Psalm 119

I have been enjoying Psalm 119 this morning - just amazed by the honesty of these prayers. No one really knows who wrote this one - maybe Ezra the priest.

I am just struck again with the cry that comes from the whole heart:

Vs 2, 10 - the psalmist is seeking God with his whole heart

Vs 34 - the psalmist searches God's Word - or Law with his whole heart

Vs 58 - the psalmist seeks God's favor and blessing with his whole heart 

Vs 69 - the psalmist seeks to obey God with his whole heart

Vs 145  - the psalmist cries out to God with his whole heart

In verses 7, 8, 15, 16, 93 we can see how the psalmist focuses his heart on God and sets his course to accomplish these goals with his whole heart. Once he has committed his whole heart to God, He is able to set his will and run with God:

• I will praise - Praise Him through the Word - it sets your heart on the right course

• I will keep your Word - obey God's Word

• I will meditate - study and reflect on God's Word

• I will delight myself - give yourself to the enjoyment of God's Word

• I will not forget - train yourself to keep God's Word in your heart and thoughts - don't forget what He has said in His Word - remember

This wonderful Psalm basically unfolds from here - it is a psalm totally dedicated to the power and wonders of God's Word in our lives. Those five little foundations (praise, obedience, meditation, delighting, remembering) make the rest of the psalm possible.

The the psalmist is able to accomplish these "I wills" - look at the results of setting our hearts on the right course...and following with the will:

V32 I will run the course of Your commandments
V44 I will keep Your Law (also vs 69, 145)
V45 I will walk in freedom (liberty)
V46 I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings
V47 I will be delighted by Your commandments
V48 I will meditate in Your statutes (v78)
V81 I will quietly and confidently hold onto the Word

Father, I thank You for Your Word today

how wonderful is Your work in my heart

through this faithful companion!

15 

7 Things - We Delight In...

Psalm 1 highlights the benefits of delighting in the law of the Lord. I was interested to find out what else God wants us to set our hearts upon – here are 7 things we are called upon to delight in from the Book of Psalms:

• The Lord wants us to delight in His laws – and to meditate on them day and night: Ps. 1:2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
Also Ps. 40:8 – when we have His laws written on our hearts, we will delight in doing His will; Ps. 119:70, 77 …and we will receive His tender mercies. Ps. 119:92 Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction; Ps. 119:174


• The Lord wants us to delight in Him – and He will grant the desires of our hearts: Ps. 37:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.


• The Lord wants us to delight in peace – Ps. 37:11 But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.


• The Lord wants us to delight in the comfort He gives – Ps. 94:19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.


• The Lord wants us to greatly delight in His commandments – it seems that the fear of the Lord is foundation for delighting in His commands – Ps. 112:1 Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who delights greatly in His commandments.
Also: Ps. 119:35, 47; 119:143 Trouble and anguish have overtaken me, Yet Your commandments are my delights.


• The Lord wants us to delight in His statutes: His Word – Ps. 119:16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.


• The Lord wants us to delight in His testimonies – where we obtain wise counsel – Ps. 119:24 Your testimonies also are my delight And my counselors.


…And the Lord delights in these 3 things – He delights in His people in general, me (you) specifically, and every detail of our lives:

• The Lord delights in His people – Ps. 16:3 As for the saints who are on the earth, “They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight.”


• The Lord delights in me (you) – Ps. 18:19 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.


Ps. 22:8 “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”


• The Lord delights in every detail of our lives – Ps. 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.


        

...And The Lord Wants Us To Delight In These Things

Delight yourself also in the Lord,

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 37:4

What an amazing promise! If we delight in Him, He will grant the desires of our hearts. By delighting in Him, His desires become our desires – we become one with Him. I encourage you to meditate on each of these areas and increase the way you live each of these points day by day.

• Delight in the ways of the Lord 2 Chron. 17:6
And his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord; moreover he removed the high places and wooden images from Judah (Also: Is. 58:2)

Ask the Lord to remove all the things in your heart and life that can sometimes become idols: sport, entertainment, relationships, attitudes and opinions, etc. These may not be evil in themselves, but can grow to a place where they take over and crowd out our devotion for the Lord.

• Delight in peace Ps. 37:11 But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

Ask the Lord to make you a peacemaker – not just a lover of peace. Being a peace make sometimes requires difficult decisions.

• Delight in doing the will of God Ps. 40:8 I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.


Ask the Lord for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Bill Johnson: What is the will of God? On earth as it is in heaven. If it does;t exist there, its not supposed to exist here. If it does exist there, its supposed to exist here.

• Delight in the comfort of God Ps. 94:19 In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.


Ask the Lord to comfort you so that you can be a comfort to others.

• Delight in the law of the Lord Ps 1:2 
But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.


…and in His statutes Ps. 119:16; testimonies 119:24; commandments 119:35, 47; law 119:70, 77, 92, 174; Rom. 7:22

Ask the Lord to give you a love for His Word and His ways

• Delight in the spiritual nourishment and provision of the Lord Is. 55:2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance.


Ask the Lord that you might taste and see that He is good. We have to open up all of our spiritual senses to His presence, so that we might know Him deeply.

• Delight in the Sabbath Is. 58:13 "If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the Lord honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words,


Ask the Lord to help you carve out this day (any day) to wait on Him. Make His presence your priority and delight.

• Delight in the presence of the Lord Is. 58:14 Then you shall delight yourself in the Lord; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the Lord has spoken."


Also: Job 22:26
For then you will have your delight in the Almighty, And lift up your face to God.
(Job 27:10; 33:26; Ps. 37:4)

Song of Sol. 2:3 The Shulamite Like an apple tree among the trees of the woods, So is my beloved among the sons. I sat down in his shade with great delight, And his fruit was sweet to my taste.


Ask the Lord to give you a burning passion for His presence. In the end, He is our greatest delight. 

The Lord Delights...

If the Lord delights in something, then maybe it is a good idea for us to find out what these things are. Here is a list of the things that the Lord delights in:

• The Lord delights in obedience 1 Sam. 15:22 So Samuel said: "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.


• The Lord delights in the excellence of His children Psalm 16:3 As for the saints who are on the earth, "They are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight."


• The Lord delights in me Psalm 18:19 He also brought me out into a broad place, He delivered me because He delighted in me.

           

• The Lord delights in His Son who created alongside Him Proverbs 8:30 Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him,


• The Lord delights in justice Proverbs 11:1 Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight.


• The Lord delights in holiness Proverbs 11:20 Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the Lord, But the blameless in their ways are His delight.


• The Lord delights in the truth Proverbs 12:22 Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight.


                         

• The Lord delights in the prayers of the righteous Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.


• The Lord delights in the fear of the Lord Isaiah 11:3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;


• The Lord delights in kindness, justice and righteousness Jeremiah 9:24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the Lord.