Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Good morning, I hope each of you are doing well my friends.

It is so good to see you all, a pastor is blessed to see his friends worshipping together as one body, celebrating the Lordship of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Now today as we have gathered together, we see some wonderful things around us...

The weather is changing and the weather is so much warmer.

The days are getting longer and summer and with it summer break is almost here.

And we get excited, it makes us happy....

And that is our topic today, happiness and joy.

When I look out at this world, I see a world looking for that which makes them happy.

People are in pursuit of joy!

They are looking for happiness, and the world is trying to sell us happiness.

A new car.... will make you happy A new get away will make you happy

A new get away will make you happy

A new get away will make you happy

A new phone will make you happy.

... A little bit of retail therapy will make you happy...

A little bit of retail therapy will make you happy...

A little bit of retail therapy will make you happy...

Oh, and how do you look… need a little cosmetic surgery?

A nip or tuck here, a boost or pull there.... you will be complete.

So honestly what happens is that people try one thing, and when the satisfaction wanes.. they are off in search of something else...

So honestly what happens is that people try one thing, and when the satisfaction wanes.. they are off in search of something else...

And here is the truth.. what the world offers is superficial…

But what the Lord gives is lasting...

So lets consider this topic, our true delight is not found in what the world offers but what the Lord gives..

So this morning we look at the book of Psalms… and we will examine , verse 4 as a core and then a few other passages...

So with this I want to address this question… How can we delight in the Lord?

So let me share with you how I believe we can honestly delight in the Lord and His ways...

Please understand the phrase here in verse 4 is not a suggestion or a hope, try to do this...

It is actually a command...

1.

A Simple Command...

The command God himself gives us is to delight in Him..

So what does this mean?

Lets break it down...

The first line of verse 4 says “Delight yourself in the Lord...”

Now there is a key word that we cannot afford to miss here in this verse..

And it is is not delight, it is the word Lord.

The word here is YHWH, the personal name of God.

Remember in When Moses asked God “who should I say has sent me to them....”

The most beautiful word in all of the languages of humanity… YHWH.

Now you have heard me tell you so many times before… The name of God is a verb form, not a noun.

the name of God “the great I Am” it literally means “To Be”.

So the name of God …TO Be speaks to the one God who has always been.

No beginning or ending, He has always been.

How beautiful....

So the command here is for us, to find our delight, our pleasure in that one person who has called us to walk along side of him.

The one who has always been...

Now I know what someone might ask… Can we find our delight in Lord?

No there are days that are tough… days that are difficult.

But what we can say is this...

Yes..

In every situation of life, our delight can be in Him.

Understand delight isnt always equated as a laughing, happy joyous days.

Now there are days that are tough… days that are difficult.

But what we can say is this…delight means that He is that which keeps us centered, He is that which produces joy and thanksgiving in the midst of sorrow.

Think of death, we are sorrowful in a persons death, but we rejoice in Jesus, in who He is, because he is our Savior and has given unto us eternal life.

So we can find our delight in the one true God… the creator of Heaven and Earth.

The Sustainer and Redeemer of all...

Now lets finish this thought....

And if our delight, our joy is in Him… what is the outcome?

He will give you the desires of your heart… that is what David says...

Oh boy, I;m getting that Ferrari after all.... NO.

Remember our delight is in Him… not other things… as such the word desire there means petition… What are your petitions in front of God.

What are you asking for....

The desire of our heart is truly what has been developed from the attitude of prayer on our knees… It is what is lawful and right...

Consider

In the sermon on the mount, Jesus teaches us that when His kingdom, His will and righteousness are sought first in a persons life, the rest of life is found.

So this simple command gives life, it blesses and sustains us because we have found our joy and hope in Him and nothing else.

So truly Jesus echos the Old Testament message, delight in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart...

Those desires will tie in uniquely with His righteousness, and that my friends is where we find our joy and peace.

So this simple command gives life, it blesses and sustains us because we have found our joy and hope in Him and nothing else.

Jesus reminds us that we must be last and He, His kingdom and His righteousness has to be sought after first.

So he has

Let me ask you a question today, what do you truly delight in… is it His Kingdom and ways or is it this world?

So this simple command gives life, it blesses and sustains us because we have found our joy and hope in Him and nothing else.

So this simple command gives life, it blesses and sustains us because we have found our joy and hope in Him and nothing else.

A simple command calls for us to realign our thinking, our focus and our ways...

A simple command calls for us to realign our thinking, our focus and our ways...

2. A Simple Passion...

When I look around today I see people reading a variety of books, magazines and other works in this life....

I see people reading the horoscopes from the newspaper and other resources around them..

And they say to themselves, I should or shouldn’t do this or that based on what they read… Hoping their passion, comes true...

And then there are those romance novels… They all have the same person on the cover, its all Fabio… just different hair or clothes… they read it hoping to ignite their passions… And guys, what about those swimsuit calendars… you are not off the hook.

Other publications....etc...

It doesn’t matter, if you are chasing after those things instead of the most important things… you have truly missed the mark.

So lets look at

There is that word again.. delight.

The same word, this time in the Greek but uniquely has the same meaning… it means to take a great deal of pleasure or mental satisfaction in… it express the state of mind a person has when they say.. from the bottom of my heart… I love it.

Paul is reminding man, from the bottom of our heart, our delight should be in the law of God , deep down...

The law of God speaks to the commandments, the Torah and yes to the whole of God’s word.

Think of it like this.. Do you love the word of God more than Facebook?

Instagram, more than anything?

Let me share two verses with you..

The man of God, namely any man of God should be one...

You have heard me speak of the word meditate here before.. but lets recap.. what is is not: Lotus position and chanting

What it is… Seeing, speaking and hearing the word of God as you bring it into your life.

Ps 119:35

David says here… What your word ( your commandments) outlines, directs me in a certain pathway… Your ways… and that I delight in.

If you love God my friends you will love his word as well, there no separation from it and him.

to love the word is to love him and to love him is to love the Word.