“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  Psalms 37:3-5 KJV

Psalms 37:4 says that we should “delight ourselves in the Lord.” The Hebrew word “delight” used here means “to be soft or pliable.” Our heart must be soft toward the Lord. It must be pliable, yielded and submitted to Him.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10 NIV

The Father loves us completely and unconditionally. Because He loves us, we can trust Him. We can place ourselves totally –- spirit, soul and body -– in His hands. We can devote ourselves utterly to Him and to His will for our lives. We can delight in Him. When you love and respect someone, you want to please them, you want to honor them — you delight in them.

Isaiah 58:14 NKJV says, “Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD;

And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, and feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken.” This verse in the NIV says, ”Then you will find your joy in the LORD.”  In order to delight in the Lord, you must find your JOY in Him! You must enjoy Him – you must enjoy His presence – you must be satisfied with Him.

Psalms 40:8 NKJV says, “I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.” The NIV says, “I desire to do your will, O my God.”  We must delight in and desire to do His will – not our own. We must lay down our own agenda and we must put Him and his word first place in our lives. He must take precedence – He must have His way in us. We must find our pleasure in the things that are pleasing to Him.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.  Psalms 1:2 NIV

I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate on Your precepts, and contemplate Your ways. I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.  Psalms 119:14-16 NKJV

And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love. Psalms 119:47 NKJV

God’s word is His will. It is our life and the length of our days. If we put His word first before anything else, we will be blessed all of our days. We must love His word. We must love to read His word, speak His word and do His word. We must willingly submit to his word and allow it to govern our thoughts, our words, and our actions. It is our standard and our counselor. If we truly delight in God’s word then we will yield to it and submit to it. We will allow His word to wash us and change us.

I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. Psalms 69:30-31 NIV

We are delighting ourselves in the Lord when we praise Him and glorify Him — and He delights in us. He would rather have our praise and our worship than any other sacrifice. We need to set our hearts to love Him, please Him and delight in Him in all things. He is so wonderful and He is so worthy. There is nothing else in this world that can compare with Him and no one else who can compare with Him – so delight yourself in Him right now!