To Encourage You

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

Do you ever think about the word “delight”?  It’s used in the verse above from Psalm 37.  Listen to C.H. Spurgeon’s thoughts on this word: “What is this delight? I have been thinking the word ‘delight’ over, and I cannot explain it. You know it is a word by itself. A delightful word—I cannot use anything but its own self to describe it! If you look at it—it is flashing with light, it sparkles like a star, no, like a bright constellation, radiant with sweet influences like the Pleiades. It is joy, yet is it more, it is joy running over; it is rest, but such a rest as allows of the utmost activity of every passion of the soul. Delight! It is mirth without its froth. Delight! It is peace, yet it is more than that, it is peace celebrated with festivity, with all the streamers hanging in the streets, and all the music playing in the soul. Delight! To what shall I compare it? It is a stray word that belongs to the language of Paradise. When the holy words of Eden flew away to heaven at the fall, this one, being entangled in the silken meshes of the net of the first promise, was retained on earth to sing in believers’ ears! Where shall I find metaphors to describe it? Man fails me; let me turn, then, to the creatures of God who do not sin. Go to the seaside when the sea is going down, and in some parts of the coast you will see a little fringe just at the edge of the wave. It looks like a mist, but on closer examination you will find there are millions of very small shrimps, leaping up in all manner of postures and forms out of the receding wave, in exuberance of glee and merriment. Or look on a summer eve at the gnats as they dance untiringly, scarcely knowing how to enjoy themselves enough! Or see the lambs in the field, how they skip and leap! Listen to the morning song of the birds of the air, and listen again to their delicious notes at eventide! Look at the fish as they leap from the stream, and hear the insects as they hum in the air—these may give faint glimmerings of the light of delight!” (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sunshine in the Heart, 1862).

It’s such a wonderful word, but notice how the psalmist uses it?  He encourages believers to delight themselves “in the Lord.”  It’s a concept that will seem so strange to an unbeliever. For so many in this world, “delighting” in God or the things of God makes no sense.  To them attending a church service is nothing more than an obligation – or less, for they never go.  It’s a boring place. Time in a church service could be so much better spent elsewhere, for it cuts into the delight one might have elsewhere, perhaps in his or her family, a hobby like golf or fishing, or perhaps the joy of sleeping in. 

Then there’s the matter of God’s Word.  It’s not something they choose to read or think about, for what delight can there be in THAT?  So many rules and regulations!  It’s just so hard to understand!  And what about prayer? Is THAT a delightful practice?  No one would actually think so, if they aren’t one to delight in God. 

But when Christ enters our life and transforms our heart, the things we delight in drastically change. We see this throughout the Scriptures in those who have a relationship with the Creator and Savior of the World.  Listen to the psalmist’s words in Psalm 119:148: “My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.”  He’s enthralled with God and His Word. He loves to think about it.  Then in verse 47 of this same psalm, he says this: “I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.”

So does that describe you?  Listen to David’s words from Psalm 122:1 “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” Is that your attitude when you think of gathering with others to worship the Lord, or is such a sentiment foreign to you? 

Listen to Paul’s encouragement that we “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, (and) give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  Paul urges others to do this for he knows of the delight of living in God’s will, and he longs for others to know this as well. 

But then notice the second part of the verse above. It says that if we delight in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our heart!  He’s not saying that the means to getting whatever our little old heart desires (like a bigger house, a better car, and other worldly things) is to be more religious (contrary to what so many TV preachers might say). Rather, he’s telling us that if our delight is truly in the Lord, then the Lord’s desires, which are the very best things He has for us, will become ours.  These are desires for eternal things, holy things, God-honoring things, like His peace, His joy, and His love.  It includes the desire to serve Him, to know Him, and to glorify Him in all that we say and do.  It’s the best of the best that God would give, but it is only available to them that would love Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:4). It’s just another way of saying that a person delights in Him.  And to delight in Him is to have life and have it to the full (John 10:10).