God's Call of the Righteous (4) Delight

“God’s Call of the Righteous”

(Part 4)

DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD

PSALM 37:4, 11, 23

We are sharing the message “God’s Call of the Righteous” as brought forth in Psalm 37.

If you recall, Psalm literally means “plucking the strings of a harp.”  They convey in words the inner most feelings of our hearts expression.  It is our heart “playing” to the Lord our prayers, our concerns, our faith, and our praise.

Psalm 37 is an acrostic poem, the stanzas of which begin with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.  (Aleph, Bet, Gimmel, etc.)

We stated it is:  The ABC’s of God’s promise to the righteous.

That there are six elements that are found if followed give peace to the believer regarding God’s promises and they are;

Do not FRET.  TRUST in the LORD.   DELIGHT yourself in the LORD.  COMMIT our WAY to the LORD.  REST in the LORD.  And WAIT on the LORD.

We’ve shared the message “Do not Fret,” concluding that we have peace when we understand God is in control and we do not “fret.”  Last week, knowing that God is in control our part is to “Trust in the Lord.”

Today God’s call of the righteous is for us to “Delight ourselves in the Lord.”

Psalm 37:4, 11, 23 (NKJV)  

Beth (Bet) (Vet)

Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Waw (Vav)

11But the meek shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Mem (Mem)

23The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.

There are several Hebrew words that have been translated into English for “DELIGHT”  in this passage THE Hebrew word are “anag” ah-nog  verses 4 and 11 and “chaphets” haw-fates in verse 23.

Anag – aw-nog means to be soft or pliable, i.e. (figurative) effeminate or luxurious: - delicate (-ness), (have) delight (self), sport self.

Other words translated delicate, delicious, pleasant.

Chaphet –  haw-fates means to  properly to incline to; by implication (literal but rarely) to bend; figurative to be pleased with, desire :- × any at all, (have, take) delight, desire, favour, like, move, be (well) pleased, have pleasure, will, would.

 In verse 4 and 11, Delight in the Lord (v. 4). The word translated “delight” comes from a root that means “to be brought up in luxury, to be pampered.” It speaks of the abundance of the blessings we have in the Lord Himself, totally apart from what He gives us. To enjoy the blessings and ignore the Blesser is to practice idolatry. In Jesus Christ, we have all God’s treasures, and we need no other. If we truly delight in the Lord, then the chief desire of our heart will be to know Him better so we can delight in Him even more, and the Lord will satisfy that desire! This is not a promise for people who want “things,” but for those who want more of God in their lives.

“Delight” is more of the expression of how one feels when they first fall in love, “puppy love.”  Do you first remember when you fell in love?  You couldn’t keep away from each other, etc.

Webster defines delight as a high degree of gratification – joy – extreme satisfaction.

1. “Delight in God” means complete satisfaction and joy in Him.

ver. 4.—Delight in God. “Delight thyself,” etc. The order of these words makes all the difference between a religion of selfishness and a religion of love. Not, “The Lord will give you what your heart is set on; therefore delight in him;” but, “Delight thyself in the Lord; let him be thy Joy—Fountain of happiness and Object of desire; then thy most earnest petitions, deepest wants, highest aspirations, shall all be satisfied in him.” Delight in God includes satisfaction and joy—

A. Delight in God Himself.

Our object of delight is In God himself. That is who and what he is, in whom we have our being.

1. His glory as the eternal and infinite Creator; his power, wisdom, goodness, perpetual presence and unfailing care of his universe.

2. Yet more in his character—his love, righteousness, unchangeable truth (John 1:18; 14:9).

B. Delight in our personal relation to Him.  

Our proximity of delight is IN our personal relation to him—that he is our God and Father. (1 John 3:1; Eph. 2:1–10.) There is nothing selfish, presumptuous, or exclusive in this joy. The more we have it, the humbler we shall be; more desirous that others should share it; more qualified to influence them to seek and obtain it.

C. Delight in communion with Him.  

Our delight is In communion with him. This is the most marked and glorious characteristic of the psalms generally—real, living communion with God (comp. Phil. 4:4–7).

D. Delight in obedience to Him.  

Our delight is IN obedience to him.  Our desire is to please and to be pleasing to Him.  Remember that first love, you did everything possible to please them, that’s what “delight” means.

2. “Delight” paints a picture of someone who enjoys God not endures Him.  

You don’t have to make me enjoy God.

This is the difference between a heart of submission and legalism and the difference between relationship and religion.

3. Delighting yourself in God is the difference between religion and relationship.

The results of delighting ones self in the Lord are phenomenal:

First, God says, He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Second, verse 11 and abundance of peace.

Third the promise of Isaiah,

Isaiah 58:11-14 (NKJV)  

The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.  12Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

13"If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on My holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words,  14then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; and I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken."

Conclusion:

Delighting yourself in God fulfills the greatest purpose for your existence:

4. Our chief purpose as human beings created in the image of God is to glorify and enjoy Him forever.

Because you delight yourself in the Lord like a love-struck person, God says He will delight  Himself in you not as someone caught up in “puppy love” but as a matured person fully consumed with your life.

Psalm 37:23

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.

In other words all the plans that God has for you that will totally and completely satisfy your life and reason for being.

“God’s Call of the Righteous”

(Part 4)

DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD

PSALM 37:4, 11, 23

Psalm 37:4 (Amplified)  

       4Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

1. “_______________ in God” means complete

 ___________________ and ______________ in Him.

A. Delight in God _________________.

B. Delight in our ____________  ________________ to Him.  

C. Delight in __________________ with Him.  

D. Delight in _____________________ to Him.  

2. “Delight” paints a picture of someone who  

 _________________ God not _________________ Him.

3. Delighting yourself in God is the difference between

____________________ and ______________________.

Delighting yourself in God fulfills the greatest purpose for your existence:

4. Our chief ___________ as human beings _____________

in the image of God is to __________ and ____________ Him forever.

“God’s Call of the Righteous”

(Part 4)

DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD

PSALM 37:4, 11, 23

Psalm 37:4 (Amplified)  

Beth

       4Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

1. “Delight in God” means complete satisfaction and joy in Him.

A. Delight in God Himself.

B. Delight in our personal relation to Him.  

C. Delight in communion with Him.  

D. Delight in obedience to Him.  

2. “Delight” paints a picture of someone who enjoys God not endures Him.  

3. Delighting yourself in God is the difference between religion and relationship.

Delighting yourself in God fulfills the greatest purpose for your existence:

4. Our chief purpose as human beings created in the image of God is to glorify and enjoy Him forever.

2. We must make God our heart’s delight and then we shall have our heart’s desire, v. 4. We must not only depend upon God, but solace ourselves in him. We must be well pleased that there is a God, that he is such a one as he has revealed himself to be, and that he is our God in covenant. We must delight ourselves in his beauty, bounty, and benignity; our souls must return to him, and repose in him, as their rest, and their portion for ever. Being satisfied of his loving-kindness, we must be satisfied with it, and make that our exceeding joy, Ps. 43:4. We were commanded (v. 3) to do good, and then follows this command to delight in God, which is as much a privilege as a duty. If we make conscience of obedience to God, we may then take the comfort of a complacency in him. And even this pleasant duty of delighting in God has a promise annexed to it, which is very full and precious, enough to recompense the hardest services: He shall give thee the desires of thy heart. He has not promised to gratify all the appetites of the body and the humours of the fancy, but to grant all the desires of the heart, all the cravings of the renewed sanctified soul. What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him.[1]

Ver. 4.—Delight thyself also in the Lord. Draw from communion with God all that inward intensity of joy which it is capable of giving. And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. God will then grant thee all thy desires, and make thee perfectly happy.[2]

Response to the wicked (37:1–10). How is the believer to respond to wicked individuals?

Anger (37:8). This anger is what most of us would call “righteous indignation.” It is clearly anger directed at the right thing—wicked wrongdoing. But here anger is linked with the repeated concept of “fret.” This is no sudden surge of anger that passes away. This is a smoldering anger, a hostile resentment that we nurture and in time dominates our attitude toward wrongdoers. This is the anger we must release, to replace with a perspective shaped by a quiet trust in God.

[3]

----

[1]Henry, M. (1996, c1991). Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (Ps 37:7). Peabody: Hendrickson.

[2]The Pulpit Commentary: Psalms Vol. I. 2004 (H. D. M. Spence-Jones, Ed.) (285). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[3]Richards, L. O. (1991; Published in electronic form by Logos Research Systems, 1996). The Bible readers companion (electronic ed.) (359). Wheaton: Victor Books.