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!
