Delight Yourself In The Lord

DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD

Ps 37:4

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: THE ANSWER NOT RECOGNIZED

1. A group of UT trained managers were given the assignment of measuring the height of a flagpole.

2. When they got to the flagpole with ladders and tape measures, the difficulty began. They were falling off the ladders and dropping tape measures right and left. The whole thing is just a mess.

3. Then an engineer from Texas A & M came along and saw what they were trying to do. Walking over, he pulled the flagpole out of the ground, laid it flat, measured it from end to end, & gave the measurement to one of the managers, and walked away.

4. After the engineer has gone, one manager turned to another manager and started laughing.

5. "Isn't that just like an Aggie? We're looking for the height and he gives us the length."

B. TEXT

Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. 2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

C. THESIS

1. For many people, food is not an inconvenience or duty, it’s a delight. They pursue it with passion. Everybody around them can tell they’re enjoying their food.

2. Do we enjoy God? Do we enjoy all the things related to God? His Church, His Word, worship, prayer? I want to be a person who delights in the Lord!.

3. In our experience, is God a delight or a duty? How many have discovered that delight is a better motivator than duty?

4. For a very large number of people, Christianity is a 2 hour commitment per week. That’s less than 2% of the person’s time, yet it’s often perceived as a drudgery. And that’s why we’re focusing on a higher motivation than duty. “Delight yourself in the Lord…”

5. How do we do that?

I. KNOW, YOU WERE CREATED FOR SUCH DELIGHT

A. GOD MADE ALL FOR OUR ENJOYMENT

1. When God created Adam, He demonstrated considerable concern for Adam’s enjoyment. He placed Adam in a GARDEN—not a wilderness. He provided for Adam all the trees of the garden and the fruit (FOOD) of those trees for his enjoyment.

2. God has given him a perfect ENVIRONMENT. God gives him work that is affirming and meaningful. He is a gardener for God. He is privileged to do a WORK that God has assigned him to do. I’m sure he was delighting in that assignment.

3. In John 4:31-34 “Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?" "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”

4. The work (God gave Adam to do) yielded something in his soul that was absolutely wonderful. For Adam dressing that Garden was a delight much more than a duty.

5. In Genesis 2 you see God’s supreme interest in Adam’s joy. God took delight in Adam and took joy in providing him everything he needed for living life to the full.

6. When He saw something missing in Adam’s life, God said (2:18), "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." And God made Eve, Adam’s most beloved possession.

7. Is there anything missing in your life? “No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly before Him.” He withheld no good thing from Adam and He will withhold no good thing from us if we will live in obedience to Him.

B. THEIR HIGHEST JOY

1. Everything we have described was for Adam’s enjoyment. But none of it was the most important thing for Adam.

2. More important than a perfect environment and a perfect mate was the daily presence of God. In the cool of the morning God would meet with Adam and Eve.

3. I believe Adam & Eve passionately looked forward to those personal times with God, the shekinah – “high on the Lord!” In his perfect state man delighted himself in the Lord because he was designed to do so.

C. LOSS OF THEIR MOST SPECIAL GIFT

1. That delight was broken by only one thing: Adam & Eve stepped out of God’s revealed will they lost something immensely precious – they sinned.

2. Instead of enjoying God they hid from God. Instead of looking forward to His presence they dreaded it. Tolerating sin and disobedience in their lives robbed them of the joy of the Lord.