THE CURE FOR A TROUBLED HEART - PSALM 37 - PART 2
Last week we talked about three cures for a troubled heart from Psalm 37.
We talked about:
• 1) The principle of not fretting/ worrying
Psalms 37:1 (NKJV) A Psalm of David. Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
• 2) The principle of trusting
Psalms 37:3 (NKJV) Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
• 3) The principle of dwelling – abiding and resting in the Lord (from v.3 also)
4. The Principle Of Delighting - V.4
Psalms 37:4 (NLT) Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. 5
It’s easy to be delighted when everything happens to be going your way.
I remember one day when I went out golfing with some of my friends. Everything was going my way. I seemed to have “the touch.”
Talk about being delighted.
I acted as if I shoot that way all the time.
But then there are those other times that you can’t get the ball to do anything. The wind is against you. Your muscles are tight and everything just goes the other way.
King David had been looking at the circumstances around him, and “delight” wasn’t exactly written on his mind.
Careless, power-hungry people were going across the land like a wrecking ball. Good decent people were being trampled.
Greedy, unprincipled men and women were clawing their way into positions of power and influence.
I’m sure that David was worried. I’m sure that in his heart he didn’t feel the emotions of “delight.”
These are precisely the kinds of days about which David says, “Delight yourself in the Lord” – when things aren’t going your way.
Let’s look at the original meaning of this word. Delight is a soft word. A feminine word. It likes the luxury and attention of others.
It is the picture of a new bride who has deliberately chosen to seek her happiness in her husband. She yields to him and finds delight.
Another way understanding this word is: “To delight means to step away from your own strength and find strength in another.
David knew that this is what we need to do with God – “delight in the Lord.” We can always count on His presence.
He loves for us to step out of our puny strength and into His mighty strength..
Keep in mind that David was as tough as they come – Remember Goliath? But he had no problem stepping back from his own strength and taking refuge in God.
Psalms 21:1-2 (NLT) How the king rejoices in your strength, O Lord! He shouts with joy because you give him victory. (2) For you have given him his heart’s desire; you have withheld nothing he requested. Interlude 3
Psalms 37:4 (NLT) Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.
Delight means not to be strong for yourself. Let Him be strong for you. Pour out your energies into delighting in Him and let Him work things out.
Don’t try to work everything out yourselves.
I’m a doer. I’m a Martha. I want to roll up my sleeves and make things happen.
But there are certain things that I can’t do. It frustrates me when situations are out of my control and I CAN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
That is when I need to “delight in the Lord.”
There are certain things I can do and should do about my circumstances – but there are times in life when we need to just step back and say, “Lord, this is too hard, and too heavy, and there’s nothing else I can do. I’m gong to direct my energies and emotions into delighting in You and let you work on my behalf.
That is what God wants you to do.
GOD LOVES US SO MUCH THAT EVERY ONCE IS A WHILE, HE ARRANGES CIRCUSTANCES THAT ARE SIMPLY TOO BIG FOR US TO HANDLE AND TOO HEAVY FOR US TO CARRY.
His desire is not that these things should crush us, but that we would learn to find our help and delight in Him.
God is a giving God. He wants to hive us the desire of our hearts. BUT THE ONLY WAY HE CAN GIVE THEM TO US IS WHEN WE COME WITH A HUMBLE ATTITUDE OF DEPENDENCE ON HIM.
How many become impatient and insist on taking matters into your own hands.
We don’t get what we want and end up compromising to help God along.
Many determined people ruin their lives in the process of getting ahead of God.
They gain what they thought they wanted so badly… but there is no “delight.” There is only emptiness and regret.
I was in a food store one time in which a bird somehow made it into the building. It was frantic and panicked. Several people tried to catch it. It just circled around and around, exhausting itself and beating itself silly.
All the bird would have had to do was fly over to one of the persons trying to help it. It could have landed on his finger and he would have been escorted out of the store. He was more determined to beat himself up.
It’s the same with you and me. We pay a terrible price when we refuse the help of God and refuse to find our delight in Him.
He longs to help us and teach us and comfort us… if we would only be still before Him and wait on Him.
At the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry – He looked across the city of Jerusalem and His heart was broken.
He saw what was coming for the city. He knew the terrors and sorrows and desolation in store for her. But the people would not turn to Him.
They refused to delight in the Lord.
Matthew 23:37-38 (NLT) “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. (38) And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate.
Our houses are desolate when we refuse to delight in Him.
Are you troubled in your heart today? Is it possible you are trying too hard to make thing happen?
Is it possible that you haven’t stepped back from your own strengths and your own solutions?
God is calling you today to find your fulfillment and pleasure in Him
God’s promise to us… “My child, delight in Me. And if you do, I will give you the desires of your heart.”
That’s a promise that can survive a bad golf day, a bad hair day, or any distressful situation life deals you.
Actuallly… it’s more than a promise. It’s the cure for a troubled heart.
5. The Principle Of Committing - V.5
Psalms 37:5-6 (NLT) Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. (6) He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.
Worrying and fretting over the details of your life can take away your joy.
I’ve had the joy of traveling to many different countries. I once traveled with a group of people from my former church to Israel.
The trip was a great blessing in coming to understand about where Jesus walked. I look forward to going to Israel with our church next year.
A huge factor in the success of the trip was that we had a tour agency figure out all the details.
They worked hard to get the best fares, the best connections and the best hotels. They made sure restaurants were ready for us with good food to eat along the way.
This is their job. They do all that they can to make our trip pleasurable.
But on all their brochures… they add this one sentence – “Special note… The tour guides reserve the right to alter the sequence of the daily itinerary and make substitutions in order to meet changes brought about by weather, airline delays, or as deemed necessary for the best interest and overall comfort of the group.”
Do you know what? We trust them to do that. We know that they are doing what is best for all concerned. We’re just along for the ride.
They made the trip fun.
James refers to life as a vapor. A breath. A fragile opening to the sunrise and wilting at night.
I don’t want to spend my brief life chasing down details and worrying over arrangements I was never meant to handle or carry.
My ways belong to the Lord.
Imagine about when Joshua was about to lead a tour group to the Holy Land.
There were about 3 ½ million men, women and children to think about, and not a single person, including Joshua, had ever set foot on the land before.
It must have been a comfort to see the Ark of the Covenant moving out ahead of the whole group.
This was a symbol of God’s presence among them. The ark was their tour guide – someone who kept His promises.
Joshua 3:2-4 (NLT) … the Israelite officers went through the camp, (3) giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. (4) Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about a half mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer.”
Joshua was reminding them, “You’ve never been this way before and neither have I! But the Lord goes before us. Let’s be careful to follow Him and place our trust for this journey in His hands. We’ve never been this way before, but He has!
It is the same with us. We’ve never walked the way we are walking before. Every day is a new day.
When we begin a new year – we have no idea what that year will hold.
BUT GOD KNOWS. He is the God of time and eternity. He is the Alpha and the Omega – the beginning and the end.
Notice v.5 again. COMMIT! This literally means to “roll your way upon the Lord.”
It’s the idea of getting rid of heavy burdens and rolling it right off your shoulders.
In other words, give Him the itinerary of your life. Don’t try to do it yourself.
Don’t try to be your own tour guide. Don’t try to handle all the connections and reservations. Don’t spend your life chasing misplaced baggage.
Don’t carry the weight and worry of the “maybe’s” and “what if’s of life.
That’s a prescription for a troubled heart! Roll it upon the Lord! Commit it to Him.
If Jesus made our reservations and pain for our ticket to heaven with His own blood, doesn’t it make sense that He will take care of us along our journey.
We can trust Him. He has been there before. He has walked the path before us.
Hebrews 4:15 (NLT) This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.
Hebrews 12:2 (NLT) We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith…”
In Psalm 37, David wasn’t enjoying everything he was seeing around him. He was upset at what he was seeing – by the actions of evildoers and those who were threatening God’s people.
But in the end – He decided to fully trust the Lord. He decided to commit His way to the Lord and wait for Him to act.
Just as he had confidence that the sun would rise every morning – he could have a confidence that God would take care of his needs.
Psalms 55:22 (NLT) Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
Originally - Ron Mehl
