"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." That is what Psalm 37:4 says. This scripture has meant so much to me over the past few years, and it keeps coming up to this very day, so I thought I would share.
About three years ago or so, I had been dating this guy, who I really, really liked. He ended up getting back with his ex-wife (for the time being-they are not together now), and my heart was broken. I felt rejected and was dealing with depression (and I am not a depressed person!) Well, my heart break only made me draw closer to God. Right before we started dating, I had begun journaling (in a notebook, not on the web) and my journaling really helped me sort things out, and see things in a whole new light. One day as I was pouring my heart out to God in my journal, I noticed that on each page, there was a scripture, and on this particular page, Psalm 37:4 was quoted. I stopped and read it and re-read it and re-read it. It was as if God was trying to get it through my head-"Mary, if you delight yourself in me, I will give you the desires of your heart." At that time in my life, I was being selfish and I just wanted God to bring this guy back into my life, because that's what I thought I wanted. So, I thought if I "delight" myself in God, then He will bring him back to me.
Well then, God laid on my heart several books to read: Boy Meets Girl, by Josh Harris; Choosing God's Best, by Dr. Don Rauniker; Wild at Heart, Sacred Romance and The Journey to Desire, all by John Elderidge; Secrets of the Vine, by David Wilkinson (I think) and the Prayer of Hannah by the same author (he's the one that wrote the Prayer of Jabez as well, which I had already read at an earlier time in my life). Over the next several months I read all of these books. The one message I kept getting over and over, was that what I thought I wanted, was not what I wanted at all. God knows what's best for us, and even when we think we know what we want, when you "delight yourself in the Lord", He will GIVE YOU the desires of your heart!!! Your desires WILL BE God's desires. You won't want to settle for anything less than God's perfect will for your life.
I can't take credit for this revelation. At a recent Grace By Night, Kelly spoke about this very scripture. She brought to light that when we "delight ourselves in the Lord" our desires will be God's desires. At that moment, I got it! I understood what it meant, because I had lived it!
When Jeff and I started our courtship (7 months ago now) we both discovered God had given the other this very scripture long before we met. And it keeps popping up in sermons, conversations and situations. Yesterday, while at a graduation open house, the mom of the grad passed out slips of paper for everyone to write a note, a verse, a thought or a memory to the graduate on. Being that it was a spur of the moment thing, Jeff and I had a little trouble coming up with something. But, I kept hearing over and over Psalm 37:4, and couldn't ignore it. So, I began writing it down on the piece of paper. Jeff looked over to see what I was writing, and he said, "That's exactly what I was thinking!" The mom of the grad said, "Great minds think alike!"
As Jeff and I were on our way home from church this morning, we were talking about that moment. Jeff said that perhaps the reason we both heard Psalm 37:4, was because she needed to read it. But, then he went on to say that perhaps the reason that scripture keeps popping up for us everywhere is because there are more desires of our hearts that God is going to give us, as we continue to delight ourselves in Him. I agreed.
The Last Minute of 8th Grade
10 years ago
Psalm 37: This is one very powerful verse.
ReplyDeleteMy experience with Psalm 37 came at a dark time for me last year.
I was attacked on paper by a person at work. My accuser was full of hate. She made up stories and wrote false things about me, and sent them to the Human Resources Department. To my surprise, and without warning, I was suspended from work. I couldn't believe that it happened. I was very depressed. Inconsolable. Then a friend of mine told me to read Psalm 37.
She said that it gave her strength during a difficult time for her as well. She read it every day in the mirror during the difficult days preceeding her divorce.
I read it many times a day and it helped. This psalm told me to "stay the course".
Do good no matter what. Leave the rest to God; don't waste my energy and time plotting or trying to get even... and returning the hate. Don't do anything to retailiate. Don't fret. God will take care of things. Our job is to forgive. I realized that forgiveness was the best way out of this.. for me and her. So I did. I returned hate with love. I forgave, and after I returned, I treated my accuser well, with genuine friendliness, smiles, and love.
Everyone was amazed and admiring of my response to my being attacked. I told people that my religion meant nothing unless I practiced it. Judgment and justice are God's work, not ours.
God moved quickly. Within 5 months, my accuser was fired! Just like the Psalm! In the aftermath, I can only pray for my accuser's welfare.. I don't know where she is.
Psalm 37. A rock of support, directly from God.