He Is Our Delight
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37:4
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So often my prayers center on what I want the Lord to do: I intercede for critically ill people battling cancer. There’s a great need in a missionary family in Thailand, so I petition daily for God’s help on their behalf. A friend is on bed rest during a fragile pregnancy. On the home front we may want our children to do better in school, our job situation or marriage to improve, relief from stress, or myriad other desires. All of these are valid requests, which if answered in the way we hope, would delight us. But this verse calls us to a different prayer focus: to stop and center our heart on the Lord and make him our delight. And the promised result? “He will give you your heart’s desires.”
To delight means to take great pleasure or to find joy and satisfaction in something. If it’s hard for you to find your greatest pleasure and delight in God, take heart. Though it’s impossible for us to do that in our own strength, the Father has provided a way: his Spirit graciously reveals Jesus to us and causes us to fall more and more in love with him. Then we find great delight in him and in his presence.
Prayers:
LORD, I want to delight in you! Center my heart in knowing you more and loving you more day by day. Help me to discover that there is fullness of joy in your presence and to take great delight in my relationship with you. May my heart desire you above everything else.
Quotes:
JOY IN GOD IS BOTH THE ROOT AND THE FRUIT OF FAITH. . . . CHRIST HIMSELF HAS BECOME A TREASURE CHEST OF HOLY JOY. THE TREE OF FAITH GROWS ONLY IN THE HEART THAT CRAVES THE SUPREME GIFT THAT CHRIST DIED TO GIVE; NOT HEALTH, NOT WEALTH, NOT PRESTIGE, BUT GOD!
John Piper (b. 1946)
The One Year Bible Readings for today are: Esther 8:1–10:3; 1 Corinthians 12:27–13:13; Psalm 37:1-11 and Proverbs 21:23-24.
