“Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 NIV
We love this verse, don’t we? I’ve always taken this as a promise. I do my part; God does His part. In other words, if I delight myself in the Lord, He’s going to give me what I want.
But I’ve gotten new perspective on this verse.
What if we interpret it this way… ?
Delight yourself in the Lord, and the desires He has for you will become your own desires.
Oh boy, that changes everything!
My study of the greek word “delight” has given me even greater understanding into this verse. One of the meanings I found of the Hebrew word used here is anag, which is used for a garment that is delicate or luxurious. The meaning is to feel great favor toward something because of what it is. The example of the garment shows us that the delight is not for what the garment DOES, it is because of the qualities it posses. It is beautiful, it is luxurious, in and of itself it can be admired. We can translate that to our adoration of the Lord. It’s not what he does for us that give us greatest reason to praise Him; it’s who He is!
Another meaning I found for the Hebrew word for “delight” here is chaphets, which means “delight in, take pleasure in, be pleased with, to desire.”
Is my delight to do what the Lord delights in? Is my desire sincerely what He desires? I’m growing in greater understanding of this in my life. This verse comes to mind when I think of what God desires.
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:17 NIV
If we delight ourselves in God, in who he IS, think about how that changes the intention of our hearts. Our focus is on Him. Our attitudes, our thoughts, the deepest places of our heart are changed. And all the sudden, it’s not all about me. It’s about Him. We come to him with a broken spirit asking sincerely, “Lord, how can I please you? What do you desire of me? Help me to walk in obedience in the areas you are prompting my heart.”
It becomes LESS of what I want and more about depending on Him to CHANGE MY HEART to be more aligned with His heart.
And the result?
I believe it will be AMAZING to watch His will unfold in the details of our lives. All of the sudden we will be delighting in what He is doing. We will be anticipating His next move. We will also be more in tune to actually see what He is doing around us. Not only will we be more accepting of the circumstances of our lives, but we will truly be walking by faith, which pleases God more than anything else. We are tempted to ask God, “why aren’t you accomplishing what I’m asking for?” and He’s trying to get our attention to say, “Child, trust Me! Delight yourself in me. I’ve got this.”
“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…” Psalm 37:4-7 NIV
God, you have given me so much reason to delight in you. When me eyes become focused on my circumstances, I lose sight of that. I desire to delight in you today. It’s a choice I will make as I trust you to do the work in me that I am helpless to do for myself. It is not for my selfish gain, but for your glory in my life. Thank you for your faithfulness. Even when I am faithless, your word says you remain faithful. For that, I rejoice!
