Delighting in Him!

Psalm 1:1-2 "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."



Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart."



Psalm 37:23 "The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in His way, though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand."



DELIGHT-to take great pleasure (v); 1: a high degree of gratification : joy; also : extreme satisfaction 2: something that gives great pleasure 3: the power of affording pleasure (n)



Do I take great pleasure in the law of the Lord? Do I find a high degree of gratification in Him? Does His way give me extreme satisfaction?



If I truly stop to think about it, if I'm brutally honest, the answer is often times, no! is it because He is not extremely satisfying, or that there is not gratification in His laws, absolutely not! It is that my sinful heart, more often than not, believes that it knows better. I mean, think about it, right? What does my daydreaming say about my delighting in His way? What it really reveals is a dissatisfied heart that is longing for something other than Him and His will for my life in that moment! Doesn't it? My obsession with paying down my debt does not reveal a heart that is taking pleasure in Him, but one that just wants to be FREE of this burden unaware of the lesson that God may have in the process of paying it down. Again, paying down your debt is a good goal, but if it distracts you from the One who paid your greatest debt, or lessens your joy in Him, then sin is distorting your heart, your response, and your view of God.



This morning and this afternoon, God was kind to allow me opportunity to read His word while the boys I nanny for were running around playing in their yard and while they were having lunch. I began in Romans. It is my goal to go through it slowly, to meditate on small sections as opposed to speed reading through it just to say I read my Bible. At one point the Holy Spirit led me to Psalm 37, where I got "stuck" on verse 4. What does it mean to delight myself in the Lord? How can I be delighting in Him on a more regular basis? This prompted me to do a topical search on delight, which took me to Psalm 1: 1-2. I want to be like a tree planted near streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not wither, who prospers in all he does. How? by delighting in His law, meditating on it day and night and by NOT walking in the counsel of the wicked (not sowing to the flesh with worldly ideas)!



Aren't you amazed when God begins a work in your life and everything begins to come together and make sense? You can look back and see God's hand at work months ago. Revealing something here, something there, and then one day He opens your eyes and you think...WHOA! This all ties together and the bottom line is that an amazingly gracious and merciful God, a loving heavenly Father, wants my attention, wants to open my heart to receive more of Him, more of His grace, more forgiveness. He wants to prune me so that I can bloom and grow. It hurts, a lot sometimes, but it's so worth the pain in the end. I am ashamed of my lack of desire to spend time with Him when He has given soooo much to spend time with me!



Oh, Father, forgive me for my selfishness and my laziness in investing in this relationship. Help me to press into You more, to seek You more often, to come to You with my every need that I might find greater satisfaction in You. Thank You for loving me enough to discipline me and point me in the right direction. Help me to delight in Your Word, Lord, let me be like the prophet Jeremiah who said, "Your Words were found and I ate them, and Your Words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart..." Lord, allow this heart to fall in love with You. Let it seek nothing else above You. "For there is none like You. You pardon iniquity and pass over transgression for the remnant of Your inheritance. You do not retain Your anger forever because you delight in steadfast love. You will again have compassion on us and will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Your people as You have sworn from days of old." (Micah 7: 18-20)



Faithful and Just are You, Oh God, and to You I lift up praise!