service to Him. Are we delighting
in the Word of God?
4. Psalms 89:1 "I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth,
will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations."
Psalms 103:17 & 18 "But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear Him, and His righteousness unto children's children; to
such as keep His covenant, and to those that remember His commandments to
do them."
Do we truly understand the mercy of God? We deserve nothing but judgement and
punishment for our idolatrous, sinful ways. But it only because of God's wondrous
mercy that His wrath does not consume us. The dictionary gives this definition of
mercy: "forbearance, leniency shown to a guilty person, compassion." How blessed
we are that because of the blood of Jesus Christ, God's mercy is shown towards us.
We can stand faultless before Almighty Holy God because of His mercy. Are we
delighting in the mercy of God?
5. Psalms 29:11 "The LORD will give strength unto His people: the LORD will
bless His people with peace."
Psalms 85:8a "I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for He will speak
peace unto His people and to His saints:"
Everyone is seeking peace these days, yet there is only one true source of peace,
the Lord God. Jesus Christ is called the "Prince of Peace in Isaiah 9:6. Yet people
want the peace without the Prince, it just doesn't work that way. The world thinks
that it can achieve peace through material things, popularity, intellectual achievements,
but it just doesn't work that way either. In John 14:27 Jesus says, that He will leave His
peace with us and that it is not the peace that the world gives. As God's children
living in this sin ridden world, are we delighting in the peace of God?
6. Psalms 85:10 - 13 "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and
peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and
righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the LORD shall give that
which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go
before Him; and shall set us in the way of His steps."
God is righteous. There is no sin in Him. His judgements are righteous all together.
His ways, His thoughts, His Word is righteous. Do we really understand, in full,
the righteousness of God? In His presence sin cannot stand, yet He desires our
communion with Himself. Covered with the blood of the lamb we can come before
Him, clothed in His righteousness. What a tremendous gift we have in this. Are
we delighting in the righteousness of God?
This just scratches the surface of the things that we have to delight in the Lord for.
We have a God who has "daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our
salvation." (Psa 68:19), so how can we help but delight ourselves in Him? And
when we delight ourselves accordingly, our desires will line up accordingly; and
our Heavenly Father will give us the desires of our heart.
Jesus, I am resting, resting in the joy of what Thou art;
I am finding out the greatness of Thy loving heart.
Thou hast bid me gaze upon Thee, and Thy beauty fills my soul,
for by Thy transforming power, Thou hast made me whole.
O how great Thy loving kindness, vaster, broader than the sea!
O how marvelous Thy goodness, lavished all on me!
Yes, I rest in Thee, Beloved, know what wealth of grace is Thine,
Know Thy certainty of promise, and have made it mine.
Simply trusting Thee, Lord Jesus, I behold Thee as Thou art,
And Thy love, so pure, so changeless, satisfies my heart;
Satisfies its deepest longings, meets, supplies its every need,
Compasseth me round with blessings: Thine is love indeed.
Ever lift Thy face upon me as I work and wait for Thee;
Resting 'neath Thy smile, Lord Jesus, earth's dark shadows flee.
Brightness of my Father's glory, Sunshine of my Father's face,
Keep me ever trusting, resting, fill me with Thy grace.
Jean S. Pigott
No comments:
Post a Comment