How do I Delight Myself in the Lord?

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; {so shalt thou dwell in the land}, and verily {thou shalt be fed}. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and {He shall give thee the desires of thine heart}. Commit thy ways unto the Lord, trust also in Him, and {He shall bring it to pass}."

The Commands -

Trust God (is commanded twice!)

Do good

Delight in the Lord

Commit your ways to the Lord

 

Before you can delight yourself in the Lord, or commit your ways unto Him, or do good, or what's truly right in His eyes, you must trust Christ as your Savior. {John 14:6; John 3:16; Romans 10:9-10, 13} Once you trust Christ as your Savior you can trust God for everything in your life {Matthew 6:25-34}

 

The Promises -

Thou shalt dwell in the land{God's Kingdom, life, eternal life}

Thou shalt be fed

{God meets our daily needs; Jesus is the bread of life}

He shall give thee the desires of thine heart{access to the Father through salvation in Christ; a relationship with God and closeness to God}

 

 

1. Trust in the Lord
   First off, if you haven't already, you have to trust Jesus Christ as your Savior. Jesus is the only way to the Father. {John 14:6}Salvation is not by works, it is by God's grace through faith in Christ {Ephesians
   2:8-9}Confess your sins {I John 1:9} and call upon the Lord {Romans 10:9-13} God loves you {John 3:16} and wants you to be a part of His family {Isaiah 1:18; II Peter 3:9}
   Once you trust Christ as your Savior you can begin trusting God to meet all of your needs {Matthew 6:25-34}Even in times where it feels like you are alone and have nothing, remember, God provides food for the birds every day, and you being much better then they are will be taken care of, in His time, by His will, for His glory, you only have to trust Him.  

< meeting our daily needs - when the Lord delivered the Hebrews from Egypt and they were wondering through the wilderness, God provided manna for the people; to show them they can trust Him, there were conditions with this manna and gathering it - they were to gather exactly what they needed for that day for their household, and no more; the Lord was teaching them to trust Him for their daily provision. {Exodus 16:16-30}- skip ahead a few hundred years to when Jesus taught the disciple's how to pray, the Lord's prayer says "give us this day our daily bread" {Matthew 6:11}Which goes right along with Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:25-34, God will provide for your needs, every day. > All you need to do is trust Him

 

2. Do good
   First off, the Bible says there is none that doeth good {Psalm 53:1,3}.

Jesus said to the rich, young ruler, "why calleth thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God" {Mark 10:18}.

We are all born with a sinful nature [hence why we need Christ]; by nature, we are not good. Having said that, it doesn't mean we aren't capable of doing good works {Matthew 7:9-11}. Jesus commanded us to "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" {Matthew 5:16}.

We are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them {Ephesians 2:10} {James 2:14-17}.

So, in a nut-shell, we know that we are not good, but, we can do good works, and things that are pleasing to God.

 

3. So shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed -

The first promise from this passage -

I believe this passage is clearly showing the promise of dwelling with God (the Promise Land) when we trust Christ as our Savior , and that our physical and spiritual needs will be met {Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body more than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not neither do they reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better then they? {Matthew 6:25-26}

And Jesus said, "I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" {John 6:35}

Jesus said, "In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you unto myself that where I am, there ye may be also."

"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" {John 14:2-3;6}

 

4. Delight thyself also in the Lord

I believe the word 'also' in this verse means, 1. trust [in the Lord], 2. do good [in the Lord], 3. also, as in and, as well as [in the Lord] - to obtain the promise that follows in this verse. {and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart}

Delight - to please someone greatly; great pleasure; high degree of gratification, joy, and great pleasure.

So, how do we delight ourselves in the Lord? Here are a few ideas from the King James version of Bakers Evangelical Dictionary -

"to bend towards"; "be inclined towards" and 'take pleasure in"

Obedience	Numbers 14:8; Deuteronomy 30:9
Honesty	Proverbs 20:23; 11:20
Truthful	Proverbs 12:22
Prayer	Proverbs 15:8
Showing Mercy	Micah 7:18
Delight in His salvation	Psalm 35:9

In a nut shell, I'd say to delight in the Lord means to obey Him, trust Him, live a life pleasing and honoring to Him - make His ways your ways, and His thoughts your thoughts.

 

5. And He shall give thee the desires of thine heart -

This does not mean God will give you the winning lottery numbers or your every want. While He is gracious to give us some things we want, truly what this verse is talking about is when you truly begin trusting God for everything, committing everything you do, say, plan and think; your life, to Him and begin to truly delight in Him by reading His Word regularly, attending a God-fearing, Jesus preaching, God-honoring church services, working and living for the Lord, your hearts desires will change from worldly things, to things above - they will go from selfish desires to godly desires - these are the desires God will give you, in His time, when it's for Him and His glory {But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. - Matthew 6:20-21}

 

6. Commit thy ways unto the Lord -

Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy thoughts shall be established. {Proverbs 16:3}

Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. {I Peter 5:7}

Whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord, and not unto men. {Colossians 3:23}

Not with eye service, as men pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men. {Ephesians 6:6-7}

(Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeoth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free) {Ephesians 6:8}

The Bible clearly states to do everything, regardless of how menial you think it is, like you are directly doing it for the Lord, because really, you are -

Everything you have is from God, "for the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; every good and perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of lights". {I Corinthians 10:26; James 1:17}

The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein. {Psalm 24:1}

 

7. And He shall bring it to pass
   [and He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon day]

The last two promises of these four verses - our righteousness is the righteousness of God based on faith which comes from God as a gift, it cannot be earned by works.

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth {Romans 10:4}

It is by faith in Christ that we are justified, or declared righteous {I Corinthians 1:30; Romans 5:19}

Our righteousness and judgment will shine brightly for everyone to see when we whole heartily trust in the Lord, do good, delight ourselves in the Lord and commit our ways unto the Lord.

Just as Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven" {Matthew 5:16}

 

Jenn