Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Delighting Yourself

...continuing with Part 2 about delighting in the LORD. Click here to read Part 1 about the desires of your heart.
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. ~ Psalm 37:4

I previously wrote about what I think are the desires of my heart of which King David is referring. David even says here that God will fulfill those longings if... There is a prerequisite: delight yourself in the LORD.

I find it interesting that David did not say that He'd give us our desires if we OBEY. Or FOLLOW. Or even LOVE the LORD. But, DELIGHT. Wow. No wonder so many of us are living with unmet desires. We may obey, follow, or love Jesus, but I know very, very few people that are delighting in Him.

Instead, I see most people (Christians included) that are finding their joy in food, other relationships, entertainment, vacations, stuff... Trying to fill those voids, find relaxation, seeking for peace, wanting satisfaction or contentment or happiness, in things that cannot deliver -- in the inferior pleasures.

All the while, God is saying delight in Me, the superior pleasure, and I will fulfill the desires of your heart. This is what I want. I want to delight in God.

Thinking on this, I keep wondering -- how? Show me how to delight in You, LORD! This has been my prayer for many months. Here is something Mike Bickle said about this very thing,

"The concept of a holy romance is a truth contained in the Word of God: being delighted by God’s beauty, feeling the spiritual pleasures of the Word, feeling the Spirit resonating inside, and understanding what it means to be loved by God."
It seems to me that much of delighting in God is through silence and meditation. I can read or hear a truth, but until I contemplate it in my heart, I cannot really receive it and let it wash me. I must spend time with Him -- listening, basking, conversing, being, breathing. It is in stillness that I move.

And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to yearn for Him with all their heart's desire and with all their soul... ~ 2 Chronicles 15:12

After pondering this exact concept for many months, I have decided to enter into a covenant with the LORD. The exact covenant above: to seek the LORD and to yearn for Him with all my heart's desire and all my soul. What will that look like? Basically, I do not want to look to anything else for my comfort. I want to look to Jesus, since He will actually fill that yearning. Whereas, most things I presently look to leave me filling even more dissatisfied and empty afterwards. So... more quiet, more stillness, more slowness, more pondering ;) Less noise and less doing.

Bottom line: God says there is more. God has more. I want more, and I am going after it!

I would feel honored if anyone would join me in covenanting with the LORD to throw caution to the wind of our times and recklessly pursue Grace. Pray about it.

Delighting Myself in the LORD,