Delight in the Lord!
“I'm in love, from the moment I saw your face. I'm in love, you never turn away your gaze. I'm in love, now the reason for the rest of my days is to love You. I will love You!” sings in the background.
David says in Psalm 37:4-6, “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 act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”
“The love that I bring is the overflow of Your love for me” sings in the background.
When I think of delighting in the Lord and getting the desires of my heart I often first think of a good feeling. I think about being happy and comfortable. If I enjoy God's company, He will make me look good and I will be successful in the worlds eyes. However, I know this is not true.
Isaiah 58:2 says, “Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways... they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near God.”
It would seem that this is the same “delighting in the Lord” that God was asking for in Psalm 37. Yet, in Isaiah 58, God was far from pleased with the people's version of seeking Him and delighting in Him. Nor was He interested in giving them what they desired.
Isaiah 58:5 says, “Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?” The response is “Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure. And oppress all your workers.” Instead, Isaiah says, “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking of wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually...” (Is. 58:3, 9b-11a)
Psalm 37:23, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way.”
The 'delight' in the Lord that God is seeking, as commentary notes, comes from a desire to glorify God and not self.1
Dallas Willard, in “Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice” writes, “One source of difficulty in dying to self is that we may confuse our desire for what is good and right with our desire to have our own way.”
In Is. 58:13-14a, God says, “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.”
Dallas Willard writes, “To accept with confidence in God that we do not have to get our own way releases us from the great pressure that anger, unforgiveness, and the 'need' to retaliate impose upon our lives.”
David writes in Psalm 37:7-8, “fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.”
Dallas notes that as we daily volunteer for small deaths to self, we experience more and more of a fruit filled eternal life. As we die to having our own way, giving up our own agendas that are based upon seeking our own pleasure, self-promotion and success, we find that we make more and more room for the desires of our heart that are from God to come forth -being formed in His likeness.
We often think of brokenness as our wounds or suffering rather than thinking about it as being broken over our own sin.2 Dallas writes, “Our survival cannot be the ultimate point of reference in our world. We must not treat ourselves as God. This selfless life enables us to do for the first time what we want to do: be truthful, transparent, helpful, and sacrificially loving, with joy... It is love of God, admiration and confidence in His greatness and goodness, and the regular experience of His care that free us from the burden of looking out for ourselves.”
Psalm 37:29,31, “The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it... The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.”
This brings me to the question from the Message Tool this last week, “When it comes to what kind of person you want to become, what are the phrases and pictures that come to mind?”
The first thing that comes to mind is my previous pastor. She had a deep heart for emotionally damaged/hurting women. They were drawn to her and sought her out because she affirmed, encouraged and spoke God's life into them.
However, there is a part of me that 'desires' to be needed or sought out by others to fulfill a sense of my own significance. I would like to feel appreciated and valued by others. This is something that I need to die to so that the desires God has placed in my heart can grow.
When I am in the mindset of seeking my own significance, I will say and do things that will please others thinking I am acting loving. I will then often gauge how loving I am to others by their response to me. If they respond unappreciative, I start thinking my words or actions must have been unloving or unthoughtful. This is actually a form of manipulation and is not the same is really demonstrating Christ's love to them (which they may not always appreciate). Dallas Willard notes that serving those who never thank us for doing it out of love for Jesus can retrain us against our desire to be noticed and appreciated.
Psalm 37:27, “Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints.”
There is also a 'desire' within me to make a difference in others' lives -especially those who are least privileged such as those deeply emotionally wounded and/or mentally ill.
Richard Leider and Larry Spears write in an article, “Savoring Life Through Servant-Leadership” that we need to have a vision for growing 'whole' and not just growing old. They note that we need to ask ourselves such questions as “What is my role? How can I serve? What do I care about? And, what is my legacy? When we have discovered who we truly are and how best to serve, we are fully engaged in the 'good life' of the community.3
The article is about lessons learned on servant leadership through spending time with the African tribe, Hadza, and observing the elders/leaders role within the tribe. The authors quote Robert Greenleaf who writes that serving others can be seen “in the consequences of those being served: Do they, while being served, become stronger, wiser, freer, more at peace with themselves, more likely themselves to become servants? And what will be the effect on the least privileged in society?” As Greenleaf notes, “The quality of a society will be judged by what the least privileged in it achieves.”
Richard Leider and Larry Spears note that the spirit of servant-leadership is one of “giving it away.” They write, “New elder servant-leaders care passionately about those who follow in their footsteps. They find deep satisfaction in giving their gifts in new ways that serve others rather than just themselves....”
Psalm 37:26, “He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.”
The characteristics Larry Spears notes are key to servant-leadership are:
- Listening: having a deep commitment to listen intently to others
- Empathy: understanding others
- Healing: recognizing one has the opportunity to help make whole those which they come in contact with
- Awareness: aware of how one influences through ethics, power and values
- Persuasion: ability to bring decisions forth without using coercion (I would also add without manipulation)
- Conceptualization: ability to see the big picture
- Foresight: ability to see likely outcomes
- Stewardship: holding things 'in trust' for others
Psalm 37:30 says, “the mouth of the righteous utters wisdom and his tongue speaks justice.”
As Richard and Larry go on to summarize, the servant-leader is deeply and passionately committed to the growth of every individual within his or her organization. And as such, they also take the initiative to build community among those within organization.
In the Hadza tribe, community takes place around the fire. Those who are the elder servant-leaders, take their place closest to the fire. Richard Leider notes about this, “A person seated close to the flames is expected to have something valuable to bring forth -and must take the initiative to do so.”
When I think of the person I would like to become, the 'desire of my heart' is to look much more like the servant-leader. Having people who have (and do) play that role in my life has had a significant impact on who I am becoming and I long to make a difference in others' lives as it was made in mine.
The Message Tools asks, “In what ways are you being intentional about actually trying to become the kind of person you want to be?'
At work, I believe this involves laying down my own desires and pursuits, even my own perspective on success that is based upon meeting deadlines with accurate information. Instead, I need to take a broader perspective and weigh heavily the impacts of my actions and decisions on the development of my staff along with producing results such as meeting deadlines with accuracy. I need to ask myself, are my staff are really growing more towards making a contribution by being able to impact others' lives? Am I making the right investments in them? I need to make sure that I invest the greatest amount of my resources and creativity towards developing staff and creating opportunities for their growth. This includes providing them with critical feedback. I often struggle with seeing weaknesses and providing critical feedback. Producing good results and contributing in others' lives are the natural outflow of a well developed staff.
At home and with the people I am mentoring, I believe being intentional involves making investments in the people God has placed in my life the top priority. I need to also consciously measure outcome. Are my efforts really making a difference? Most of all, I need to die to a desire for appreciation in my efforts. I believe where I struggle the greatest is being objectively critical and speaking what is best for someone when it is not what they want to hear. Too often I overlook weaknesses and I am reluctant to give critical feedback. I lean too heavily upon providing encouragement. People need both praise and criticism in order to grow.
I also find at my volunteer opportunities that I struggle with giving critical feedback that I know will not be received well. Volunteering, where I have the opportunity to 'put my hand to what my heart prompts,' being intentional involves being available, listening, understanding, empowering, and providing feedback. However, most importantly it involves directing others to God. It is in this environment that I realize most deeply how incredibly inadequate I am to meet others needs in myself. God is the One who heals and makes whole.
C.J. Mahaney writes in "Humility: True Greatness", "Truly edifying words are words that reveal the character, promises and the activity of God. They're cross centered words. They're words rooted in and derived from Scripture. Words that identify the active presence of God and words that communicated the evidences of grace that you observe in others. They're words that flow from a humble heart."4
He goes on to write that "We moritfy pride and cultivate humility by identifying evidences of grace in those around us -evidences that we become aware of only thorugh a divine perspective that recognizes God's active work and calling in their lives and that places full confidence in His faithfulness to complete the work... And in the process, we'll be cultivating authentic humility - a heart more concerend with God's glory than our own, and more intent on serving others than ourselves."
This leads me to my last way of being intentional about becoming the person I desire to be in my heart – prayer. People are transformed is in God's presence. I know very well from my own life, real growth only happens as people encounter God (either through someone demonstrating His love or directly encountering Him). The most effective way I have found in influencing others' lives, especially the least privileged, is through prayer. He is hope to the hopeless.
Lord, forgive me where I have thought delighting in you involved seeking my own desires. Not that I would have 'my desire' but yours. The true desire of my heart is to look more like You. Be the delight of my heart and help me to die to all that is self desire.
1. MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (Ps 37:4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
2.Willard, Dallas and Johnson, Jan. Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice. NavPress. 2006
3.Leider, Richard and Spears, Larry. Savoring Life Through Servant Leadership. http://heartlandcircle.com/user_files/other/SAVORINGLIFE_fin.pdf
4. Mahaney, C.J, Humility: True Greatness, Multnomah Books, Colorado Springs, Co. 2005 by Soverign Grace Ministries.
David says in Psalm 37:4-6, “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 act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.”
“The love that I bring is the overflow of Your love for me” sings in the background.
When I think of delighting in the Lord and getting the desires of my heart I often first think of a good feeling. I think about being happy and comfortable. If I enjoy God's company, He will make me look good and I will be successful in the worlds eyes. However, I know this is not true.
Isaiah 58:2 says, “Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways... they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near God.”
It would seem that this is the same “delighting in the Lord” that God was asking for in Psalm 37. Yet, in Isaiah 58, God was far from pleased with the people's version of seeking Him and delighting in Him. Nor was He interested in giving them what they desired.
Isaiah 58:5 says, “Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?” The response is “Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure. And oppress all your workers.” Instead, Isaiah says, “If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking of wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually...” (Is. 58:3, 9b-11a)
Psalm 37:23, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way.”
The 'delight' in the Lord that God is seeking, as commentary notes, comes from a desire to glorify God and not self.1
Dallas Willard, in “Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice” writes, “One source of difficulty in dying to self is that we may confuse our desire for what is good and right with our desire to have our own way.”
In Is. 58:13-14a, God says, “If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight and the holy day of the Lord honorable; if you honor it, not going your own ways, or seeking your own pleasure or talking idly; then you shall take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth.”
Dallas Willard writes, “To accept with confidence in God that we do not have to get our own way releases us from the great pressure that anger, unforgiveness, and the 'need' to retaliate impose upon our lives.”
David writes in Psalm 37:7-8, “fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices! Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.”
Dallas notes that as we daily volunteer for small deaths to self, we experience more and more of a fruit filled eternal life. As we die to having our own way, giving up our own agendas that are based upon seeking our own pleasure, self-promotion and success, we find that we make more and more room for the desires of our heart that are from God to come forth -being formed in His likeness.
We often think of brokenness as our wounds or suffering rather than thinking about it as being broken over our own sin.2 Dallas writes, “Our survival cannot be the ultimate point of reference in our world. We must not treat ourselves as God. This selfless life enables us to do for the first time what we want to do: be truthful, transparent, helpful, and sacrificially loving, with joy... It is love of God, admiration and confidence in His greatness and goodness, and the regular experience of His care that free us from the burden of looking out for ourselves.”
Psalm 37:29,31, “The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell upon it... The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.”
This brings me to the question from the Message Tool this last week, “When it comes to what kind of person you want to become, what are the phrases and pictures that come to mind?”
The first thing that comes to mind is my previous pastor. She had a deep heart for emotionally damaged/hurting women. They were drawn to her and sought her out because she affirmed, encouraged and spoke God's life into them.
However, there is a part of me that 'desires' to be needed or sought out by others to fulfill a sense of my own significance. I would like to feel appreciated and valued by others. This is something that I need to die to so that the desires God has placed in my heart can grow.
When I am in the mindset of seeking my own significance, I will say and do things that will please others thinking I am acting loving. I will then often gauge how loving I am to others by their response to me. If they respond unappreciative, I start thinking my words or actions must have been unloving or unthoughtful. This is actually a form of manipulation and is not the same is really demonstrating Christ's love to them (which they may not always appreciate). Dallas Willard notes that serving those who never thank us for doing it out of love for Jesus can retrain us against our desire to be noticed and appreciated.
Psalm 37:27, “Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever. For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints.”
There is also a 'desire' within me to make a difference in others' lives -especially those who are least privileged such as those deeply emotionally wounded and/or mentally ill.
Richard Leider and Larry Spears write in an article, “Savoring Life Through Servant-Leadership” that we need to have a vision for growing 'whole' and not just growing old. They note that we need to ask ourselves such questions as “What is my role? How can I serve? What do I care about? And, what is my legacy? When we have discovered who we truly are and how best to serve, we are fully engaged in the 'good life' of the community.3
The article is about lessons learned on servant leadership through spending time with the African tribe, Hadza, and observing the elders/leaders role within the tribe. The authors quote Robert Greenleaf who writes that serving others can be seen “in the consequences of those being served: Do they, while being served, become stronger, wiser, freer, more at peace with themselves, more likely themselves to become servants? And what will be the effect on the least privileged in society?” As Greenleaf notes, “The quality of a society will be judged by what the least privileged in it achieves.”
Richard Leider and Larry Spears note that the spirit of servant-leadership is one of “giving it away.” They write, “New elder servant-leaders care passionately about those who follow in their footsteps. They find deep satisfaction in giving their gifts in new ways that serve others rather than just themselves....”
Psalm 37:26, “He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing.”
The characteristics Larry Spears notes are key to servant-leadership are:
- Listening: having a deep commitment to listen intently to others
- Empathy: understanding others
- Healing: recognizing one has the opportunity to help make whole those which they come in contact with
- Awareness: aware of how one influences through ethics, power and values
- Persuasion: ability to bring decisions forth without using coercion (I would also add without manipulation)
- Conceptualization: ability to see the big picture
- Foresight: ability to see likely outcomes
- Stewardship: holding things 'in trust' for others
Psalm 37:30 says, “the mouth of the righteous utters wisdom and his tongue speaks justice.”
As Richard and Larry go on to summarize, the servant-leader is deeply and passionately committed to the growth of every individual within his or her organization. And as such, they also take the initiative to build community among those within organization.
In the Hadza tribe, community takes place around the fire. Those who are the elder servant-leaders, take their place closest to the fire. Richard Leider notes about this, “A person seated close to the flames is expected to have something valuable to bring forth -and must take the initiative to do so.”
When I think of the person I would like to become, the 'desire of my heart' is to look much more like the servant-leader. Having people who have (and do) play that role in my life has had a significant impact on who I am becoming and I long to make a difference in others' lives as it was made in mine.
The Message Tools asks, “In what ways are you being intentional about actually trying to become the kind of person you want to be?'
At work, I believe this involves laying down my own desires and pursuits, even my own perspective on success that is based upon meeting deadlines with accurate information. Instead, I need to take a broader perspective and weigh heavily the impacts of my actions and decisions on the development of my staff along with producing results such as meeting deadlines with accuracy. I need to ask myself, are my staff are really growing more towards making a contribution by being able to impact others' lives? Am I making the right investments in them? I need to make sure that I invest the greatest amount of my resources and creativity towards developing staff and creating opportunities for their growth. This includes providing them with critical feedback. I often struggle with seeing weaknesses and providing critical feedback. Producing good results and contributing in others' lives are the natural outflow of a well developed staff.
At home and with the people I am mentoring, I believe being intentional involves making investments in the people God has placed in my life the top priority. I need to also consciously measure outcome. Are my efforts really making a difference? Most of all, I need to die to a desire for appreciation in my efforts. I believe where I struggle the greatest is being objectively critical and speaking what is best for someone when it is not what they want to hear. Too often I overlook weaknesses and I am reluctant to give critical feedback. I lean too heavily upon providing encouragement. People need both praise and criticism in order to grow.
I also find at my volunteer opportunities that I struggle with giving critical feedback that I know will not be received well. Volunteering, where I have the opportunity to 'put my hand to what my heart prompts,' being intentional involves being available, listening, understanding, empowering, and providing feedback. However, most importantly it involves directing others to God. It is in this environment that I realize most deeply how incredibly inadequate I am to meet others needs in myself. God is the One who heals and makes whole.
C.J. Mahaney writes in "Humility: True Greatness", "Truly edifying words are words that reveal the character, promises and the activity of God. They're cross centered words. They're words rooted in and derived from Scripture. Words that identify the active presence of God and words that communicated the evidences of grace that you observe in others. They're words that flow from a humble heart."4
He goes on to write that "We moritfy pride and cultivate humility by identifying evidences of grace in those around us -evidences that we become aware of only thorugh a divine perspective that recognizes God's active work and calling in their lives and that places full confidence in His faithfulness to complete the work... And in the process, we'll be cultivating authentic humility - a heart more concerend with God's glory than our own, and more intent on serving others than ourselves."
This leads me to my last way of being intentional about becoming the person I desire to be in my heart – prayer. People are transformed is in God's presence. I know very well from my own life, real growth only happens as people encounter God (either through someone demonstrating His love or directly encountering Him). The most effective way I have found in influencing others' lives, especially the least privileged, is through prayer. He is hope to the hopeless.
Lord, forgive me where I have thought delighting in you involved seeking my own desires. Not that I would have 'my desire' but yours. The true desire of my heart is to look more like You. Be the delight of my heart and help me to die to all that is self desire.
1. MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (Ps 37:4). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
2.Willard, Dallas and Johnson, Jan. Renovation of the Heart in Daily Practice. NavPress. 2006
3.Leider, Richard and Spears, Larry. Savoring Life Through Servant Leadership. http://heartlandcircle.com/user_files/other/SAVORINGLIFE_fin.pdf
4. Mahaney, C.J, Humility: True Greatness, Multnomah Books, Colorado Springs, Co. 2005 by Soverign Grace Ministries.
Comments