Verse of the Day Devotion: Psalm 37:4

“Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalm 37:4

This is a psalm of David.  The first three verses lead up to this verse.  “Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb. Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.”  Psalm 37:1-3.  David begins by saying that we are not to fret because of evil doers.  The Hebrew word translated ‘fret’ denotes not to get angry or heated up.  We are told not to get worried or envious because wrongdoers are prosperous and successful, and we are not.  The will not last because of their wickedness, even though it looks as though they will.

In fact, going into verse three, we are to confide and rest in Him.  Instead of being anxious and upset that you are doing good and not being as successful as those who do wrong, we are to trust in Him, continuing to do good.  We are to continue to go forward in doing what is right, to continue doing the work of benevolence, helping those who are wronged by those who do wrong.  Think about it, there is wickedness all around us.  The world is full of those who treat people bad, prospering at the expense of others.  This is more reason for us to endeavor to do good, if but to counter the evil being done.  We are to live here and do good when needed,

How can we do this and not get discouraged?  We will not find true happiness in a world filled with evil, nor in participating with them.  We should always seek our happiness in God.  We should seek it in His being, who He is, the Almighty God who loves us, who is perfect in all His ways, who are His friends.  This is what He means by delighting ourselves in Him.  If we live as God has called us to, and we trust completely in Him no matter what happens, then we can live a life of ease and contentment.  We can live a life of bliss if we will just give Him all our cares.

And lastly, it says He will give us the desires of our heart.  As we become closer and closer to God; growing more in our love for Him, as we continue to live completely to please Him, our desires will change to conform to what His desires are for us.  We will only desire that which is good and honorable to God.  When our delight is completely in Him, then we will delight in those things He delights to give us.  And this is a great place to be.

Let us work to develop a heart that delights only in God and what He has provided to us and what He desires to give us and let us remove any desire that is not honoring to God.  Let us delight in who He is, trusting completely whatever situation we find ourselves in.  For in this, peace resides, and worries flee.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.