Delight yourself in the Lord

Psalm 37:1-40

Key Verse 37:4

Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

In this passage we can find a basic direction for reviewing the year which we are going to leave behind and for planning for the New Year which we are going to greet soon. Characteristically the direction is more spiritual than physical, and it mainly has to do with the need for us to recheck our relationship with the Lord and renew our commitment in our relationship with the Lord.

First, do not fret (1-2)

David lived as a shepherd for the people of Israel. As a shepherd David now speaks to his sheep, so they would not go astray but rather continue to listen to the Lord and follow him. What is David’s instruction? Look at vs. 1-2. “Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away.” Here “evil men” or “those who do wrong” refer to the unbelievers in general. In many places of this passage David calls them “the wicked”. And David says that we should not fret because of unbelieving people who seem to have a lot of fun time. He says that we should not be envious of them because like grass or green vegetation they will soon wither and die. 

Practically however it is not easy to not fret or to not be envious of the unbelieving people. When I was going through the two year training program at the Korean Judiciary Training Institute in 1972, I had a painful experience about this. At that time my faith was still young. And I was determined to become successful in my career. So I wanted to graduate from the institute as the top student with the highest possible GPA in the entire history of Korea, so that upon graduation I would be appointed a judge in Seoul District, and then get promoted to the Chief Justice in a record period of time. But alas! At that time I was still in a honeymoon. I married by faith in a record period of time. But I did not know that marriage takes away so much time to study. Plus each time there was a final exam mysteriously Dr. Samuel Lee figured this out and put a Bible academy together, and appointed me as a messenger. So how did I do on my class subjects? I did not do well. Why? Each time I came to the class, I prayed a lot, I mean I dozed off a lot. My GPA then fell from A to B, B to C, and then to D. I looked at other classmates most of whom were way older than I but still they did not get married. They did not need to do the laundry for their wives. They did not need to change diapers for their kids. Most of them did not go to the church as diligently as I did. Even those who went to church, they did not put the first priority on serving the Lord. Rather they put the first priority, the second priority, and the third priority on getting ahead of others in the class. So I was left way behind. 

But looking back, I am very thankful to the Lord for the outcome of these seemingly troublesome moments. Didn’t Jesus say the last will be the first, the first the last? Isn’t there saying, the race is not always for the fastest? None of the classmates has ever become a missionary. Only I did. Plus, the Lord God granted my son what I had desired to achieve but was unable, and the Lord did it to him real fast.

Second, trust in the Lord (3)

Look at v. 3. “Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.” Here trusting in the Lord is the key to doing good; doing good is the key to dwelling in the land; and dwelling in the land is the key to enjoying safe pasture. We cannot do good on our own. We are born evil and good, not fully good and good all the time. But when we trust in the Lord the Lord works within us. He transforms our inner person. He helps us to overcome evil urges. Then we can do what is good. As we do good, the Lord gives us peace of mind. Cain did not do good. So eventually he became a fugitive. He could not “dwell” in the land (of peace and joy). Indeed doing good is the key to preparing an environment in which we can build the security of life – the life which is truly secure. 

Let us take a note of three words: enjoy, safe, and pasture. No one can enjoy what one is and has where there is no peace of mind. No one can have peace of mind by doing what is evil. No one can do good on his or her own. True enjoyment in a truly safe environment is the key to a life fulfilling. By the environment, David does not mean what is physical but what is spiritual. After all this world is the product of the Spirit of God speaking. What is physical is the product of what is spiritual. Therefore spiritual environment which is invisible is more important than physical environment. If the U.S. is going to be a secure place to live, she must first be a spiritual nation. Likewise, each family and certainly each person must first be made spiritual. Then the Lord God offers himself as one personal security guard. What environment is securer than the Lord God himself? Speaking of this truth, David says, “Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture!”  Therefore in the days to come, I pray that all of us would develop deeper faith in the Lord, and put deeper and greater trust in the Lord than ever before.

Third, delight yourself in the Lord (4)

Look at v. 4. “Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.” According to the Miriam Webster’s Dictionary, “delight” means “a high degree of gratification, extreme satisfaction, or something that gives great pleasure”. It is used as a noun, a transitive verb or intransitive verb. The expression “desires of your heart” is the same as “what your heart desires.” So King David says in effect, “Make yourself fully satisfied, treat yourself to a high degree of gratification, give yourself something that gives great pleasure” by yourself being “in the Lord.” Or simply he says, “Entertain yourself in the Lord.” 

Why then does he say “Delight yourself in the Lord”? He says so because he wants us to help us to fulfill the desires of our heart. Let us notice here the expression “desires of ‘heart’”, not ‘flesh’. In Hebrew thought heart is the seat of our inmost being, that is, the soul, which came from God. And our soul desires a high degree of gratification, which comes only from fellowship with the Lord. 

“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” This time let us put an emphasis on the word “he” and read the passage again. This passage suggests to us that it is only from the Lord that our soul can get what it truly needs for full satisfaction. What does soul need? It needs something which is noble and lofty, pure and eternal. It feeds on such spiritual gourmets (if you will) as loving kindness, mercy, justice, and righteousness. Speaking of the same truth, David says in Psalm 36:5-10, “Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O LORD, you preserve both man and beast. How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart.” 

The devil also knows that what makes man truly happy comes only from the Lord. So the devil who wants all of us to be thoroughly unhappy comes up with all kinds of deceptive devices. In order to lead us away from the Lord he comes up with all kinds of attractive looking distractions, such as sinful pleasures of this world. And you will find them plenty even for free – in the bill boards on the freeway, on the news papers, on radio programs, on TVs, in shopping malls, and in the Internet. 

But David says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, for he will give us what our heart really desires. A significant number of Christians do not understand this truth however. If this truth (the truth that the Lord alone is the only viable source of true entertainment in the true sense of the word “entertainment”) has not dawned on you, then just by faith accept this as true, and ask God for help to overcome sinful practices or habits, make a new decision to rededicate yourself to the Lord. And then see what happens. But remember: first thing first. You must first be “in” the Lord. Then and only then the Lord will give you the desires of your heart.  

Fourth, commit your way to the Lord (5-26)

How then can one be in the Lord? More importantly what is it to be in the Lord? In vs. 5-26, David answers the question. 

First of all it means to fully commit one’s way to the Lord.  Look at v. 5a. “Commit your way to the LORD.” The exhortations “trust in the Lord” or “delight yourself in the Lord” is rather general in meanings, but “commit your way to the Lord” is more specific. Here “your way” means “the way one thinks sees or relates oneself with others.” In view of the general flow of the passage we can say that the exhortation to commit one’s way to the Lord denotes the idea that we must relate ourselves to the people of this world “in the Lord, through the Lord, and for the Lord.” Here the idea of relating oneself to others “through” the Lord is particularly important. In associating ourselves with close friends like brothers and sisters in the Lord, common life brothers or sisters, or even one’s spouse, it is so easy to get too personal or friendly that we end up relating ourselves to them through the Lord. And this is true not only with those who are friendly but with those who are hostile to us. 

This is more easily said than done. How then can we practically follow up on this exhortation in the days to come, and become prosperous in all we do? I think vs. 7-8 give us a clue. Look at vs. 7-8. “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-it leads only to evil.” Three commands stand out for our attention: “Be still before the Lord”, “Wait patiently for him”, and “Refrain from anger.” I think they are linked together. We need to be still before the Lord in order for us to be able to listen to what the Lord has to say. When the situation gets sticky, it is so easy for us to take the matters in our hands, and try to resolve the problems on our own. Then we end up making the problems worse. But we need to be still before the Lord. But on many occasions the Lord does not come up with a quick answer. So what do we do? We go and ask for our spiritual seniors. But they do not have an answer either. So what do we do? We need to wait patiently for him. Why patiently? We need to wait patiently just as a patient to wait for him to recover from his sickness. Last Tuesday I got stomach flu. I think food poisoning cause the trouble. It felt so unpleasant that I thought finally I was dying. And I was bed ridden for two long days. Lying on a sofa bed, I patiently prayed to the Lord for healing. This experience tells me that in order to wait, we need to be ready to take some pains. But this is not enough. In the course of waiting, taking some pains, it is possible that we can get angry. But David says, “Refrain from anger and turn from wrath: do not fret – it only leads to evil.” Here “fret” has the meaning of “being eaten up.” We should not let ill emotions to eat us up. Why? Because it will only lead us to doing evil. 

When we follow through David’s line of counseling, what will the Lord do? The Lord will help us to bear good fruit. We can classify the fruit into two categories: one in general two in specifics. First, v. 6 says, “He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”  The righteousness refers to a right relationship with the Lord and with our neighbors, suggesting to us that as we maintain a right relationship with the Lord the Lord blesses us to be kind and gentle to many, to serve the flock of God with His word and prayer, and to know how to bless even our enemies. Justice refers to the Lord punishing those who need to be punished, so that it is not we who should play a judge, but the Lord who always punishes those who need to be punished, and rewards those who need to be rewarded, all in accordance with his infinite wisdom, love, and power. Then vs. 9-26 list up a whole bunch of good fruit: the promise to inherit the promised land (i.e., the kingdom of God) (9-11a), deep peace (11b), protection from enemies’ attacks (12-15), better quality of life even if we do not have as much as the wicked do (16-17), longevity (18), deep satisfaction even in time of disaster (19-20), abundant material life such as establishing a good credit rating, plus the ability to live the life that gives (materials) (21-22), a life of integrity, a life which is free from disgrace (23-24), and God’s blessings falling on the next generations (25-26).  

As of today we have a little less than 4 days left in the year of 2003. During the remainder of this year then let us examine the way of our life in the past, and make a new decision to commit our way to the Lord so in the year to come the Lord would richly bless us in every way possible. 

Fifth, turn from evil and do good (27-33)

Having listened to King David’s exhortations in the above, one question still lingers in our mind. And that is, how can we possibly not become angry? How can we exercise self-control and turn from wrath? It is good to talk about it, but it is not easy to actually become patient to the end, and remain calm. 

King David understands our question very well, so he has another set of good advice. Let us read responsively vs. 27-33. Here we see the command saying, “Turn from evil and do good (27).” Wow! This is another good idea. But who does not know that? And every one can say that. Lord! Have mercy on us. Please let us know specifically how we can overcome our evil urge and do what is good all the time. Now here is the answer (which I am confident David learned through many struggles). Look at vs. 30-31 again. “The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks what is just. The law of his God is in his heart; his feet do not slip.” Here David lists up four parts of our body: heart, tongue, mouth, and feet. Heart is inside of our body. Tongue is attached to the mouth. Mouth is attached to our face. And feet means actions. And we know heart controls tongue. Tongue controls mouth. And mouth controls our life. But ultimately it is what is inside of our heart that determines the way we are. If our heart is good we are good. If our heart is bad, we are bad. As our heart is so will our person be. Our being and/or doing is all dependant upon what is going on in our heart. So what is the secret? Then what controls our heart? What makes our heart either good or bad? The word of God. So, here is the secret: to store up the Law of His God in one’s heart.  

This gives us another good wisdom for us to consider in setting up the new year’s resolutions: that is, to spend time more than ever with the Lord in feeding ourselves with God’s word, in daily bread word, in preparing study notes, in writing Bible testimonies,  1:1 bible studies etc. and so forth. Then, very naturally the Lord will fill us with lots of good fruit. 

Sixth, wait for the Lord (34-36)

By this time King David could have finished admonishing the flock of God the Lord put under his care. But he does not stop there. Rather before drawing a conclusion, he has one more important exhortation to make (I mean to repeat). What is it? Look at vs. 34-36. “Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it. I have seen a wicked and ruthless man flourishing like a green tree in its native soil,  but he soon passed away and was no more; though I looked for him, he could not be found.” 

In this passage a lot of admonitions are repeated again and again. But it seems that David puts a special emphasis on the need for one to be long patient in waiting for the Lord. Indeed in the eyes of the Psalmist, impatience is one of the most serious problems that cause men to forfeit God’s true blessings, and fail. Do you remember what Sarah said to Abraham when she finally grew impatient in waiting for the Lord for the son? And see what kinds of complex troubles the race has been experiencing so far. 

In our own generation as well, David’s exhortation is very important because nowadays a lot of teen age students are impatient in waiting for their marriage partners to emerge. We are living in an Internet age. So people seem getting increasingly impatient. Like Esau they want everything quick. But we need to be more like Jacob who waited for his love Rachel for even 7 long years, plus 7 more. 

Seventh, consider the blameless (37-40)

Look at vs. 37-40. “Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace. But all sinners will be destroyed; the future of the wicked will be cut off. The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD; he is their stronghold in time of trouble. The LORD helps them and delivers them; he delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in him.” Here, the blameless, the upright, or the man of peace refers to those who put trust in the Lord and accordingly take a refuse in the Lord. The expression “cut off” means to be separated from the relationship with the Lord, not temporarily but permanently. 

In this passage then the word “future” is repeated twice – the future of the wicked and the future of the righteous. There is no future for the wicked. There IS a future for the righteous. This indicates that there are only two destinies – the life in the eternal presence of God, or the life that is shut off conclusively from the fellowship with the eternal presence of God. There are no other alternatives. One can choose only one of the two. So when we put trust in the Lord, the Lord himself builds up our future with all kinds of practical blessings coming into the reality. 

One word: delight yourself in the Lord.

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