November 6, 2024 -- Psalm 37:3-5 -- All In for Jesus!

 Trust in the LORD, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the LOD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the LORD,
trust in him and he will act.
Psalm 37:3-5 ESV
 
There are three commands piled up one after another here. The first is to trust in the LORD. When sinners turn from their sins and find Jesus to be their Rescue and Salvation, there is such relief. Inevitably, it is short lived because they are familiar with wicked habits and dishonest thinking to be renewed in this glorious salvation requires the believer to disentangle himself from old ways of thinking. It is a daily decision, responding to the imperative here as you preach to your heart and declare: “today, I will trust You, the Living God, Who saves me”.
 
The second command is that odd, hard to explain phrase, delight yourself in the LORD. In the past your addictions and sins led you down sinful paths where you’d secretly indulge in something you knew was destructive, but like a moth to a porchlight, you threw yourself against that light, damaging yourself more and more with each clash against the glass casing. Now, knowing the LORD is wholesome, the source of all good, in fact He alone is what your heart truly desires. How often have you stood in front of the open door of the fridge, having overindulged in sweets and snacks, feeling full, but still needing something. Protein. Nourishment. The foods didn’t satisfy, and your body is telling you ‘you need something different’. When the believer delights himself in the LORD, all his past overindulgences are proven to be empty calories, useless treks towards emptiness and shame. Ah, but God, Who is infinite, Who is greater than all your imaginings, He Who made you knows you were made to know Him, love Him, and in worship find all your satisfaction in Him alone. Delighting in Him brings you in line with the purpose of your creation.
 
Speaking your delight to God, praising Him and singing to Him, doesn’t stroke God’s ego or like some puny, Greek god, maintain his existence. Or, like all those silly Santa stories, there is something like a “believe-o-meter” out there which when tipping higher gives him greater power. What stuff and nonsense. No. God the Glorious, Compassionate One, is always, perfectly in community as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. He needs nothing. However, people made in His image, are complete when salvation joy of the heart is expressed to Him. Delighting in God, confirms Him to your souls as the Deliverer from the strongholds of death, the Resurrection and the Life, Who alone is can satiate your heart, mind and soul.

As you trust in Him and daily decide to make Him all your delight you will find it easier and easier to recommit your way to Him. It is a decision you make at every temptation, “I have decided to follow Jesus, I will not engage this temptation but will now again recommit my way to Him”. What a glorious promised is appended to that, “He will act”. The hook in the temptations will be exposed. The ugly conclusion of your sins will be evident. God will act so that you can not help but walk in purity and joy—the result of obeying commands to trust in Him, to delight yourself in Him and continually recommit your way to Him means He will act in ways that are obvious to you. (For He is always acting for your good, His hand of mercy and kindness have always been drawing you closer to Himself).
 
Trust leads to delight. Delight leads to commitment. Seeing God act as you commit yourself to Him leads to deeper trust. He is healing you. He is teaching you a whole new way of living. Ah, submit your life to the care of God and know He will guide you in all truth, all delight and make committing yourself to Him all the more reasonable and evermore intensely desirable.
 
Oh God, salvation and righteousness are found in You alone! You are the stronghold of Your people in bad times, and You are the resort of eternal pleasures here and now and forevermore. Triune God, help us so that what we are in Christ will blossom and our trust in You will fill every decision. Spirit, clarify our vision so that it is obvious it is only in full, willing obedience to God, and in Him only, one finds the fountain of life and the river of delights. Jesus, You poured Yourself out, unstintingly, Your whole life, suffering, and death bringing glorify to God and You opened the way for believers to be called sons and daughters of God. Help us to start fresh every day, every time it is necessary, to commit ourselves to You alone, by the Power of Your Spirit living in us, and this to the glory of the Father. Amen.
 
https://youtu.be/mtUVJiDsFvQ?si=biK31qWOZqVfU_-k Sing Hallelujah to the LORD
 

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