An Invitation to Delight in the Lord
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)
Thought:
Have you ever been asked to do something that you didn’t want to do? Pulling weeds comes to my mind. Didn’t enjoy it growing up, and now I only enjoy it a little when I see the results of a weed-free garden.
Have you ever been asked to do something that you were hoping to do? This past Father’s Day weekend, I was running errands when I received a call from my wife. She was at one of our big box stores, and she said, “They have a nice smoker on sale here, and I think you should get it.” I was quick to respond and joyfully bought the smoker and put it together the next day, and I am really looking forward to learning to use it. It gave me much delight, with no effort at all.
In both cases, I was asked to do something, and there was no instruction as to my enjoyment or lack thereof. In Psalm 37:4, we are told to delight ourselves in the Lord. In this context, the author speaks of trusting in the Lord and dwelling in the land. He goes on to exhort us to commit our way to the Lord and trust in Him. Then, rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. But one thing is very clear in this invitation: as you walk with the Lord, dwelling with Him and trusting in Him, and as you commit your way to the Lord and trust in Him on a daily basis, delight yourself in the Lord.
As I chew on this verse and wonder what David is saying to me, I think it’s more than, “when you are spending time reading the Bible and praying, delight in the Lord.” It’s more than finding joy when you do spend time with the Lord, however often that is. What I hear David saying is, “make the Lord that which brings you the most joy and delight in your life.”
I enjoy starting my day by pouring a cup of coffee, sitting down to read a portion of the Bible, and praying. After this, I look at my to-do list and get started on my daily tasks. During these tasks, I usually ask the Lord for wisdom, or as people come to my mind, I pray for them. As I see aspects of God’s creation around me, I like to thank God for His attributes as I see them in His creation. Sometimes it’s His beauty, or His creativity. Sometimes it’s His power or wisdom in how things work together. By the end of the day, I’m pretty tired, and after dinner, I sometimes find myself bored, and rather than opening up a good book or writing a letter to someone, I waste my time, and I’m usually thinking about myself. I began the day delighting in the Lord, but too often I end my day delighting in myself.
I’m not saying there is no place to relax and enjoy a variety of activities, but I’m looking at this verse from David and asking myself, am I delighting myself in the Lord in the evenings, am I making the Lord my greatest source of joy and delight all the time?
Further study shows me two ways to help make the Lord my delight. The first is in Psalm 94:19: “When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul.” When I find myself anxious, concerned, or troubled about anything, I go to the Lord in His Word or in prayer, and His counsel encourages me and brings delight and joy. When I go to God as my heavenly father, looking to Him for what I need, I am being His son and enjoying Him as my father.
The Psalms are full of various authors coming to God to share their complaints and concerns and then going away closer to God and comforted by Him.
A second way to grow in delighting in the Lord is found in Isaiah 58. My bible titles this chapter, “The contrast between right and wrong worship.” Isaiah begins by rebuking his readers for fasting for themselves while ignoring the needs of people around them. He goes on to say that as you care for others and fast for the Lord, and for the good of others and not just yourself, God will satisfy you.
“Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your recovery will speedily spring forth; and your righteousness will go before you. The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer. You will cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness, and your gloom will become like midday. And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones, and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.” (Isaiah 58:8-11)
Isaiah finishes the chapter showing us how to learn to delight in the Lord. “If, because of the sabbath, you turn your foot from doing your own pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbath a delight, the holy day of the Lord honorable, and honor it, desisting from your own ways, from seeking your own pleasure and speaking your own word, then you will take delight in the Lord. And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father.” (Isaiah 58:13-14)
With these verses, I add a principle learned from Psalm 119:32, “I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.” My tendency is to ask God to give me a desire to follow Him. This verse teaches me that as I follow Him, He will give me a greater desire to follow Him more.
A third way that helps me delight in the Lord is to read and meditate on Psalm 119 often. This morning I read the first 40 verses, and I appreciate the Psalmist’s love for God’s word. Here is a sample from these verses related to delighting in the Lord.
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your word. With all my heart, I have sought You; do not let me wander from Your commandments. Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You. I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word. Open my eyes, that I may behold wonderful things from Your law. Your testimonies also are my delight; they are my counselors.” (verses 9,10,11,16,18,24)
A fourth way to help one’s delight in the Lord is to daily meditate on the gospel. Our greatest treasure is the gift of eternal life when Christ took our place on the cross. Near the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he proclaims, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” (Romans 1:16) Then to the Corinthians, he wrote, “He (God) made Him (Christ) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Four ways to make the Lord the delight of our lives are: 1) to come to the Lord as our Heavenly Father for comfort or consolation, and let Him care for you. 2) To put others and the Lord before yourself, not only on Sundays as you worship the Lord but throughout the week. 3) To often meditate on Psalm 119. 4) Daily reflect on the gospel as our great treasure. Personally, I am asking the Lord to help me be other-oriented in the evenings when I am most likely to think of myself, and when I think of and pray for others, to remember the gospel and the riches we have in Christ.
Prayer:
Father, thank You for the joy of walking with You. Thank You for being my delight. Thank You for the encouragement You give from reading the Bible and praying. Thank You for giving us delight by serving others. Help me enjoy You as my greatest source of joy and delight.
Stan Johnson 6/24/2026
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