When we say that something is delightful, we mean that it is charming, attractive, that it is pleasing. We say we are delighted when we experience lots of pleasure. So to take delight in the Lord means to take pleasure from Him, to be charmed by Him, to be attracted to Him. Taking delight in the Lord means more than being grateful for what He has done, or worshipping Him for His power. It means feeling genuine pleasure from simply being in His presence. When we feel this way, says the psalm, he will give us the desires of our heart. But what does your heart desire?
This verse comes in the middle of a section that begins and ends with an instruction not to fret when we see evil people apparently being happy and successful. It can seem as if the wicked have got things all their way, and it's easy to feel envious. These people do all the things we try not to do, and they get away with it. Even worse, they seem to profit from it. There are four commands here, in between the two instructions not to fret: to trust in the Lord, to take delight in the Lord, to commit your way to the Lord and to be still and wait for the Lord.
Trusting, making a commitment and waiting all suggest an outcome that won't happen immediately. Trust and commitment are characteristics of long-term relationships, not short-term gains. But delighting is a very here-and-now activity. Taking delight in the Lord is very different from waiting in a patient but resigned way, stoically putting up with the difficulties of life while God seems to be busy elsewhere. There's nothing delightful about that. So taking delight in God reminds us that a relationship with Him is an activity that looks to the future and makes a difference to the present.
This is why the writer of the psalm tells us not to fret about the wicked. Look, he says here and here, the wicked might seem to have it all, but they don't last long. But if you commit to God's way, then not only do you get delight now, but you can also trust that you'll get the things you've been waiting for all this time. So we don't fret because we've set our hearts on something that's longer lasting. And that, of course, is our heart's desire.
Just in case this sounds like the most astonishing cop-out (set your heart on God and you'll get what you set your heart on), I'd like to point out the importance of delighting. It's easy to forget until this psalm reminds us, but the whole business of commitment, trust and waiting is only part of our desire for relationship with God: if we seriously want to see what the wicked do, but still not fret, then we should be taking delight in God. So trust God, wait for Him, make a commitment to Him, but also enjoy His company, right now and every day.
This is why the writer of the psalm tells us not to fret about the wicked. Look, he says here and here, the wicked might seem to have it all, but they don't last long. But if you commit to God's way, then not only do you get delight now, but you can also trust that you'll get the things you've been waiting for all this time. So we don't fret because we've set our hearts on something that's longer lasting. And that, of course, is our heart's desire.
Just in case this sounds like the most astonishing cop-out (set your heart on God and you'll get what you set your heart on), I'd like to point out the importance of delighting. It's easy to forget until this psalm reminds us, but the whole business of commitment, trust and waiting is only part of our desire for relationship with God: if we seriously want to see what the wicked do, but still not fret, then we should be taking delight in God. So trust God, wait for Him, make a commitment to Him, but also enjoy His company, right now and every day.
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