Psalm 37:4 says “delight yourself also in the LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.” To understand the need of my heart, what does the Bible say the LORD will give me when I delight in Him. Psalm 37:11 has an answer to that question: the meek, those who seek the LORD and delight in the LORD, “shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”
But what is peace? Well, this is the well-known Hebrew word “shalom.” It’s what people say when they greet
someone. So are they saying, “Hi. Nice
to meet you. I wish you weren’t fighting
so much.” Is that the “peace” they are
extending? Well, it’s part of it. The word “shalom” is one of a couple of very
well-rounded terms in the OT that describe God’s goodness to people (the other
is “checed,” translated “good, mercy, lovingkindness”, as in “Oh, give thanks
to the LORD, for He is good. For His mercy endures forever,” Ps. 136:1). “Shalom” refers to completeness, safety,
health, tranquility, contentment, friendship with God and/or people, and peace. So when you greet someone with that term you
are wishing upon them a complete, well-rounded life. It’s a nice thing to say. What we are saying from Psalm 37:11 is that
the person who delights in the LORD will be delighted with an abundance of this
“peace.” Their hearts will be satisfied!
Eliphaz, one of Job’s 3 so-called friends,
spoke of this to Job. While Eliphaz did
not understand really what God was doing in Job’s life, he did understand what
it would take for Job to be satisfied in his heart. As you read today’s passage did you note …
·
v21: acquaint yourself with God. I love that NKJV translation: get “acquainted”
with God. He is saying, “delight
yourself in the LORD.”
·
v22: lay up His words in your heart. Knowing God is impossible apart from the Word
of God. Remember that Jesus is the “Word
of God” (John 1:1,14). The written Word,
Scripture, is where one meets Jesus. You
can’t get acquainted with God apart from what He has said in Scripture. Without the Bible you are making things up,
and the “god” you devise will not be the true God who alone can bring satisfaction
to your heart.
·
v23: repent (return), which for Job meant, “trust
God’s sovereignty.” Eliphaz is right,
that to know God one must repent of all the other “delights” we have pursued in
order to find soul-satisfaction. Where
Eliphaz was wrong was that he believed Job was suffering because of some sin
from which he needed to repent. In the
end (Job 42) Job repented of failing to trust God, failing to “delight” in the
LORD.
·
v24-26: then your delight will be in the
Almighty. Here, then, is what we come to
when we delight in the LORD. We lay
aside our other “delights” (v24: gold) and the Almighty becomes our gold and
silver. Then you will have your
delight in the Almighty, and lift up your face to God (v26).
This is what our hearts desire! The Psalmist in Ps. 84:1-2 said it like this:
How lovely is Your tabernacle, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the
courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
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