Delighting In The Lord

                                                     DELIGHTING IN THE LORD

                                                                    Psalm 37:1-11

Many delight in work wealth, status, education, material possessions, pleasure, sex, drugs, sports, and other temporary things of this world, but they are never satisfied. If you are following the FIFA World Cup these days, you can see how the players and the fans are crazy about Football. Thousands of fans traveled from other countries to the USA, spending thousands of dollars to support their home team on foreign soil.

When their team wins, they are elated; when they lose, they are deflated. What does it matter who wins and who loses? It is just a sport! Do they really get what they are seeking? No! They never truly get what they want, which is why they are always wanting more. The dictionary defines delight as: a high degree of gratification or pleasure.

This is the lesson King Solomon learned in his pursuit of earthly treasure that pleasures are meaningless. Ecclesiastes 2:9-11, "Oh, how I prospered! I left all my predecessors in Jerusalem far behind, left them behind in the dust. What's more, I kept a clear head through it all. Everything I wanted, I took—I never said no to myself. I gave in to every impulse, held back nothing. I sucked the marrow of pleasure out of every task—my reward to myself for a hard day's work! I Hate Life! Then I took a good look at everything I'd done, looked at all the sweat and hard work. But when I looked, I saw nothing but smoke. Smoke and spitting into the wind. There was nothing to any of it. Nothing." (The Message).

His Father, King David, had a different perspective on life. Psalm 37:1-7, "Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord;  trust in him and he will do this:  

He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes."

Solomon ran after the treasures of the earth to be satisfied, and concluded that everything is meaningless. On the other hand, delighting in the Lord is true treasure indeed: "Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Timothy 6:6). Why can the pursuit of earthly treasures not satisfy the inner longings of our hearts? I John 2:15-17, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever."

Who can grant us the desires of our hearts and make us truly satisfied? The answer is in Psalm 37:4, "Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Taking delight in the LORD means our hearts will truly find peace and fulfillment in Him. We take God as our greatest treasure in life and earnestly seek after Him more than gold, silver, or anything else. Then the scripture promises, "He will give the desires of our hearts."

Does that mean, if we go to church every Sunday, God will give us a new Rolls-Royce? No. The idea behind this verse and others like it is that, when we truly rejoice or "delight" in the eternal things of God, our desires will begin to parallel His, and we will never go unfulfilled.

If we place our joy and hope in God first, He will meet all of our needs. He will even grant our wants, as our hearts' desires begin to match up with His will.

 

If we truly prioritize the Lord, our hearts' greatest desire likely won't be a brand-new Rolls-Royce but eternal treasures in Christ. This world can never satisfy our deepest longings, but if we choose to delight in God's way, He will always provide more than we expect.

Jesus said, "Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:14). What does delighting in the LORD look like in our daily lives?

 

I. Delighting in the LORD means delighting in His word:

            Reading God's Word, meditating on it daily, and doing our best to live according to it. Psalm 1:1-3, Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers."

 

II. Delighting in the Lord means obeying His Commandments

 

Psalm 119:33-40, Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees, that I may follow it to the end. 34 Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law and obey it with all my heart. 35 Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. 36 Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. 37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. 38 Fulfill your promise to your servant, so that you may be feared. 39 Take away the disgrace I dread, for your laws are good. 40 How I long for your precepts! In your righteousness, preserve my life.

 

Psalm 119:65-72, Do good to your servant according to your word, Lord. 66 Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands. 67 Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I obey your word. 68 You are good, and what you do is good; teach me your decrees. 69 Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart. 70 Their hearts are callous and unfeeling, but I delight in your law. 71 It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. 72 The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold.

 

Delighting in the Lord is reflected in obeying his commandments. If only we could obey these two commandments, we could fulfill all the law and the prophets: Matthew 22:38-40, Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

 

Let us resolve this morning that we will delight ourselves in the Lord and He will meet the desires of our hearts. Amen!

Standing Up For Righteousness

                                                           Standing Up for Righteousness!

(Words From The Mountain)

 

George Galatis was an engineer at Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford, Connecticut, when he realized something was wrong. The spent fuel-rod pools risked releasing radioactivity throughout the plant. The pools were not meant to serve as nuclear waste dumps. Federal guidelines required the Millstone plant to move only a third of the rods into the pools, but Galatis discovered that all of the hot fuel had been dumped into them.

Supervisors overlooked this routine violation, knowing they were saving millions by taking shortcuts. Fearing that the violations could endanger thousands of lives, Galatis told his colleague, George Betancourt, that they should contact the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Betancourt agreed but was worried about his colleague's future. "You do that," he said, "and you're dog meat." When Galatis urged plant managers to stop the hazardous practices, they refused. Since many of his supervisors were churchgoers, he was baffled.

"This was not splitting hairs," Galatis says. "These were not technical issues. These were moral issues." Galatis warned his supervisors about what could happen: an eventual shutdown, plant decommissioning, and criminal investigations. But after two years, nothing had changed—except the workplace atmosphere in which Galatis found himself. When he sat down in the cafeteria, coworkers left. When he entered a meeting, the room went silent. Coworkers spread rumors that he was an alcoholic, and his performance evaluation suffered.

Galatis began a focused search for God's guidance. He woke up at 4 a.m. to pray and read the Scriptures. During lunch breaks, he drove to a quiet place to pray and search the Bible. It was during one of these prayer times that Galatis believed God whispered to him, "Will you die for me?" Though he feared for his safety, Galatis realized there were many ways of dying: his livelihood, his reputation, and his family were at stake.

After months of prayer and study, he concluded that no matter how much he was badgered, God would not let him be destroyed. He decided to contact the NRC. They offered him no refuge. Coworkers confronted him in the hallways and his office. Some called him a fool; others, a troublemaker. He was subtly threatened and harassed for months, and coworkers often told him, "Shut up and keep your job."

After four years of fighting Millstone and enduring harassment from coworkers, Galatis finally secured a severance agreement and left. The NRC never suspended Millstone's license, but three reactors were shut down for repairs at a cost of over $1 billion. A criminal investigation was initiated. Millstone reactor 1 will never reopen. The Millstone 2 and 3 plants did not reopen until years later. Galatis is now 47 and attends Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, with hopes of becoming a pastor."[1]

This true story illustrates what happens when we stand up for righteousness. It resonates with Christians in New England who face workplace harassment as they practice their faith in a secular setting. This is a mild form of persecution that some in the USA might experience, but many of our brothers and sisters worldwide face much greater harassment and persecution.

In our series on The Words From the Mountain, we reach a crucial moment where our faith will be tested. Our Lord clearly and directly explains what happens to those who want to be His disciples and stand up for righteousness and the rewards associated with it. Matthew 5:10-12

 

 

I Standing Up For Righteousness

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Matthew 5:10-12 (ESV).

Up to this point in his teaching, Jesus pronounced seven blessings on those who are serious about following Him, no matter what. The blessedness Jesus referred to here was more than a fleeting happiness that depends on our circumstances. It is a deep sense of Joy and Shalom (Inner and outward well-being), both in this chaotic world and in the future, that no person can give, and no circumstance can take away.

The people Jesus pronounced "blessed" represent a Kingdom culture, exhibiting Kingdom values that are not typically welcomed by the world at large. All the Beatitudes are counter-cultural to the world's values, but perhaps none so markedly as this eighth one. How can being persecuted be "blessed"? Persecution is never pleasant but involves suffering and often severe pain. As Jesus qualifies, the blessed persecution comes "for righteousness' sake." In life, we all go through some suffering; some suffer for doing evil, but that is punishment.

Others suffer persecution for reasons unrelated to righteousness. Jesus is not pronouncing blessedness to all victims of persecution for any cause. No! He offered to only those who actively pursue His Kingdom of righteousness, and because of their unwavering faith in Him.

Matthew 5:11 states, "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." Peter explains it this way: "But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?" But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God."  I Peter 2:20. NIV

The apostle Paul, writing to Timothy, expands the scope of persecution to include all believers: "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." II Timothy 3:12. The blessedness of persecution is promised only to those who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. Let's look at what does for the sake of righteousness mean?

II. What does Standing Up For Righteousness Mean?

When we hear the word righteousness, our minds immediately think of our personal moral purity and right standing with God. While that is partly true, the Hebrew understanding of righteousness is much richer, broader, and more community-oriented than we often realize.

The biblical word righteousness is based on two Hebrew words. "Tzedakah is the right living with God, that actively restores relationships and seeks the well-being of others. The second word, Mishpat, is the application of justice, the kind that creates a fair and stable society where the vulnerable are protected, and everyone is treated equitably.

These two core ideas, Tzedakah and Mishpat, are not separate concepts but deeply interconnected components of biblical righteousness."[2] So a righteous person, biblically speaking, is more than being good; he wholeheartedly loves God and seeks the Shalom of others.

Here are a couple of scriptures that explain the dual concept of righteousness. "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8, ESV). But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream! Amos 5:24.

Notice how righteousness is linked with justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. This demonstrates that righteousness is never practiced alone but is always relational with God and others. God wanted His people to pursue righteousness so much that He established laws to care for widows, the poor, orphans, and strangers, and to defend the rights of the vulnerable by bringing justice for them. That is what standing up for righteousness means.

When we stand up for righteousness or in Christ's name to bring people back to God and seek the well-being of others, we will undoubtedly face persecution, which has been happening since the time of the prophets and continues today in many parts of the world.

Every day, more than 12 Christians are killed for their faith. That's one Christian every two hours—murdered because they follow Jesus. Open Doors' 2025 World Watch List, the annual report that ranks the 50 most difficult places to be a Christian, highlights these grim facts. Other numbers are just as horrifying: 4,744 believers were arrested, imprisoned, detained without trial, or sentenced; 3,775 followers of Jesus were abducted; 3,944 Christians were sexually assaulted, harassed, or forcibly married to non-Christians. Nearly 55,000 believers experienced mental or physical abuse because of their faith, and 28,368 homes, shops, and businesses belonging to Christians were attacked. Additionally, nearly 210,000 followers of Christ were forced to flee their homes.[3]

 

These are not just numbers and statistics; they are our brothers and sisters in God's family. Why are they being harassed and persecuted so harshly? All because they stood up for righteousness and claimed the name of Christ. Jesus called them blessed, and theirs is the Kingdom of God. For that reason, we pray and support persecuted Christians. More importantly, we will stand up for righteousness wherever God has placed us, so that we, too, will be blessed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

           

 

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[1] Adam Bowles, "A Cry in the Nuclear Wilderness," Christianity Today, Vol. 44, No. 11 (10-2-00), p. 66

[2] https://www.thebibleseminary.edu/post/understanding-righteousness-in-hebrew-and-the-bible

[3] https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US/stories/12-Christians-killed-for-their-faith-each-day/

Blessed Are The Pure In Heart

                                                         Blessed Are The Pure In Heart

(Words From the Mountain)

 

In our series, "Words from the Mountain," we have been exploring Jesus' teachings to become better followers of Christ. So far, we have learned that the poor in spirit will enter God's Kingdom. As citizens of God's Kingdom, we mourn our own sins and the sins of others, and God comforts us with the gift of salvation. We recognize that only through gentleness can we win people over. When we hunger and thirst for God's righteousness, God satisfies us, and we become merciful to others just as God has been merciful to us.

We arrive at one of the most important teachings of Christ: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Matthew 5:8. This beatitude is not about God's actions in response to our deeds, but about seeing God Himself. How exciting is the idea of seeing God in His Glory! We start our journey by understanding what is meant by the term "The Heart."

I. The Human Heart:

            The Bible uses the term heart in different ways. In Hebrew, two words were used for the heart: Leb and Lebab. Depending on the context, these words emphasized mind, emotions, and will. More often, they referred to the entire inner person, the inner man, or the personality. The Greek word translated as "heart" is" Kardia," which is still used today in modern medicine, such as in Cardiology and Cardiac disease, etc.[1]

According to Lloyd Jones, the human heart in scripture includes intellect, emotions, and will. It is the center of man's being and personality; it is the fount out of which everything else comes. It is the total man, and that is the thing our Lord has been after, the human heart."[2] The heart is not only the seat of our whole personality but also has been the seat of all our troubles.

This is how the scriptures describe the condition of the human heart since the Fall. Genesis 6:5-6, "The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled." Even now, God grieves by seeing how far humans have strayed in their wicked ways.

II. The Deceitful Heart

For the past few months, I have been acutely aware of my heart due to a specific heart condition. Several tests and scans were performed to evaluate my heart's health. I even joked with the technician performing the MRI: "Wow! You get to see my heart. What did you see?" I was amazed by the knowledge and skills of the radiologists and cardiologists who diagnosed a particular disease of my heart and found a suitable treatment option.

I wondered whether they have any idea how broken, sick, evil, and deceived my own heart, my inner personality, has been. Not to mention fixing my broken heart. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, accurately assessed the human heart. "The heart is more deceitful than all else, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" Jeremiah 17:9 NASB.

King Solomon further revealed what truly occurs in the hearts of humankind. "The hearts of all people, moreover, are full of evil, and there is madness in their hearts while they live, afterword they join the dead. Ecc 9: 3 If no one can understand and heal our broken hearts, then who can? Only God! "I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds." Jeremiah 17:10.

So we cry out to the Lord, saying, "Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed, Save me, and I will be saved." Jeremiah 17:14. How is your heart today? Does it need some fixing? We have recognized how sick we are and who can heal us. Let's explore what purity of heart looks like.

III. Blessed Are The Pure In Heart.

            Our main verse comes from Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." We will explore what it means to be pure in heart and how this enables us to see God. Have you ever wondered what motivates someone to commit a terrible crime like murder, adultery, or lash out in anger at loved ones? It is the evil that resides in their hearts. Jesus, while addressing the Pharisees' hypocrisy, reveals the impurity of the unregenerate human heart.

            Matthew 15:18-20, "But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them." This is the true nature of the fallen human beings.

While making a point that the mouth speaks what the heart is full of, Jesus said, "A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart." Luke 6:45. What have we stored up in our hearts today?

What is necessary before we can see God? Holiness! Psalm 24:3-4, "Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false God." Hebrews 12:14, "Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."

 What did our Lord mean by, "pure in heart'? A pure heart means a heart free of hypocrisy, which means single-mindedness.[3] Jesus taught his disciples about the single, and evil eye in Matt 6:22, "The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness! KJV. Then made a profound statement: Matt. 6:24, "You cannot serve both God and money."

The purity of heart, therefore, relates to singleness or complete devotion to God alone. One of the best definitions of purity is found in Psalm 86:11, "Unite my heart to fear thy name." NASB. The real issue with followers of Christ is a divided heart. We are distracted by many things that divert our focus from following God to the ways of the world. The need of the hour is to pray to God so that He might unite our hearts to fear His name.

To be pure in heart means to avoid evil and to live a life that glorifies God by obeying His commandments. Jesus said all the law and the prophetsthe prophets hang these two vital commandments. Matthew 2:37-40, Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." When we live in obedience to these commandments, we shall see God.

What did Jesus mean by saying, "We shall see God"? Does it mean we shall see God in this world? Or when we get to heaven? Partially, this has been fulfilled here and now and in its totality in the Kingdom of God. In a way, Christians, God's children, have a unique sense of God's presence in and all around them. When we look at creation, we see God's fingerprints everywhere. When we see God's saving power in the way He saved us. We observe God's healing power as He heals our sicknesses and restores broken hearts.

All these partial manifestations of God are his mirror reflections in this world. I Cor 13:12. John the Beloved Disciple further amplified our future vision of Jesus. I John 3: 2-3, "Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." You and I, who are going through troubles and challenges in life, will one day see God face to face and live with Him forever? If we can grasp this glorious vision, it will revolutionize our lives!

 

Scriptures for further reading.

Job 19:25-27

Job 26:7-14

I Peter 1:8-9

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[1] Bruce Thompson, Walls Of My Heart page 35

[2] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon On The Mount, Page 93

[3] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon On The Mount, Page 94