This is the manuscript of the sermon that I preached at Christ Church, Los Angeles, CA September 3, 2017.
When we truly delight ourselves in the Lord, then we desire His will more that our own. Yes, God really does give us the desires of our hearts when we delight ourselves in Him.
Psalm 37:1-4 (NKJV)1 Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb.3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
This is a scripture that we Christians take great pleasure in quoting. We quote and claim this because we believe that if we do in fact delight ourselves in the Lord He will give us whatever we ask.
There are a couple of others we love to quote too:
John 14:13-14 (NKJV)13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
1 John 5:14-15 (NKJV)14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Well most of us know from experience that God doesn’t always give us what we want or ask for. So I have two questions. One, if we don’t get what we ask God for does that mean that we aren’t delighting ourselves in the Lord? The other question is after we know what it means to delight ourselves in the Lord how do we do it?
Delight yourself in the Lord
When we read all of Psalm 37 we see that David was upset because of the prosperity of the wicked. They don’t follow God and yet everything looks like it’s going great for them. But while the wicked do enjoy carnal or physical things, we should never envy them, because as we see when we read the entire Psalm that the end of the wicked is destruction.
Psalm 37:38 (NKJV)38 But the transgressors shall be destroyed together; The future of the wicked shall be cut off.
But I’m not going to talk about the wicked today because this Psalm says that if we delight ourselves in the Lord that He will give us our heart’s desires. So we should look at and delight in the things of God and His Kingdom and not worry about the wicked because David says that we will be rewarded with the desires of our hearts, if we delight in the Lord.
The Hebrew word translated delight in Psalm 37 is “anag” (aw-nag). “Anag” means something “delicate” or “soft” that a person would enjoy, and take delight in.
Isaiah uses the same word of a nursing child who delights in his mother;
Isaiah 66:11 (NKJV) That you may feed and be satisfied with the consolation of her bosom, That you may drink deeply and be delighted With the abundance of her glory."
So the enjoyment that a baby has when nursing is the kind of enjoyment we should have in our relationship with God.
When you have that kind of delight in something, you’re constantly thinking about it, and when you think about it you smile. When things get tough, thinking about it lifts your spirits. That’s the kind of delight David is talking about. That’s the kind of delight we should have in the Lord.
This Delight is Mutual
According to Psalm 37:4 if we have that kind of delight in the Lord then the Lord will give us the desires of our hearts. That shows that it is a mutual relationship. We delight in the Lord... and when we do He will give us our heart’s desires.
Here’s an example of what I mean from the book of Zephaniah
Zephaniah 3:14-17 (NLT) 14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout aloud, O Israel! Be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! 15 For the LORD will remove his hand of judgment and will disperse the armies of your enemy. And the LORD himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will never again fear disaster. 16 On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, “Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid! 17 For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
What Zephaniah said was the nation of Israel was to rejoice. In other words delight themselves in the Lord because He was with them. Then he says, in verse 17, that because He was with them He delighted in them. That means that we are to find our delight in our relationship with the Lord.
How do We Delight Ourselves in the Lord?
We delight ourselves in the Lord by doing what pleases Him.
Matthew Henry in his Exposition of the Old and New Testaments said “He has not promised to gratify all the appetites of the body, 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.”
Delighting ourselves in the Lord means that our thoughts are constant towards God and that everything we do is in obedience to Him. Let’s go back to Psalm 37.
Psalm 37:5 (NKJV) Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him,
Psalm 37:7-8 (NKJV)7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret--it only causes harm.
Psalm 37:27 (NKJV) Depart from evil, and do good;
Psalm 37:34 (NKJV) Wait on the LORD, And keep His way, And He shall exalt you to inherit the land; When the wicked are cut off, you shall see it.
God wants the kind of delightful friendship, which develops through commitment, trust, and patience.
• First, a believer must commit his or her ways to God.
Psalm 139:23-24 (NKJV)23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.
This means that we invite the Lord to examine our desires and intentions—and change whatever does not fit His purpose or advance His plan for our life.
• Second, a believer must trust God.
Romans 8:32 (NKJV)32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Who is more worthy of our faith than the Father, who gave Jesus Christ to save wicked sinners? The One who would not spare His only Son will certainly provide all that His children need
• Third, a believer must rest in God.
Psalm 27:13-14 (NKJV)13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.14 Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!
When we fret about an issue or something that we consider necessary, we are neither committing ourselves to the Lord nor trusting in Him. Because our human viewpoint is extremely limited, waiting patiently is not easy. God, however, has infinite wisdom and knows when circumstances and timing are perfectly aligned for His will to be done.
That’s easy to say and do and when things are going great, but what about those times when you or a loved one is seriously ill, your finances are at a point where you don’t know how you are going to survive, a marriage is falling apart, you just lost your job with no prospects for finding another one, you have a wayward child, or any other catastrophe.
So let’s say you do those three things; commit your way to the Lord, trust Him, and rest in Him and things don’t change. The key is to believe in the promises of God and to trust that what He says He can do He will do.
To delight yourself in the Lord is to completely submit to and accept His will. When catastrophe strikes, the only way that we can continue to delight ourselves in the Lord is by yielding ourselves to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit even helps us pray when the don’t know what to say or what to even pray for;
Romans 8:26-28 (NKJV)26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
But The Question Still Is Will God Really Give You the Desires of Your Heart?
Jeremiah 29:11 (NKJV)11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Delighting ourselves in the Lord means that we find peace and fulfilment in Him. Does that mean if we go to church every Sunday, bible study every week, have a long quiet time with Him every day, feed the poor, pray for the sick, and “seek and save the lost”, that He will give us a new Mercedes, a big new house, or lots of money? He may do those things but that’s not what Psalm 37 or other scriptures say. The idea in Psalm 37 and other scriptures is that if we really delight in the things of God, then our desires will start to look like His desires for us. Chances are that when you delight in the Lord your greatest desires will not be for material things but your priority will be on Him. When that happens He will fulfill every one of our desires, because those desires will be the ones that He has for us.
While wealth, status, and material possessions are good things, and there is nothing wrong with any of them, they are temporary and can never really satisfy. The more material things we have the more we want. The more prestige we have the more we want. The more money we have the more we want. If your “desires” are for the stuff of this world that would detract from your complete satisfaction in God, then you aren’t truly delighting yourself in Him.
Again there is nothing wrong with any of these things but they are all temporary. The things of God’s kingdom are the things that will last forever.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NKJV)16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
When you delight yourself in the Lord you will say like Paul said in;
Philippians 3:8-9 (NKJV)8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ9 and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
Many people delight in wealth, status, material possessions, and other temporary things of this world, but they are never satisfied. They never truly get what they want, they are always wanting more. Just like Solomon said all that stuff is meaningless.
Ecclesiastes 1:2 (NKJV)2 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher; "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."
Meaning all the temporary things of this life are meaningless when compared to the things of the Kingdom of God and everlasting life with Him.
At end of Ecclesiastes he said
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (NKJV)13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man's all.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.
Everything that Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes from beginning to end was summed us with this thought;
The only way that you can enjoy this life and delight yourself in the Lord is by committing, trusting and waiting on God because He is in control, and He can be expected to reward righteousness.
Material things, prestige, position and the other things the world offers will never completely satisfy or fulfill us. God is the one who will meet all of our needs. He will always provide above and beyond our expectations.
Philippians 4:19 (NKJV) And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV)20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
God will satisfy the desires of anyone who is truly delighting in Him because those desires will be according to His will. The key to enjoying life is not in getting God to give us what we want. It’s in learning to want what a loving God wants to give us.
When we delight ourselves in the Lord we are content;
Philippians 4:11-13 (NKJV)11 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
We will never be deeply fulfilled or “happy” with the things this world has to offer. If we place our joy and hope in God first, He will meet all of our needs. If we truly place priority on the Lord, chances are our heart’s greatest desire will not be a big house or lots of money, but eternal treasures in Christ. He will grant the things we want as our hearts’ desires begin to match up with His will. Then we will be really praying like Jesus taught when He gave the disciples the model for prayer and we say; “Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done.
When we truly delight ourselves in the Lord, then we desire His will more that our own. Yes, God really does give us the desires of our hearts when we delight ourselves in Him.
Let’s pray;
Heavenly Father if you see wrong in us, any delight that is not your delight, any habit or sin that grieves you please forgive us. Teach us to walk in and live according to your Word. Produce in us the desire to make Jesus our example for all things. Cause us to delight in your Word which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our pathways. Thank you for delighting in us by giving us your Holy Spirit who guides us so that in all our ways we will acknowledge you knowing that when we do and when we delight ourselves in you that our desires will become what You desire for us. This is our prayer in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
God’s desire for you is that you first accept His Son as your Lord and Savior. If you haven’t done that the there is no way that you can really delight yourself in the Lord and no way that He will give you the desires of your heart. There’s something in the way of developing that mutual relationship. That something that’s in the way is sin. God sent His Son to get that out of the way. Jesus accepted the penalty for sin for you. pay the price for your sin. That penalty was His death on the cross. When you acknowledge that He did this for you you will be well on the road of delighting yourself in the Lord. The scripture says
Romans 10:8-11 (NKJV)8 But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith which we preach):9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.11 For the Scripture says, "Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame."
If you’ve never done this or you’re not really sure that if you die today that you will be with the Lord now is your opportunity to be absolutely sure.
Benediction
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
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