David [00:00:01]:
Today we begin a new series focusing on verse 4 of Psalm 37.
David [00:00:30]:
Psalm 37, 4 in the King James Version says, delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37, when you study it, is a wisdom psalm. That’s what they call it. It’s meant to guide believers on how to live faith faithfully in a world where evil sometimes seems to win. It echoes the themes of Proverbs. Be patient, stay upright, trust in God’s timing. What we’re going to look at and focus on is verse four of this Psalm. And as we study Psalm 37, for the first thing that pops out to us is the word delight.
David [00:01:27]:
And this is where we’re going to begin our journey over the next few weeks. And so this verse is quoted a lot. I know you’re familiar with it. You’ve heard it quoted. And what I want us to discover is what it truly means to delight in the Lord and why that is important. What comes to mind when you hear this? Delight yourself also in the Lord. What’s stirred in you? What comes to mind when you hear me say that? Delight yourself also in the Lord. There are a lot of ways to express delight.
David [00:02:08]:
One that always comes to me when I hear people talking about this or about this word. It’s my grandchildren. I can’t help it. I’m there. They got me. I delight in them, and they delight in me. Another way we express delight could be in the clothes we wear or the food we eat. Chocolate.
David [00:02:34]:
Wow.
David [00:02:36]:
Chocolate was a divine idea. I really thank God for the person he inspired to make chocolate or the opportunities we have to do things we enjoy. We delight in those. I’ve got a friend, close friend, who loves to go kayaking. And he’s got all these places he likes to go kayaking. He delights in it. We could delight in our accomplishments and what we achieve, what we get done. We can delight in relationships, those who are close to us, our friends, our family, our spouse.
David [00:03:19]:
This is what this first focuses on, really, this relationship, our relationship with the Lord and his relationship with us. So let’s begin to look at what it means to delight the Lord. The word delight, here in the Hebrew means. Begins by talking about being soft and delicate. Means to pamper someone, to treat them with care. Have you ever been treated with care and pampered? My wife says she does that for me all the time. And I tell her, yes, I’m a very blessed man, I will not deny it. But it means to treat someone with care and love and attention.
David [00:04:13]:
It also means to be happy about.
David [00:04:16]:
Someone.
David [00:04:18]:
To be happy about them, to be happy in them. It means to take exquisite delight in them. Think about that. Exquisite delight. Who in your life besides the Lord, do you take exquisite delight in? What does that mean to you? What do they mean to you? It means to make merry over luxuriously. Luxuriously make merry over someone, to live in enjoyment with them. Just being in their presence brings joy.
David [00:05:01]:
And delight.
David [00:05:04]:
Means to have affection for.
David [00:05:06]:
Someone.
David [00:05:09]:
To be glad in them. And then it means this too. Delighting in someone means to always be teachable and always pliable. You’re learning more and more and more about getting to know them more and more and more and learning how to love them as God loves them. But this is true also of the Lord. God loves it when we come to him, delighting in him, treating him with care, being happy about being in his presence, taking exquisite delight in him, and in his word, being merry and joyous, excited, loving him, worshiping him, showing your affection for him, wanting to know him.
David [00:06:10]:
More and more and more and more.
David [00:06:16]:
Webster’s 828 Dictionary defined delight as to affect with great pleasure, to please highly, to give or afford high satisfaction or joy as a beautiful landscape delights the eye, or harmony delights the ear, or the good conduct of your children delights the parent. When you boil it all down together, it comes down to this. To please someone greatly and to take great pleasure in them. That’s what it means to delight in someone, to delight in the Lord and him, to delight in you. To please someone greatly. When you delight in the Lord, you’re pleased greatly by him, in who he is, knowing him, walking with him, learning more and more and more about him, and growing in your relationship with Him. You take great pleasure in that. When you pursue the Lord with that heart.
David [00:07:44]:
He takes great pleasure in you, just like you do in your children when they pursue relationship or your grandchildren. They are pleased greatly. So I want us to look at this a little more in depth and I want us to look at four characteristics of 1 who delights in the Lord. And then we’ll look at a benefit God promises us, and he promises us many benefits. But we’re going to look at one today. But the first characteristic of one who delights in the Lord is this. Know him, simply know him. Job 22:21 28 in the Amplified says this acquaint now yourself with him, agree with God and show yourself to be conformed to his will.
David [00:08:49]:
So you might think, well, how do we do that? How do we agree with God and show him that we’re conformed to his will? How do we acquaint ourselves with Him? Well, Paul tells us in Romans 12:2. He gives us a little insight into this when he says, and this is Romans 12:2 in the New King James Version. He says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You see, we’re conformed to him, or transformed to be like him by renewing our mind to him, knowing Him. And how do we know Him? We renew our mind by the Word of God. That’s one way we know Him. It’s by getting into the Word of God and letting God transform us, shape us. It means to shape our heart and our will and our thoughts.
David [00:10:10]:
So we’re becoming more like Him. By doing this, we are transformed into the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So there we go. Now we’re agreeing with God and showing ourselves to be conformed to his will. Hallelujah. We renew our mind by the Word of God. This is also one way we. We delight ourselves in him.
David [00:10:39]:
Job 22:1, 28, the amplified. And we’re going to. We’ll get to all those verses, but let’s start with verse 21. And it says, and be at peace. By that you shall prosper and great good shall come to you. And so God is saying here, if you will do this, acquaint yourself with me and know me, and agree with.
David [00:11:12]:
Me.
David [00:11:14]:
And be transformed by My Word and conform to My will. His will is his way, his plan for you. Then you’re going to prosper, and great good is going to come to you. You don’t have to work for it. You don’t have to earn it. It will come to you. It will flow to you. We’re going to see more about that.
David [00:11:41]:
Here in a moment.
David [00:11:45]:
So, Number one, know Him. And this is something you can do every day of your life. Spend time in his word, worship him, spend time praying, talking with him, communing.
David [00:12:02]:
With him, know Him.
David [00:12:07]:
The second way is we honor him above all. Job 22. Again, we’re reading through this. Receive, I pray you, the law and instruction from his mouth, and lay up his words in your heart.
David [00:12:30]:
Wow.
David [00:12:32]:
Let me read that again. Receive, I pray you, the law and the instruction from his mouth and Lay up his words in your heart, you return to the Almighty and submit and humble yourself before him. And you will be bold built up. If you put away unrighteousness far from your tents, if you lay gold in the dust and the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brook, considering them of little worth, and make the Almighty your gold and the Lord your precious silver treasure, then you will have delight in the Almighty. And you will lift up your face to God and you will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you and you will pay your vows. So this another way we delight in the Lord is by honoring him above all, seeking him. As the writer said in Matthew 6:33, Seek first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added to you. And that word seek there.
David [00:13:39]:
It’s not as Pastor Conia said. I think she just shared about this. Preach on this. But seeking there is not playing hide and seek and trying to find something that’s hidden. Seek means to pursue, to pursue with intention, to pursue with expectation. When we seek and pursue the blesser, not the blessing, the blessings flow because we’ve made him number one again. I’m probably going to say this again later, but it’s not transactional, it’s relational.
David [00:14:25]:
Hallelujah.
David [00:14:26]:
Honor him above all. Isaiah 58, verses 13 and 14. Say this. This is from the amplified classic. If you turn away your foot from traveling unduly on the Sabbath, from doing your own pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a spiritual delight, the holy day of the Lord, honorable and honor him, and it not going your own way or seeking or finding your own pleasure or speaking with your own idle. Think about what that just said. We’ll read the rest of it in a moment. As we truly delight in him, he begins to delight in us.
David [00:15:13]:
God’s love begins to flow toward us as blessings. Blessings flow out of his love for us. And we see this in verse 14. So we’re going to keep reading here. Then you will delight yourself in the Lord, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth. And I will feed you with the heritage promised you.
David [00:15:51]:
Jacob, your father.
David [00:15:53]:
Let me read that again. Then you will delight yourself in the Lord, and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth. And I will feed you with the heritage promised for you of Jacob, your father. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
David [00:16:10]:
Wow. Wow.
David [00:16:13]:
As we truly delight in him, he begins to to delight in us. And here’s a point I wanted to make. This is one of the Things we see in all of this as God is inviting us to come and delight in him, to know him, to honor Him. What happens is he begins to bless you, honor you and favor you. You didn’t do anything to deserve it. You didn’t buy it. You didn’t do anything to earn it. It just comes from his love for you.
David [00:16:52]:
And as you love him, by delighting in him and honoring him, he loves you right back. He loves you right back. Job 22, 28 in the Amplified, we finally got down to the end. Job 22 says this. You shall also decide and decree a thing, and it shall be established for you, and the light of God’s favor shall shine upon your ways. So God is saying that he will bless you and honor you when you honor him, and when you decide and decree a thing, say it, speak to it. Let your desires, the petitions of your heart, be known. God says, I’ll establish it for you, and my favor shall shine upon you and your ways, your path.
David [00:17:51]:
Hallelujah.
David [00:17:53]:
Hallelujah.
David [00:17:54]:
Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory. What a blessing. The third way we come to magnify.
David [00:18:14]:
The Lord, to honor him. Hallelujah.
David [00:18:22]:
The third way we come.
David [00:18:25]:
Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord. Hallelujah.
David [00:18:29]:
Thank you, Jesus.
David [00:18:31]:
Hallelujah.
David [00:18:32]:
Toby, let’s add it right here. I won’t start that again.
David [00:18:39]:
Hallelujah.
David [00:18:41]:
So the third way we come to delight in the Lord is to know his way. So how do we know his way? Let’s study. Let’s meditate and hide His Word in our heart. Psalm, chapter one, verses one through three. The amplified classic says this Blessed, happy, fortunate, prosperous and enviable, is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly, following their advice, their plans and purposes, nor stands submissive and inactive in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down to relax and rest where the scornful and the mockers gather. But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord. And on his law, the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God. He habitually meditates, ponders, and studies by day and night.
David [00:19:53]:
And he shall be like a tree, firmly planted and tended by the streams of water, ready to bring forth fruit in his season. Its leaf also shall not fade or wither, and everything he does shall prosper and come to maturity.
David [00:20:12]:
Wow. Wow.
David [00:20:16]:
Know his way. Know his way. And we know his way by studying His Word, meditating on His Word, and hiding His Word in our heart. And like it says here in this.
David [00:20:37]:
Verse.
David [00:20:42]:
It is his instruction.
David [00:20:45]:
Hallelujah.
David [00:20:47]:
The Word is His instruction, his teaching, his instruction.
David [00:20:54]:
Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
David [00:20:57]:
Know his way. The fourth way we delight in the Lord is to know His Word. So knowing his way and knowing His Word work hand in hand. You can learn a way of the Lord, but you still need to learn more about His Word. We’re always needing to learn more about the Word of God, get more revelation and insight. Joshua 1:8 says this, this book of the law, this book of instructions, this book of teaching, that’s simply what the law is. It’s teaching’s instructions shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
David [00:21:49]:
Now, that word meditate there in the Hebrew doesn’t mean just to ponder it or think about it. That’s part of it. But it means to mumble it. So don’t let this word depart from your mouth. Mumble it all day long.
David [00:22:08]:
I will delight in the Lord.
David [00:22:13]:
I will rejoice and be glad in my God, for this is the day that he’s made. We just talked about that a couple weeks ago. You begin to take the Word.
David [00:22:28]:
And.
David [00:22:28]:
Just speak it to yourself over and.
David [00:22:30]:
Over and over and over.
David [00:22:32]:
And as you do the Lord by His Spirit, the Holy Spirit gives you revelation and insight into His Word. And His Word begins to transform you, to transfigure you into the image of Christ Jesus.
David [00:22:51]:
Hallelujah.
David [00:22:53]:
So the psalmist goes on to say, in Psalm 1:1 9:16 in the Amplified classic, I will delight myself in your statutes. I will not forget your word. Psalm 40, verse 8 in the Amplified classic, I delight to do your will, O my God. Yes, your law is within my heart. You see, as we delight in the Lord, he responds to us. His heart of love is stirred. Everything God does flows out of his love for us. His favor, his blessings, his power, his anointing.
David [00:23:44]:
It all flows out of his love for us. When we delight in him, it creates benefits for us and him, whether we do it.
David [00:24:08]:
Well.
David [00:24:08]:
Let me say this. We should do this daily. We should delight in him daily.
David [00:24:16]:
Delight in the Lord.
David [00:24:21]:
And it says, delight in the Lord. He will give you the desires of your heart. So let’s talk about the benefits. Here’s some benefits. And this is true for your relationship with God. But it’s also true for your relationship with others. That you delight in it brings increased joy and satisfaction. The more you delight in the Lord, the more you get to know him, to know his way, to know His Word, to honor Him.
David [00:24:53]:
It increases your joy and satisfaction in Him. It fosters gratitude in you for Him. It fosters affection in you for Him. You have a warmth and a desire.
David [00:25:10]:
For him like you’ve never had before.
David [00:25:15]:
Second thing creates a deeper connection between.
David [00:25:20]:
You and the Lord.
David [00:25:22]:
You become more attuned to Him. You sense him in his presence. You hear his voice in a way.
David [00:25:36]:
You’Ve never heard it before.
David [00:25:40]:
Your trust is strengthened as you delight in the Lord and get to know him his way, His Word. You honor Him. It builds your strength and trust because you begin to understand who he is and how he loves and cares for you and how he approves of you and accepts you. And you realize, in Him, I am secure. In Him, I am secure. All the old things have gone away. It’s as if I never sinned. I walk and live in the righteousness of God.
David [00:26:23]:
Hallelujah.
David [00:26:27]:
As you delight in the Lord, it silences the enemy. You start seeing him and the things around you through a lens of appreciation, through a lens of gratitude instead of criticism. And the last thing here I want.
David [00:26:54]:
To talk about is growth.
David [00:26:58]:
As you delight yourself in the Lord, you grow and you become more and more and more like him, which empowers you to inspire others and to encourage others and support them and their journey.
David [00:27:15]:
Of knowing the Lord and delighting in Him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
David [00:27:26]:
Another benefit is that the Lord feels cherished, respected, and important to you. And when you are cherishing him, respecting him and making him important, he does.
David [00:27:47]:
The same thing for you.
David [00:27:49]:
And that, again, is not transactional. It simply flows out of his love for you. Hallelujah. He returns it. He genuinely enjoys you. And so that fear of rejection that the enemy tries to bring in is gone. It’s erased. And he delights in you.
David [00:28:23]:
He just feels. It’s kind of like I’m going to take it back to my grandkids. They delighted me, and I’m filled with joy, and I delighted them. I want to reciprocate. I want them to have that experience also. But it emboldens you and gives you that platform of expressing yourself freely before you. Your father, because you know he loves you and accepts you and approves of you. And so you, as, as Paul said there in the New Testament, you can boldly come before the throne of God with your petitions, boldly come and talk.
David [00:29:13]:
To the Father.
David [00:29:17]:
Knowing that he’s going to. Hey, man, come on in. How you doing?
David [00:29:24]:
Let’s Sit down. Let’s talk. Okay, sure. I’ll help you with that.
David [00:29:30]:
Here’s what you need to do. And out of this flows an increased joy and sense of blessing in your relationship. You can even laugh together with the Lord. I’ve been blessed to do that. I’ve been blessed to do that. God says something back. I’ve realized God gave me a sense of humor, but he’s got one, too. And every now and then he’ll say something to me and I’ll go, oh, that’s funny.
David [00:30:04]:
Yeah, I see what you’re saying there.
David [00:30:05]:
Lord, praise God.
David [00:30:09]:
What a great, great, great, great blessing we have. As we delight in the Lord, it strengthens our relationship. And in that process, that mutual delight builds resilience in your relationship. It doesn’t matter what the enemy says, what the world says, what’s coming against me. I know that.
David [00:30:37]:
I know that.
David [00:30:38]:
I know that my father, God loves me. He’s got a way through this. And I have already overcome. I’m victorious.
David [00:30:45]:
I’m more than a conqueror.
David [00:30:52]:
And because of that, when confusion or conflict does come, I just look to him. God, what do you want me to say here? What do you want me to do? Because I know you know the way. And as we share our joy in the Lord with others, that joy is multiplied. And we’re being fruitful, like the Word said. Like God said to us in the beginning, be fruitful and multiply. He loves to see us increase, loves to see us multiply in this. So delight in the Lord. You know, everyone on this earth wants to be seen, valued and celebrated.
David [00:31:49]:
And as we do that with the Lord, when we see him, value him, celebrate him in all of life, we feel seen, valued and celebrated, too. In Psalm 37, 4, delight yourself in the Lord describes a relationship where joy and pleasure flow both ways. God takes joy in his people, and his people take joy in Him. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And this impacts every relationship we have because we begin to live out.
David [00:32:39]:
What.
David [00:32:39]:
We’Re doing with our Father, God, and the way. We delight with him and the relationship.
David [00:32:43]:
We have with Him.
David [00:32:45]:
We begin to live out the and all of our other relationships, which brings a deepening love for others. Lasting relationships. Lasting relationships. Now, you know, I just recently taught on rejoice and be glad. And we talked about how rejoicing is very much an outward expression of joy in the moment. You know, we’re so excited and emotional. But being glad is an attitude of the heart. It’s something that we hold close, and it’s something we sense in our heart.
David [00:33:33]:
And we’re grateful for the Lord.
David [00:33:36]:
That’s what I was feeling the other day when Conia and I were out driving or around and I told her.
David [00:33:43]:
Everywhere I look today, I see the blessing of the Lord.
David [00:33:45]:
Everything I think about, I see the.
David [00:33:47]:
Blessing of the Lord in our life.
David [00:33:50]:
And it was all coming from this.
David [00:33:52]:
Place in my heart where I was so grateful, so grateful, so grateful for the Lord.
David [00:34:01]:
See, delighting in the Lord is just not a momentary expression of joy joy. It’s a long term, permanent expression of gratefulness, pleasure, joy. It’s not dependent on sudden excitement or the blessing that just came. No matter what’s going on.
David [00:34:28]:
I am delighted in the Lord.
David [00:34:33]:
And what we know, what we learn, and what we found is to express delight is a choice based on an ever growing relationship. As we delight in the Lord, our relationship continues to grow and grow and grow and grow. And it will do that throughout all of eternity. We will always be growing in our.
David [00:34:56]:
Relationship with, with our God. Wow.
David [00:35:02]:
It is a life shaping, life shaping, transformative process that connects us to God in a way that we can’t even.
David [00:35:23]:
Imagine it, how close and intimate we can be with the Lord, our God. Wow.
David [00:35:39]:
Let me share a couple thoughts with you. Emotions fluctuate, they come and go. But choosing to delight and the Lord means keeping your heart turned toward him with gratitude and appreciation. It’s like tending a garden instead of just admiring it when the flowers happen to bloom. It’s something you’re nurturing and tending every day. It’s you taking notice every day of the Lord, paying attention to him, recognizing him in all of your life, knowing him in all of your life, acknowledging.
David [00:36:27]:
Him in all of your life.
David [00:36:30]:
It’s appreciating him and all the qualities.
David [00:36:36]:
That you’re learning about Him.
David [00:36:38]:
It’s celebrating him in every way. Celebration is something we choose to actively do. There’s a lot of ways we can celebrate him. We can celebrate him through words we speak, testimonies we share with others. We celebrate him with the time that we spend with him, praying, worshiping our devotions, Bible reading, studying, listening to podcasts and sermons. We celebrate him as we go through the day. Every time something good happens, Pastor Conia and I go, lord, thank you for your favor. Thank you for what you did there.
David [00:37:23]:
Thank you for the opportunity we had to speak into that person and encourage them. Shared experiences. God loves it when you recognize that he’s there sharing that experience, experience with you. And then we become hungry and we persevere. We push through, we continue to delight in the Lord, even when the circumstances say, what are you doing? Things are hard right now. This is challenging.
David [00:38:00]:
It doesn’t matter.
David [00:38:02]:
We still delight in Him. Why? Because delighting in him changes the environment around us.
David [00:38:17]:
Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
David [00:38:25]:
Delighting in the Lord is a stabilizing.
David [00:38:29]:
Force in all of your life.
David [00:38:35]:
Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Choosing to delight in our Father, God shifts our desires to align with his will. And as our heart aligns with his will, God can and will give you your desires, because now you’re in harmony with his purposes and plans. Again, I say this. It’s not a transaction. I delight in you and you give me.
David [00:39:18]:
No, it’s a transformation.
David [00:39:21]:
I delight and you reshape my heart. So I desire what you’ve already planned.
David [00:39:30]:
To bless me with.
David [00:39:33]:
2Nd Corinthians 3:18 in the Amplified classic says this. And all of us, as with unveiled face, because we continue to behold in the word of God as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are constantly being transfigured into his very own image and ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another.
David [00:40:02]:
For.
David [00:40:03]:
This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. As we delight in the Lord, he is taking us from glory to glory. One degree of glory to another degree of glory. We are becoming more and more like him every day, in every way, and walking in the fullness of his love for us and all that Christ bought.
David [00:40:29]:
And paid for for us. Hallelujah. What a blessing that is.
David [00:40:36]:
Delight in the Lord.
David [00:40:40]:
And He will give you the desires of your heart.
David [00:40:45]:
Or as it says in the amplified the desires and the secret petitions of your heart.
David [00:40:52]:
Hallelujah.
David [00:40:53]:
Let’s bow our head in prayer. Father, we thank you for this privilege and honor. We have to know you, to know your ways and walk in them, to honor you, to know your word, Father, and then share that word with others. What a privileged honor. We have to be in relationship with you, to partner with you, to represent you as ambassadors of the kingdom of God here in the earth, sharing your love with all those around us so they may know you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.
David [00:41:35]:
Thank you, Lord.
David [00:41:37]:
We delight in you today and we.
David [00:41:40]:
Thank you for delighting in us.
David [00:41:43]:
We give you praise and glory for this, Father. Show us how to walk in it. May we grow and learn how to love you more and more and more every day and walk in the fullness of our relationship with you in every way.
David [00:42:05]:
In Jesus name Amen.
David [00:42:09]:
Hallelujah. Pastor Conia is coming with a closing.
David [00:42:12]:
Word and a prayer.
David [00:42:14]:
God bless you. And every day this week, delight in the Lord.
