Delighting in God

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.    –Psalm 37.4 

I often find myself applying this verse in one of two occasions. First, when I want something. The other is when my circumstances are painful or difficult.

If the purpose of my delighting in the Lord is to gain the desires of my heart, am I really delighting in the Lord?

When I wrestle with that question, I do a lot of self-justification.   I reason that since I am growing in my relationship with God, could it be that God Himself is placing that desire on my heart?  Whatever my reasoning, I find myself telling God, “if you make this desire a reality, I am sure it will bring you glory.”

The cold hard truth is that I often desire the desires of my heart more than I desire God. I, like many followers of Jesus, have become very good at hiding my selfishness, pride, craftiness and pleasure-seeking heart. We not only justify fulfilling our desires—we mask this pursuit by making it look Christian.

I have come to the conclusion, and although this is not always true, it is more true than not—that if I have to justify, reason, or cut deals with God, I am probably not delighting in the Lord.

If we feel we are delighting in the Lord but He is not giving us the desires of our hearts, it may be that we are not truly delighting in Him.  

We know we are truly delighting in the Lord when God is enough—when our ultimate pleasure, enjoyment and satisfaction are found in Him and nothing else.

 If that is so, then delighting in the Lord is a matter of the heart. How will you give Him yours?