Delighting in the Lord

When it comes to the idea of "delight," there are many different definitions for it, depending on the person. For many, delight is found in a summer's walk at dusk, when the stars are just starting to twinkle in the sky. Others may have delight in playing host to a group of people (my mother-in-law takes particular delight when all of her kids are home). Still others may take delight in the smell of a freshly-mown rugby pitch that is just ripe for the sweat and blood that will be spilled on it. There is a plethora of different thoughts that can come to mind when a person thinks of delight.

In my personal study time, I've been moving steadily through the Psalms, for the fourth or fifth time. 

One verse that always sticks out to me is found in chapter 37. In 37v.4, we read the Psalmist verse, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."

This is one of those verses, though, that tends to be misunderstood by many. In a society where so many people love the whole "Health / Wealth / Prosperity" movement, we love verses that tell us we're going to get things. "Say this prayer and God will bless you ten-fold." "With a little more faith, God is going to get you that job where you can go buy your six-figure car!" "He must have not had enough faith, because God didn't rescue him from that disease..." and so on and so on. We tend to think along the lines that whatever we want, that's what God is going to provide. In our little human minds, we dumb delight down to being all about us.

"Delight yourself in the Lord..."

When we take delight in the Lord, we are glorifying Him most. As theologian John Piper says, "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him." This means that regardless what happens in the world around us, our chief joy and happiness comes from the Lord; not our bank account, not our 401(k), not the ever-increasing gas prices, our hobbies, or anything else (lest we make these idols). When we delight in the Lord, there is nothing that pleases us more than our walk with Him. 

"...and He will give you the desires of your heart."

This is where things get really misconstrued. If our joy and hope are found in the Lord, why do we think that we're entitled to the materialistic things that we often want. I don't know how many times I've had conversations with students who were disappointed with God because He didn't give them something they wanted and desired. "I really wanted a boyfriend..." "I wanted a new computer..." "I wanted my parents to stay together..." These are all great wants of a teenager, college kid, or even adult. But, the question here is not whether or not God gave the person those things. The question is whether or not the person was more focused on those gifts rather than on the Giver.

When we truly delight ourselves in the Lord, we are saying, "Jesus, there is nothing that I desire more than You. You are the desire of my heart and nothing in this world compares to you. I would give up everything for You." Sometimes, this may be asked of you. Delighting in the Lord is so much more than just feeling happy about God and singing few praise songs to him once or maybe twice a week. Delighting ourselves in Him means that everything we do has Him in mind. 

As Spring has "sprung" and summer time (at least here in Texas) is quickly approaching, there are many things that we take delight in, this time of year. There are many things that we can focus on and lose sight of the One who gave them to us. My prayer is that we truly take to heart what it is to delight ourselves in the Lord, and that we seek to live that out in everything we do in this life... as well as the next.