First Things

THE GREATEST DELIGHT (PS 37.4-6)

Most people are naturally disposed to be self-centered. Unselfishness is generally a learned behavior. Selfish people often attain material success at the expense of others, but the psalmist counsels the believer to trust in the Lord and to do what is right and good. Regardless of how well-off the wicked may appear for the moment, their “success” is fleeting and they will soon be cutoff from everything they value, because what they consider most important is itself transitory. Those who have a hope only in this life cannot hope to succeed (Job 27.8-12) because everything to which they aspire is itself just a passing fad. (Shopping malls, for instance, come and go!) Isaiah wrote: A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever (Isaiah 40.6-8). The wicked man will destroy himself with bad behavior, anger and selfish emotions, but the godly person trusts in the Lord and submits to His divine will for his or her life: Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths (Proverbs 3.5-6; cp. Isaiah 26.3-4).

The commitment that pleases the Lord stems from the delight in submitting to his will, even when to do so requires a profound act of faith. When one does unreservedly submit to the Lord, then no matter how stressful your present circumstances may be God will in due course vindicate your cause. The apostle Peter writes: Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you (1 Peter 5.6-7). It is just this attitude of surrender to God that brings about the believer’s greatest joy. His focus has turned from himself to God; his greatest delight is in the glory of God. Only when his Lord and Savior is most glorified is he happiest. The Christian’s greatest pleasure is that God is most glorified in all that he does. This is the priority modeled for us in Jesus’ life (cp. John 17.4) and he instructed his disciples to put God’s kingdom first: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you (Matthew 6.33). The psalmist Asaph writes: Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever (Psalm 73.25-26). The heart of every believer should be similarly filled with love and adoration for God.

It is not surprising that we find Paul frequently interrupting the discourse of his letters with doxologies. These exclamations of praise are the overflow of a heart saturated with praise for God: Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen (Ephesians 3.20-21; cp. Romans 11.33-36; 1 Thessalonians 3.11-13). The contemplative reader will commit his or her life unreservedly to the Lord. Such a commitment will include trusting the providence of God and reliance upon the promises of his word. The believer patiently waits on the Lord to act because he or she knows the truth of 1 Thessalonians 5.25: He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. Finally, I like the poetic rendering of the NIV translation of Psalm 37.5-6: Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.