Delight Thyself

“Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” Psalm 37:4

We all want the desires of our heart, but how do we take advantage of that promise? God doesn’t want us to just go through the motions of serving him. He wants us to delight in him. He wants us to love him and enjoy serving him. Doing the right things out of a sense of obligation is a start and is better than nothing. Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments," but he also said to love him "with all your heart," and delight is an aspect of love.

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” Deuteronomy 6:5

In the Word of God

“I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.” Psalm 119:16

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3

How would you like everything you to do to prosper? The secret to finding time to read and memorize scripture is to delight in it. People who are successful in Bible reading and memorization usually enjoy it. Not only will God bless you in a supernatural way for meditating on his word, but it will probably result in success through increasing wisdom.

In Marriage

“As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.” Song of Solomon 2:3

Not only should you delight in God’s word, but if you are married, you should also delight in your spouse. Marriage is about commitment, so during the bad times you should still go through the motions rather than giving up, but the Bible teaches that you should delight in your spouse. Instead of always blaming the problems on your spouse, pray that your own attitude will improve. If your wife feels that you are only staying with her for religious reasons, then you are probably not delighting in her. Ladies, the same goes for you, too. You may love your husband deep down, but you need to also learn to like him. Focus on what attracted you to your spouse in the first place, and get back to delighting in each other.

In the House of God

I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Psalm 122:1

Everyone, including the pastor of the church, wants you to delight yourself in church. Never tell people that you “have to” go to church. Church is something we ought to look forward to and enjoy.

When you delight in something, you will be more likely to stick with it. We should fear God and do what is right even when we don’t feel like it, but the goal should be to delight in serving him. David was the apple of God’s eye—not because he was perfect, but because he loved God and his word.

Here’s a sermon on delighting yourself in the Lord.