Delight in the Lord

Psalm 37:1-9

Worry is a chronic problem for so many people, myself included.  Financial worries, health concerns for myself and children, their future, etc.  These are my worries.  Most people probably have similar concerns.

What does the Lord say in answer to our worries?  Do not fret.  Trust.  Commit your way.  Rest.  All of these phrases are throughout this portion of Psalm 37.  Over and over again He calls on His children to trust in Him, and not to worry.

Every day so many go to their job, work hard, and barely have enough to get by.  We follow the Lord  and His Word, obey the law.  Then there are people who are immoral, cheaters, they treat people wrong.  The Lord is not in their hearts, and yet they seem to prosper.  They have the nice homes, the luxury cars, and the expensive vacations.  Why is life easy for them, when we struggle just to get by?  It sure doesn’t seem to be fair.

That has been many people’s thoughts for thousands of years.  Why do the wicked prosper, and the righteous struggle.  Several other places in Scripture also ask this, including other psalmists.  God’s answer is always the same - trust in Him.  That is repeated multiple times in this passage and throughout all of Scriptures.  He will take care of the wicked.  His Word makes it clear that unless one repents and turn to Him, their doom is certain.

In verses 4 and 5 it says that if we “delight” in the Lord, He will give us our heart’s desire.  He will “bring it to pass”.  What does that really mean?  Does it mean that He will give me anything that I like?  My dream of a nice 4-door black Mercedes or BMW out in front of my large Victorian house?  I don’t believe that giving us whatever our hearts desire is what the Lord is talking about here.  When we delight in someone, they are the most important thing in our life.  They are frequently in our thoughts and minds.  We want to spend as much time as possible with them, and we really get to know them well.  So if we are delighting in the Lord, He is forefront in our life, and we spend as much time as possible getting to know Him well through His Word.  Slowly but surely, His thoughts and desires become ours.  Our heart’s desire would not be for material gain, like cars, mansions, vacations, but instead it would be to further His kingdom, and bringing others to salvation in Christ Jesus.

As the Lord tells us, do not fret, trust in Him, commit your way to Him, and rest from all worrying.  He will take care of us.