Scripture:
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. v4
The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand. v23-24
Observation:
When your delight (desire) is the Lord, he will give you your desires (delight). v4
When we delight in (desire) the Lord, he will establish our steps, and even when he establishes our steps, that doesn’t mean he will protect us from falling, or suffering, or hardship. He upholds us in the midst of it, but doesn’t keep us from it.
Application:
This passage in v4 has been misunderstood and poorly explained by many! Let’s take a closer look at what it actually means.
See, we usually take this to mean, that if we make God #1 in our lives, he will give us all the things we want. If I pay attention to God, and focus on him, then I will get that promotion. That bonus. That healing. That ___________.
But if you look closer what it is really meaning is when we delight in the Lord, when our deepest soul, our heart desires and delights and wants nothing but the Lord, Jesus, then and only then can we be confident that we will truly get what our soul desires: Jesus.
If we delight in Jesus, and Jesus fully, and Jesus only, and all other delights, our family, our whatever, are wrapped in our delight for Jesus, then and only then, will Jesus give us our desires, which is him. It doesn’t mean that if we tip our hat to him once a week that he will be like a really good vending machine of blessings.
So, go, delight in Jesus. Look at him, meditate on him and his gospel, set your eyes on him, wrestle your heart to see him as he truly is, delight in him, and he will show you himself. You will get him.
And when we do this, he will order our lives and our steps and carry us, but as he carries us, suffering, hardship, falling will happen, but take hope: he is still ordering your steps. Even in suffering and hardship, our God is Sovereign and good and working ALL THINGS, even hardship to his glory and our good, our best possible lives.
Your best life now feels like it should be easy and smooth sailing, but that isn’t true. Your best life is a life that in the midst of hardship and what not, that Jesus is with you and carrying you, and shaping you. That is your best life, even though some people (and pastors) would like to tell you otherwise.
Prayer:
Give us eyes to see what it means to delight in you, to hope in you, to run to you and want and desire only you.