Delight In The Lord

Psalm 37:4-5 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.”

This means that we need to find joy and contentment in God’s excellence, His character, and His promise rather than just focusing on His blessings or gifts.

You can delight yourself in the Lord by knowing Him, reading and loving His Word, and by living out what He has taught you.

Let’s talk about these three things today and learn how to take delight in the Lord.

There are many ways we can come to know God.

We can read His Word and learn His character, we can observe His creation by spending time in nature, and we can pray and know that He is listening.

I do my best to read the Bible every day, and I love getting out in nature, and I find that when I’m in nature I can tie things together because He is the creator of all things.

When I do that, I feel close to God because I know and can see what He has done.

The amazing detail that God puts into every little thing is mind-blowing. From time to time, it is a great reminder of God's character because we can see that He pays attention to all that He loves and doesn't leave anything untouched.

More ways that we can know the Lord are by recognizing the gifts that He has given us.

This could be any gifting that you have, but it can also be that we get to grow in the fruits of the Spirit and walk those out, but also that He gave up His Son, Jesus, for us.

Recently we asked our high school small group of girls what they think their gifts were that God gave them… There were a lot of blank faces.

I think it is because we think that we just do things and some things come more naturally than others. But I like to think that those things that come easy are giftings from God. Sure, we may need to put some work into some of our gifts, but I think the ones that come easy do so for a reason.

Each gift comes directly from God for us. For us to grow in and thank Him for as we grow in them by using them to bring all the glory back to Him.

A few more ways that we can know the Lord are by connecting with the Church, by worshiping Him, knowing and understanding His Word through those we hear it from or talk with, and in fellowship with.

We know that community is important to God and to our walk with Him, but as we walk in all these different ways to learn and know who God is, we are prioritizing our relationship with Him.

The best way to come and know God is to prioritize your relationship with Him.

The next way we can delight in the Lord is by loving His Word.

Psalm 37:4-5 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.”

Delighting in God’s Word might seem odd, but I know a lot of people who like to read. I know that they personally take delight in some of those books, and the Bible can be the same.

Taking delight in the Word really means enjoying reading it. I know that may seem unrealistic because we just do our best to do a daily devotional, so how in the world am I supposed to sit and read and enjoy it?

Well, let’s talk about that a bit because getting into God's Word is an important step in understanding who God is.

When I was younger, I was told all the time to read the Bible and let the Words help you, and once you get into the good habit of it, you’ll eventually want and desire to read it all the time.

I was doing good just to read a few verses and hope that was good enough.

Over time, we can feel like our Bible study time is our dutiful habit. There’s no motivation to dive in and learn.

But I have to tell you, over the years I have come to delight in God’s Word. I don’t know what changed for me other than my desire to draw close to God. There was something that unlocked in my mind where I finally understood what I was reading and could see how it applied to my life, or how I could adapt new ways of living.

Maybe that’s what it is—when God knew I was ready, He opened my mind to understand and then a desire to learn more.

It can be hard to read the Bible. There is a lot of information, and some of it crosses over each other in the timeline, and you have to realize that and then also have to figure out what is imagery and what is not.

When you start to dig in instead of just casually reading, that is where we find it easier to read. When you let God guide you and lead you and open your mind and heart to what He has for you, it becomes easier to read. When you delight in the Word of God, it becomes easier to read.

Lastly, to delight in the Lord is to live out His Word. Be doers of His Word, not only hearers.

Psalm 37:4-5 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you.”

This means adapting and applying and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide, correct, and change you so that you are better able to live out who you are in Christ.

This is where we need to walk with our hearts and minds open to take on whatever the Lord asks of us. This is where, no matter what comes, we are responding in a way that keeps us in line with the Lord. This is where we take steps to live out loud in the Lord.

I’m a somewhat reformed people pleaser… I say that because I am aware of it now, and yet I still find myself trying to please some.

But with that pleasing side of me, it has become a desire of mine to do things that please the Lord. When I think about it, I become emotional because I don’t want to disappoint the Lord with the things I do. I want to live out loud what He wants me to do.

It has become a desire for me to continually grow in my relationship with the Lord—not just to please Him, but to draw close and learn who He is and what all He has for me as I walk this life. I enjoy my time with the Lord.

Just as you choose friends and who you spend time with, choose to spend time with the Lord, because when you do, those that you are spending time with will then get to see you live out who you are in Christ.

Live out God’s Word by sharing your story with others. This will help all who know you in their walks, and you’ll be able to encourage each other all along the way.

When we live out loud what God has done for us, it will be seen, and some people may just want to know how you make it through some things, and we can then give all the praise and glory to God.

Let’s remember that delighting in the Lord is to know Him, love what He says, and then to live it out.

Just as we love someone and want to please them, let’s learn to walk that same path with the Lord.

Dive in and take delight in the Lord, commit everything we do to Him, and trust Him.