Delight and Desire
Notes
Transcript
Intro; We are a people that live in a culture that is delight and desire driven. Matter of fact that’s what most call the American Dream!
We delight in new possessions and promotion because we believe it will get us closer to the joy we’ve been striving for.
Everyone desires a lucrative career, a beautiful home, and all the blessings of a prosperous life.
Preachers preach a prosperity gospel that says “God wants you to be happy, healthy and wealthy.” You can have your best life yet!
Yet despite all the achievements one attains in their life, most people are still empty and searching for something they will never attain outside a personal relationship in Jesus Christ.
This morning I want us to look at probably the most out of context scripture in our generation, especially used in mega-churches by pastors like Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, T.D. Jakes and others!
Text; Psalm 37:4
4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Prayer
1. Delight and Desire Culture;
1. Delight and Desire Culture;
Just on face value as a stand alone scripture, this can be taken as a good thing, especially to the Jewish people. They were the recipients and administrators of God’s covenant. And if you were to look back in the Book of Deuteronomy you could easily see how Delight and Desire can be misunderstood.
1 “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey [delight] the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.
2 And all these blessings [desire] shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:
If there’s ever a covenant that speaks of Delight and Desire, this is it! Matter of fact, from the culture then till ours today, religion still places a high value upon material blessings as being a sign that a person is in the favor of God, whereas someone not as materially blessed is not living right.
Remember the Rich Young Ruler who came and asked Jesus of how to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him what He needed to do. But when the young man heard he needed to part with his possessions, he walked away because they were his delight and desire. Jesus then said, “how hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” Listen to the response of the disciples;
26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”
If this young man who has done so well in life and kept God’s commands can’t be saved, then those of less status and means have no hope at all of being saved!
We should no doubt “delight ourselves in the Lord”, but doing so has no bearing on “receiving the desires of our hearts” according to our culture [wealth, health and material prosperity].
2. Delight and Desire of Others; 1-3
2. Delight and Desire of Others; 1-3
[v.1] David is wrestling with this one question: Why do the righteous struggle while the wicked thrive?
We see this in our society today and we probably ask the same thing, “If God loves us why can’t we have what they have?”
David warns us that one of the worst things a person can do is compare our life to another! Envy is a heart disease that leads to competition and covetousness, and will destroy the ability for one to have true joy in the Lord!
14 But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.
15 This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.
16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
[v.2] Everything here on earth is “temporary”, even men, and all will soon fade away or die. And if your hope is in temporary things then your joy is only temporary, and you will always be looking for the next best thing to make you happy!
[v.3] The land refers to Canaan, the territory promised by God to Abraham and his descendants. It is a picture of God’s purpose for them in this life and the joy and rest they will have when they live in His perfect will. When trouble arises and they are tempted to flee from where God has placed them, they need to stay in God’s will, feed on His faithfulness and He will protect and provide for them.
Application for us; Instead of putting our hope in things that don’t last, place our trust in the Lord, be content where He has planted you, and be thankful for what He has blessed you with, because He will never leave you nor forsake you, He is faithful even when we are faithless!
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
We should never allow what others have to rob us of our joy we already have in Jesus!
3. Delight in the Lord; 4a
3. Delight in the Lord; 4a
Delight- to be pampered or brought up in luxury, abundance of pleasure and fun.
Delight is the abundance of the blessings we have in the Lord Himself, apart from what He gives us. This is the most important part of this text, delighting ourself in the Lord!
To enjoy the blessings and ignore the Blesser is to practice idolatry!
What does it mean to “Delight in the Lord”?
Delight in the Scriptures. If one delights in the Lord, he will be interested in what the Lord has to say. If you delight in a person, you will be interested in their letters, emails, texts or anything they have to say. For the person who delights in the Lord, they will delight in the Scriptures. But few delight in the Scriptures today. They do not read the Scriptures nor study them and are not too sure where they last laid their Bible.
103 How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!
15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Delight in Prayer. Those who delight in the Lord will pray. We talk with people we delight in. Parents spend a lot of time phone/texts with their children away at college because they love and delight in their children. Those who delight in the Lord will be those who spend a lot of time in prayer. Show me a person’s prayer life and I will show you how much he delights in the Lord.
1 I love the Lord, because He has heard My voice and my supplications.
15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Delight in Worship. Delight in the Lord manifests itself in the worship of the Lord. If you delight in a person, you will be quick to praise and honor that person. If you delight in the Lord you will be quick and faithful in honoring God through the worship and adoration of God. Poor church attendance often says we lack delight in the Lord.
1 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
There are many christians suffering from lack of pleasure and joy in life because they are not truly delighting themselves in the Lord!
John Piper; “God is most glorified in us when we are most delighted in Him.”
4. Desires of the Heart; 4b
4. Desires of the Heart; 4b
Desire- Hebrew [mish-ala]; petitions or requests; Its root is a Hebrew word that means “to ask”.
David is saying that when we delight ourselves in the LORD [The Person], He will answer our prayers.
Jesus taught desire;
12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.
13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.
15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.
7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
John taught desire;
14 Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15 And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
Paul taught desire; 4 prayers from prison [Eph. 1:15-23, 3:14-21, Phil. 1:9-11, Col. 1:9-14]
9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;
12 giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
If we truly delight in the Lord, then the chief desire of our heart will be to know Him better so we can make Him known to others! This is not a promise for people who want “things,” but for those who want more of God in their lives.
Close;
A.W. Tozer; “What comes into our mind when we first think about God is the most important thing about us.”
The greatest desire of our heart should be peace in the Lord!
27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
Is the delight of our life the desire for the Person of Christ [peace], or for the things we can get from Him? There is a difference!
