THE LORD GOD DELIGHTS IN THOSE WHO FEAR HIM

Proclamation:

“Praise The Lord … He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds … The Lord sustains the humble … The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.”  Psalm 147:1-11 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm are also thought to have been written by King David.  Regardless of who the human author is, it is clear that it was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  This psalm is another one of the “Hallelujah” psalms and this one celebrates God’s goodness towards earth and to Jerusalem.  He builds up Jerusalem and gathers the exiles of Israel. (Psalm 147:2)  He strengthens the gates of the city and blesses the people within them. (Psalm 147:13)  He has done things for Israel which He has not done for any other nation. (Psalm 147:20)  The psalmist also talks about God’s knowledge of the stars in the sky (Psalm 147:4) and His control of the weather. (Psalm 147:8 and 16-18)  Scattered throughout this psalm are examples of the things which He does for His people.

Application:

We need to praise and thank The Lord God much more than we do.  He has done so much for us.  He heals us physically, emotionally, and spiritually.  He protects us, preserves us, and sustains us while providing for our needs.  He not only protects and provides for us but He also provides for all of the animals of the world. (Psalm 147:9)  Everything is under His control including the weather, which people refer to as “Mother Nature” instead of acknowledging that it is the work of The Lord God.  All power is in His hands.  To God be the glory!!!  Blessed are those who put their trust in The Lord God. (Jeremiah 17:7)  Hopefully, we would do something each day in which The Lord God would find delight.

BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO FEAR THE LORD

Proclamation:

“Praise The Lord.  Blessed are those who fear The Lord, who find great delight in His commands.  Their children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.  Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.”  Psalm 112:1-3 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by an unknown human author, which was probably King David, based upon the style in which it is written.  As with the previous psalm, Psalm 111, the first letter of each clause or sentence follows in alphabetical order per the Hebrew alphabet.  This psalm presents the character and conduct of a good man.  He that holds The Lord God in reverent awe and who delights in The Word of God will be blessed.  The children of this upright man will also be blessed.

Application:

The upright believers who delight in and follow The Word of God will be blessed with abundance and contentment because their heart is satisfied by God alone.  Their wealth and riches may be worldly and spiritual but their joy will come from The Lord.  If we behave and converse in a Christ-like manner, we will be blessed.  Believing and trusting in The Lord is the surest way of being blessed with the desires of our heart.   

GREAT ARE THE WORKS OF THE LORD

Proclamation:

“Great are the works of The Lord; they are pondered by all who delight in them.  Glorious and majestic are His deeds, and His righteousness endures forever.”  Psalm 111:2-3 (NIV)

Explanation:

The words of this psalm were written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by an unknown human author, who in generally thought to be King David based upon the style in which it is written.  The first letter of each clause or sentence follows in alphabetical order per the Hebrew alphabet.  This psalm was designed to exalt and to praise The Lord by giving thoughtful consideration of His great and wonderful works.  He has caused His works to be remembered. (Psalm 111:4)  Knowledge and wisdom are gifts from God (Proverbs 2:6) and fear of The Lord is the beginning of wisdom. (Psalm 111:10) 

Application:

With our limited capacity for understanding, no human being could possibly know all of the glorious and great, majestic and wonderful things which The Lord God has done.  However, it is good for us to think on these things. (Philippians 4:8)  Blessed is he whose delight is in The Lord and in His Holy Word. (Psalm 1:2, 37:4, and 112:1)  He is the creator and sustainer of all that exists. (Genesis 1:1 and Revelation 10:6)  By not giving Him credit for what He did (the big bang theory of creation or the evolution of man) and what He controls, (mother nature and father time) we are robbing Him of glory that He is due.  He is worthy of all glory, honor, and praise.  Praise The Lord!

EMBRACE THE WORD OF GOD AND BE BLESSED

Proclamation:

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of The Lord, and who meditates on His law day and night.”  Psalm 1:1-2 (NIV)

Explanation:

The human author of this psalm is unknown but it was clearly written under the influence of the Holy Spirit of God.  This psalm serves as the gateway to all of the psalms.  It depicts the way of the righteous man and contrasts it with the way of the wicked man.  It stresses that those who worship The Lord must embrace His Holy Word.  Those who do so will be blessed. (Psalm 1:3)  Those who do not will be destroyed. (Psalm 1:4-6)

Application:

If we want a deep-seated joy and contentment in The Lord, and to be truly happy because we enjoy God’s favor, then we need to embrace The Holy Word of God, delight in it, and meditate on it daily.  We ought to begin and end each day with The Word of God.  It we do that, He will bless us in such a way that our efforts are fruitful and prosperous. (Psalm 1:3)  Jesus, The Christ, said, “If you love me, keep My commands.” (John 14:15)  Let us show Him that we love Him.  Let us read, internalize, and obey His Holy Word.

DELIGHT IN THE WORD OF GOD

Proclamation:

“Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of The Lord, and who meditates on His law day and night.  That person … whatever they do prospers.” Psalm 1:1-3

Explanation:

This psalm was written under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God and the human author is generally agreed upon to be King David.  It begins in the same manner which Jesus, The Christ, began His Sermon on the Mount.  “Blessed is the man …” has been rendered happy and blessed is this man in things temporal and spiritual, in this world, and in the world to come.  This man does not hang out with ungodly sinners.  He finds joy in The Word of God and he meditates on that both day and night.  Whatever he does in faith and in love to the glory of God will prosper.

Application:

What do we really delight in doing?  I am sure that we delight in a number of things.  The question is, 'Do we delight in reading and hearing The Word of God?'  Most Christians would say that they do, but our actions speak louder than our words.  We should enjoy, take pleasure in, and receive great satisfaction from reading the Bible.  This verse suggests that the 'blessed man' reads and meditates, reflects on or ponders, God's Word at least twice each day, "... day and night."  Do we think about and study the Bible twice each day?  We say that we love The Lord, but some of us only want to talk about Him or hear about Him once a week.  It has been said that some of us only open our Bibles on Sunday mornings, and maybe again on Wednesday night for Bible study. That's only twice a week and not twice a day.  Let us commit to praying and reading our Bible twice each day, the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night.  I am sure that would please God, and pleasing God is a good thing to do.  Who knows, we might be like the “blessed man” and whatever we do will also prosper.  We should pray that The Good Lord will restore to us the joy of salvation and grant us joy, wisdom, and understanding as we read and study His Holy Word.

Delight In The Lord And In His Word

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of The LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night."  Psalms 1:1-2 (NIV) 

The author of this psalm describes the truly happy man as one who chooses to follow The Word of God, and who chooses not to follow the wicked, sinners, or those who mock The Lord.  He enjoys reading and meditating on The Word of God daily, and he does so each morning and evening. 

As believers we should avoid those non-believing people who have heard and rejected The Word of God.  We should read The Word of God at the beginning and at the end of each day and that should bring us joy.  We would enjoy life more if we spent more of our time contemplating, internalizing, and obeying The Word of God.  Don't let anyone pull you away from The Lord.

Peace Joy and Comfort Come From God

"When anxiety was great within me, Your consolation brought joy to my soul."  Psalms 94:19 (NIV)  The King James Version of the Bible reads: "In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts delight my soul."

The author of this psalm penned this song for the people of God, for a time when the faithful were being oppressed and the wicked seemed to have no fear of The Lord.  This song expressed the consolation in the assurance that, even though they were anxious, concerned, and worried about what was going on around them, The Lord God was able to comfort them and brought a calming joy and peace to their soul.

There are times today when the situations and circumstances of life can have us so anxious that our minds just will not turn off.  However, The Bible says that we should not be anxious for anything. (Philippians 4:6)  It is a comfort for believers to know that even during times of grief, sorrow, sadness, distress, trials, troubles, and tribulations, that The Word of God can afford us consolation. (Psalms 94:19, Acts 15:31, and 2 Corinthians 1:5-7)  The Lord God can calm any storm, (Mark 4:39), or He can bring a calming peace to our mind and spirit in the midst of any storm. (John 20:19 and 26)  It does not matter what is going on in our heads or our hearts, The Lord God is The God of comfort, and He can ease our troubled mind and heart. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)  We just have to believe, pray, and ask Him, and know that He will. (John 15:7)

Delight In The Lord

"Delight yourself in The LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to The LORD; trust in Him and He will do this"  Psalms 37:4-5 (NIV)

This psalm of King David was written to the people of God.  He told them that if they joyfully sought and followed The Lord God, then He would grant them their hearts' desires.  He made it clear, however, that they must first commit to following The Lord, and they must trust in The Lord before He would give them the desires of their heart.

We often pray for things that we want, but we do not always obey The Word of God.  We say that we love The Lord, but our actions do not always support our claim.  He said that if you love Me, then you will keep My commandments. (John 14:15 and 14:23)  He will give us what we want if we truly delight in Him, commit to His way, and trust in Him.  We must delight in The Lord, in His way, and in His Word.  We must love and delight in The Lord God Himself. (Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12, 11:1, and 30:6; Joshua 23:11, Psalms 31:23, and Isaiah 58:14)  Jesus said that we must love The Lord God. (Matthew 22:37, Mark 30:12, and Luke 10:27)  We must find joy in, and delight in, doing the will of God. (Psalms 40:8 and Proverbs 11:20)  We must also delight in The Word of God.  Blessed in the man who delights in the law of The Lord. (Psalms 1:2 and Psalms 119:16, 35 and 47)  If we want The Lord God to grant us the desires of our heart, we must first delight in Him, and commit to following His way, and we must trust in Him.

Delight In The Lord

"Delight yourself in The LORD and He will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to The LORD; trust in Him and He will do this..."  Psalms 37:4-5 (NIV)

King David, a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22), told the people of God that if they delighted in The Lord, in His Word, and in His way; and if they trusted in Him, that He would grant them the desires of their hearts.

We need to understand that The Lord will also grant us the desires of our hearts if we, one, trust in The Lord and do His will; two, if we make The Lord our heart's delight; and three, if we submit our way to His way.  David was not perfect, but God blessed him.  He committed a number of sins, but his delight was in the law of of The Lord and He meditated in it day and night. (Psalms 1:2)  He praised The Lord seven times each day. (Psalms 119:164)  He even got joy out of going to The Lord in prayer. (Psalms 43:4)  David provided us with a good example.  If we want The Lord to bless us with the desires of our heart, then we must show Him that we love Him, that we love His Word, and that we love His way.  We need to submit to His way, to do good and to follow His will.  If we submit ourselves to The Lord, we will be able to resist the devil and he will flee from us, and then it will be easier to do the will of God. (James 4:7)  Things that we delight in doing, we do, and we do them often.  Let's not just tell The Lord that we love Him, let's let our actions show Him that we love Him, and that we delight in Him.

We Find Comfort In The Love Of God

"May Your unfailing love be my comfort, according to Your promise to Your servant.  Let Your compassion come to me that I may live, for Your law is my delight."  Psalms 119:76-77 (NIV)

King David, who was a man after God's own heart (Acts 13:22), makes an earnest request for God's favor.  He prays for the merciful kindness of God to comfort him in his hour of need.  He wants, and asks for God's tender mercies.  Because he delights in The Word of God, David knows that God will keep His promises to him.

God loves us more than we will ever know or understand.  His love for us is unchanging, it is the same today, as it was yesterday, and as it will be forever in the future.  (Hebrews 13:8)  Because of His love for us, He made promises to us also.  God said that if we obey His Word that He would never leave us or forsake us.  (Deuteronomy 31:6)  He said, "I am with you always ..." (Matthew 28:20)  So, in our hour of need, He is with us.  It is God who comforts us.  "Praise be to The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, The Father of compassion and The God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."  (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)  To God be the glory.