Sunday 09:12:10

Psalm 37:4 4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. The idea that God is to be our joy and delight is lost on most Christians. We know God is to be feared, obeyed, respected, devoted… but enjoyed sounds foreign to our minds when it comes to God. But delighting in God is no less a command than the commands to obey him. We have a mindset that the things of this world are what bring us joy. But this is not the psalmist’s view Psalm 4:7 7 You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. The truth is that we are all looking for joy, delight, happiness. “All men seek happiness, this is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.” – Blaise Pascal Augustine's view is that the entire Christian life is seen as a relentless quest for the fullest joy in God. He said, "The whole life of a good Christian is a holy desire." In other words, the key to Christian living is a thirst and a hunger for God. "O Lord, that I may love you [freely], for I can find nothing more precious. Turn not away your face from me, that I may find what I seek. Turn not aside in anger from your servant, lest in seeking you I run toward something else.” – Augustine And one of the main reasons people do not understand or experience the awakening of sovereign joy is that their hunger and thirst for God is so small. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion… is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory) Phil 4 – Rejoice in the Lord always. Psalm 32 – Rejoice in the Lord and be glad. The problem is, we think we should find joy in everything else but God. Psalm 16 1 Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I said to the LORD, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing." 3 As for the saints who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight. 4 The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood or take up their names on my lips. 5 LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. 7 I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. 8 I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, 10 because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. God is to be enjoyed and delighted in. When we are in his presence, He gives us joy and eternal pleasures. Jesus taught the greatest commandment: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength For us to love God is a miracle. It is the product of God’s work in our lives. George Mueller prayed, “when I wake up, fill me or else I will step out with my vacancies and use people to try to meet my needs. I don’t want to do that to them and I don’t want to live that way. I must have you. I must feast on you. You’re the satisfaction of my soul. Then my soul overflows to bless other people.” When we pray, “God, I must have you. Fill me.”