“Delight yourself in the Lord.” Psalm 37:4

The teaching of these words must seem surprising to those who have never known real godliness, but to the sincere believer they only restate a recognized and profound truth. The life of the believer is described as a “delight” in God, and therefore true religion will always overflow with happiness and joy. Anyone who doesn’t actively cultivate a relationship with God, including secular scholars who study religion as merely an intellectual pursuit or as a social curiosity, never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they are personally involved in religion at all, it is either for personal gain or for cultural reasons only.

The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most people. No two words in their language stand further apart than “holiness” and “delight.” But believers who know Christ understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts find that His ways are ways of joy, and all His paths are peace. Such joys, such overwhelming delights, such overflowing blessednesses, they can continurally discover in the Lord. Instead of merely serving Him out of habit, they follow Him even if all the world were to curse His holy name.

We do not revere God because of any compulsion. Our faith is no chain, and our confession of faith is no enslavement. We are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.

Delight and true religion are as united as root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty. They are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

“‘Tis when we taste Thy love, Our joys divinely grow, Unspeakable like those above, And heaven begins below.”

Question: What brings you delight, and in what ways does/should the Lord bring you delight?

“Delight yourself in the Lord.” Psalm 37:4

The teaching of these words must seem surprising to those who have never known real godliness, but to the sincere believer they only restate a recognized and profound truth. The life of the believer is described as a “delight” in God, and therefore true religion will always overflow with happiness and joy. Anyone who doesn’t actively cultivate a relationship with God, including secular scholars who study religion as merely an intellectual pursuit or as a social curiosity, never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they are personally involved in religion at all, it is either for personal gain or for cultural reasons only.

The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most people. No two words in their language stand further apart than “holiness” and “delight.” But believers who know Christ understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts find that His ways are ways of joy, and all His paths are peace. Such joys, such overwhelming delights, such overflowing blessednesses, they can continurally discover in the Lord. Instead of merely serving Him out of habit, they follow Him even if all the world were to curse His holy name.

We do not revere God because of any compulsion. Our faith is no chain, and our confession of faith is no enslavement. We are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.

Delight and true religion are as united as root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty. They are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

“‘Tis when we taste Thy love, Our joys divinely grow, Unspeakable like those above, And heaven begins below.”

Question: What brings you delight, and in what ways does/should the Lord bring you delight?

Are you confused and not sure what to do or where to turn? Here is a study.

Join us for our Daily Devotional Chat today in our Women’s Chatroom at 10:30 am EDT.

God calls us to trust Him with the details of our lives. Sometimes our next step is not clear and our faith wants to turn to fretting. God continually calls us to trust Him. He knew it wouldn’t always be easy so He spells out a process for us that will strengthen our hearts during those times when we are called to walk by faith and not by sight.

In Psalm 37 verses 3-7 He gives us four steps.

“Trust in the Lord and do good”. While you are waiting for God to show you His next step, look for kind things to do for someone else. This will allow God to use you in His purposes today and it will take your focus off yourself. It will bring you joy and turn your thoughts away from fretting. It will actually increase your trust as you see how God can use you to touch another life even as you wait. Choose to do good!

“Delight yourself in the Lord”. When you are in God’s waiting room the tendency is to let your heart become frustrated with your God. “Where are You?” we want to cry out. God specifically tells us to find delight or joy in Him. Start by looking for things to thank Him for. Ask Him to till up the ground in your heart that is hardening through frustration and drop His seeds of thankfulness into the softened soil. Find joy in the small things He gives. Ask Him today to point them out to you. Choose to thank Him!

“Commit your way to the Lord”. Give God complete control to guide your way. He can be trusted to bring to pass exactly what is best for you. As you walk today commit each step to Him. Ask Him to guide you in your conversations; ask Him to help you in your choices; tell Him you trust Him with your life journey and ask for His Holy Spirit to give you peace in your heart and wisdom in your thought processes. Choose to roll your concerns onto Him.

“Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him”. ?Patience is hard when we want answers now! God’s timetable is not ours yet we can know with assurance He will not come too late. Being still in His presence means turning your focus deliberately to His Word and letting His promises and His track record settle over your heart. Spend time letting praise music wash over your impatient soul. Be deliberate in moving close to God even if He feels far away. He promises if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. Take that first step. Choose to be still before God.

prayer & reflection

Father God, You are so good to be specific in letting me know how to walk by faith when I would rather walk by sight. Help me today to choose to do good rather than have a pity party; to have a thankful outlook rather than living in frustration. Help me to commit every step I take to You rather than stumbling in the dark and may I choose to make the time to be still before You. Today I choose trust in You, my great God! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Questions: Can you trust God enough to give Him complete control of your life to guide your way? How do you wait patiently for the Lord?

About the Author Gail Rodgers

What is success? Talk to us about it.

“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success” (Joshua 1:8, NKJV).

God gave Joshua three things to do that would assure him that his way would be prosperous and that he would have good success. First, he was to keep God’s Word in his mouth so he would have the truth and the sure knowledge of the difference between right and wrong.  This would give him guidance and direction in the decisions he would have to make. This same Word was also a plethora of promises that he could draw upon in his time of need, and a weapon (sword of the Word) that he could use in the face of battle.

Secondly, he was to meditate on the Word day and night. Meditating is like a cow chewing on its cud. As we go about the day the Word of God comes back to mind and we further mull it over (chew on it), breaking down its contents, and consider how it applies to our own circumstances. As we digest the Word, revelation and insights are the result, and our understanding is opened up as the Word starts to become part of us, energize us, and give us strength.

Thirdly, God commanded Joshua to “observe to do” what is written in the Word. It is the action in response to the Word that actually demonstrates that we believe what we read, and brings the whole process to fruition in our lives.

So let the Word of God be richly in your mouth, speak it out, read it out, pray it out, declare it over yourself, your family and your community; think on it, digest it, let it become a part of you; and act on it to see the end result of God making your way prosperous and giving you good success.

“Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have given me life” (Psalm 119:92, NJKV).

Questions: What 3 things did God give Joshua to do in order to achieve success?

About the Author Emmie Stanley

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

What is your greatest delight? What gives you great pleasure or satisfaction?

I am delighted when my grandchildren run up to me with a hug, or a friend calls me on the phone just to chat, or my husband brings me flowers.

To delight is to enjoy, take pleasure, be glad, satisfied, savor, or appreciate.

When we delight in the Lord, his desires will become our desires.

How do we delight in the Lord?

We will delight in the Lord when we develop an intimate relationship with him. We will become spiritually hungry, and passionately in love with Him. Jesus told his disciples in John 14: 15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Then, our desires will align with His desires and our hearts will desire to please him, resulting in peace and contentment.

However, our hearts desire is often contrary to what God desires for us and takes us in the wrong direction. When we don’t have an intimate relationship with the Lord, our human nature desires sinful things, as when we are angry, and we want to seek revenge. If we don’t delight in the Lord we won’t know what He desires for us. If we don’t have an intimate relationship with God it is hard telling what we would ask for. We may be asking for trouble missing God’s best for us.

Don’t be afraid to ask the Lord for His desires since His desires will be better than your own and you will find peace and contentment as you submit to them.

The Lord has not promised to give us all we humanly desire, but the desires of a heart submitted, and delighted in Him.

We must choose to delight and submit to the authority God has placed in our lives. If we don’t submit to those in authority over us, we will find it difficult to submit to God.

Priscilla Shirer writes in her Bible study He Speaks to Me, “Delighting ourselves in God rolls out the red carpet for God to march right in and plant His good, acceptable, and perfect desires in our hearts so that we can get busy praying them and getting some answers.” 1.

Psalm 37:4 tells us when we delight in the Lord He will grant us the desires of our heart. Our desires will be His desires and we will experience more answers to our prayers and contentment. We are not invited, we are commanded to delight.

Lord God, May my heart find delight in You. May Your desires be my own. Amen.

Father, I choose to delight in you. Show me the areas of my life I need to submit to you. I want to spend more time in your Word and grow into an intimate relationship with You so your desires will be my desires. In Jesus’ Name.

Questions: Do I delight in the Lord? Am I willing to up my desires for the Lord’s desires for my life? Which areas of my life do I need to submit to develop an intimate relationship with the Lord?

1. Priscilla Shirer, He Speaks to Me, (Nashville, TN; LifeWay Press) p. 114.

About the Author Lillian Penner

Daily audio podcast: A second daily devotional, Believe in Him, today on the Men’s Devotional Blog

“Delight yourself in the Lord.” Psalm 37:4

The teaching of these words must seem surprising to those who have never known real godliness, but to the sincere believer they only restate a recognized and profound truth. The life of the believer is described as a “delight” in God, and therefore true religion will always overflow with happiness and joy. Anyone who doesn’t actively cultivate a relationship with God, including secular scholars who study religion as merely an intellectual pursuit or as a social curiosity, never look upon religion as a joyful thing; to them it is service, duty, or necessity, but never pleasure or delight. If they are personally involved in religion at all, it is either for personal gain or for cultural reasons only.

The thought of delight in religion is so strange to most people. No two words in their language stand further apart than “holiness” and “delight.” But believers who know Christ understand that delight and faith are so blessedly united, that the gates of hell cannot prevail to separate them. They who love God with all their hearts find that His ways are ways of joy, and all His paths are peace. Such joys, such overwhelming delights, such overflowing blessednesses, they can continurally discover in the Lord. Instead of merely serving Him out of habit, they follow Him even if all the world were to curse His holy name.

We do not revere God because of any compulsion. Our faith is no chain, and our confession of faith is no enslavement. We are not dragged to holiness, nor driven to duty. No, our piety is our pleasure, our hope is our happiness, our duty is our delight.

Delight and true religion are as united as root and flower; as indivisible as truth and certainty. They are, in fact, two precious jewels glittering side by side in a setting of gold.

“‘Tis when we taste Thy love, Our joys divinely grow, Unspeakable like those above, And heaven begins below.”

Question: What brings you delight, and in what ways does/should the Lord bring you delight?

About this Author: Charles Spurgeon

It’s easy to let anxiousness creep into our hearts and minds. When you sense it happening know it is a call to spend some extra time with the Lord. Psalm 37 gives us four things God reminds us to do.

1.  TRUST in the Lord

“Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture” (Psalm 37:3).

God tells us to trust Him with the things that cause us to fret! It’s really that simple… not easy…but simple. Take each concern and place it freshly in God’s hands, trusting Him with each one. If you find yourself taking them back give them to God again and again until your heart rests in the fact that you truly can trust Him to handle them.

2.  DELIGHT yourself in the Lord

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

Let the fact penetrate your heart that God will be all He has promised. Ask Him to help you find joy in that. When we leave our concerns with God we can rejoice in what He is going to do. What a wonder that the God of the universe cares!

3.  COMMIT your way to the Lord and trust Him

“Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this” (Psalm 37:5).

Freshly commit your day and your way to God. Each day is a fresh start! When we commit our path to the Lord we can accomplish so much more with Him!

4.  BE STILL before the Lord

“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him” (Psalm 37:7a).

When we take the time to be still before Him He can speak to our hearts and refresh us. It is so important to come before God — through studying His word, praying to Him and listening to Him! He will meet with us if we only take the time to come!

Father God, You truly are a good God. I thank You today that You care about the concerns of my heart. I come before You right now and ask You to increase my trust in You. I commit my path in life into Your hands. Guide me through this day and let my heart find pleasure in the fact that You care about me. Thank You for being my trustworthy God! In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Questions: Jesus said that in this world, we will have trouble, but what does He tell us about worry? What would help you implement the four steps in Psalm 37 the next time you feel fretful? Let’s pray and freshly commit our cares to the Lord.

About the Author: Gail Rodgers