Delighting in the Lord
At the recent mentoring retreat I attended, author Mark Littleton (who recently published Big Bad God of the Bible and appeared on Fox & Friends) read and applied scripture related to the writing life.
His devotional about the necessity for remaining in God's Word was personally convicting. And I'm still unpacking the implications of his meditation on Psalm 37.
The Psalm begins:
Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Isn't it interesting that we are called to "delight" ourselves in the Lord? The text doesn't say obey, submit, or serve--although we are certainly called to do all those things--but it says, "delight" in the Lord.
That reminds me of John Piper's concept of "Christian hedonism," and of the first question and answer in the Westminster Catechism, which states that man's chief end is to "love God and enjoy him forever."
It is when we delight ourselves in the Lord that he delights in giving us the desires of our hearts.
I continually need to be reminded of this perspective. I don't believe in works righteousness, but my tendency is toward living as if I do. I need to spend more time enjoying, loving, and delighting in God.
Mark aptly pointed out that when we love God, the desires of our hearts will conform to his will.
It's not as if we can manipulate God by forcing ourselves to delight in him so that we can be blessed with material things. But when we love God, our desires grow less toward things of this world and more toward things of the Word.
His devotional about the necessity for remaining in God's Word was personally convicting. And I'm still unpacking the implications of his meditation on Psalm 37.
The Psalm begins:
Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Isn't it interesting that we are called to "delight" ourselves in the Lord? The text doesn't say obey, submit, or serve--although we are certainly called to do all those things--but it says, "delight" in the Lord.
That reminds me of John Piper's concept of "Christian hedonism," and of the first question and answer in the Westminster Catechism, which states that man's chief end is to "love God and enjoy him forever."
It is when we delight ourselves in the Lord that he delights in giving us the desires of our hearts.
I continually need to be reminded of this perspective. I don't believe in works righteousness, but my tendency is toward living as if I do. I need to spend more time enjoying, loving, and delighting in God.
Mark aptly pointed out that when we love God, the desires of our hearts will conform to his will.
It's not as if we can manipulate God by forcing ourselves to delight in him so that we can be blessed with material things. But when we love God, our desires grow less toward things of this world and more toward things of the Word.
posted by Glenda | 6:26 AM
2 Comments:
Good Morning, Glenda,
This post resonates with me, and is a truth which bears frequent repeating. God is our greatest blessing, in whom we are to delight. It is a joy to delight in Him, not a work that we do to appease Him!
I found your blog through your recent post on the URC list about the young people's book you are writing. It is exciting to me, the mom of some eager readers, to know that there are writers like you, writers who desire to edify as well as entertain the young.
Thank you for your encouraging words, Joyce, and for stopping by Ascribelog! You may enjoy reading some earlier posts (i.e.: "Praying Doxologies" "Puppy Love" "Glimpsing Glory" and "Votive Silence") which you can find by typing those words in the "search blog" box at the top of the page.
I hope, the Lord willing, that your eager readers soon have the first book of my Matthew series in their hands!
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