It is written is Psalm 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” When you read that verse a few times, it becomes apparent that when you delight yourself in something, it becomes your heart’s desire. Therefore, when you delight yourself in the LORD, He becomes the desire of your heart, and He shall give you Himself.

And when the LORD gives you Himself, everything He has comes with Him. Is there anything more to desire? Well, maybe that’s not enough for some people. Some want fame, some want riches, some want possessions. What do YOU want?

The LORD came to Solomon in a dream in 1 Kings 3:5-15, and asked what he desired, and Solomon asked for wisdom.
5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.
6 And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. note
7 And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.
14 And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

Here is an example of one who delighted himself in the LORD, and the LORD gave him not only the desire of his heart, but much, much more! I find it amazing that God is so generous to those who love Him. However, I’ve found many who delight themselves in the LORD do not have lots of money, or possessions, or fame at all, but they are so very contented.

I saw a sign in a store this week that said, “If money can’t buy happiness, then you’ve been shopping in the wrong place.” That sign had some truth. If you’re shopping in the wrong place, you’ll never be happy. Lots of rich people are not so happy, yet some of the happiest people I’ve met have the LORD, and have need of nothing else. Does that mean you shouldn’t have any money or possessions? I didn’t say that. God has no problem with how much money you have, or how many possessions.  What He has a problem with is when “things” have YOU!

Look again at King Solomon, the richest man there ever was, untold wisdom, treated himself to absolutely anything and everything the world had to offer at that time, and later in life he wrote about “all is vanity”. Those aren’t the words of a happy man. He had something like 960 wives, an untold number of concubines, palaces, servants, horses, chariots, and yet he wasn’t happy and fulfilled? Why?

AT SOME POINT HE STOPPED DELIGHTING HIMSELF IN THE LORD. This is for someone out there who is at a low point in their life, wondering what it’s all about, maybe wondering if it’s even worth it to keep living. I have the answer to all your problems: delight yourself in the LORD. Get your mind off of YOU and get it on the LORD. One whose world revolves around himself (or herself) has a very small universe, and pretty soon it becomes very confining. I don’t have to tell you that, you’re already living it.

King Solomon started out delighting himself in the LORD. Many others start out well, too, but don’t CONTINUE delighting themselves in the LORD, and that is where the trouble begins, and once the trouble starts, the natural reaction is to get your mind on your troubles instead of on the One who can SOLVE all your troubles.

Today, I’m not preaching to you, I’m telling you to stop, look at your situation, and see where you’re at. God has NOT left you, nor abandoned you. The problem is, you’ve gotten your eyes off the LORD, and onto the world, and you’ve wandered away, and never even noticed you did it. And it isn’t hard to do, because the devil is an expert at distraction.

This would be a real good time for you to stop and take stock of where your life is going right now. Are you still delighting yourself in the LORD, or has “life” and “stuff” taken your eyes off of the One who loves you? Are you laying awake at night wondering how you’re going to solve your problems, or how you’re going to pay your bills? You may have gotten off-track, but you can get back ON. Just like when you’re on a trip and you make a wrong turn somewhere, and find yourself someplace you didn’t want to be, you don’t have to retrace your tracks back to the start, you just look at the map and locate where you are, and where you want to go, and start from where you presently are.

That’s what the LORD would have you do today. Maybe you’ve let offense get you off track, or unforgiveness, or selfishness, or lust, or love of money. Open your Bible, let the LORD talk to you from His Word, let Him show you how much He delights in YOU, for He has given His Son for the ransom for your salvation. He delights in YOU! Now, if you delight yourself in the LORD, there’s a match made in heaven for sure! You living in God, Him living in you. Everything you could ever want or need is in Him, and He is not a stingy Father at all.

Delight yourself also in the LORD; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.