Rest and Delight

This is my month, expressed in Biblical terms. Thought that since it was such an encouragement for me to come across these tonight it might also be great for someone else to hear.

Turn Yourself to me, and have mercy on me,
For I am desolate and afflicted.
The troubles of my heart have enlarged;
Bring me out of my distresses!
Look on my afflication and my pain,
And forgive all my sins.
Consider my enemies, for they are many;
And they hate me with cruel hatred.
Keep my soul, and deliver me;
Let me not be ashamed, for I put my trust in You.
Let my integrity and uprightness preserve me,
For I wait for You.

-Psalm 25:16-21


Trust in the Lord, and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the Lord,
and He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the Lord,
Trust also in Him,
And He shall bring it to pass.
He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light,
And your justice as the noonday.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.

-Psalm 37:3-7 (emphasis mine)


The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,
And He delights in his way.
Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down.

-Psalm 37:23-24 (emphasis mine)


I have needed to hear this over the past few weeks. It has not been a good time for me lately, and the worst part is that I'm the one to blame for it. Yet here I see written: Delight yourself in, rest in the Lord. Rest. Delight. Give it up. How much of the trouble we get ourselves into, how much of the sin we find ourselves stuck in, is due soley to our own attempts to do things ourselves? How differently would we live every day if we really believed He will solve our problems? We forget that God already has it all, and if we'd only ask He would give it to us. When I forget that He has the answers for my struggles and pain, when I try to find my own salve and comfort, it always ends in disaster and in my utter spiritual desolation. Yet here is a God who calls out for us to REST in Him. Stop running! he says. Rest.

I love that expression, "feed on His faithfulness." Feed. I get this mental image of a guy face-down in a plate of food, like a pig at a trough, just chowing down as much as he can. What a strong way to say it - yet this is what we need to do. God wants us to dive face-down in His faithfulness like a fat guy at a pie-eating contest. We have to cram as much of that knowledge of faithfulness into our proverbial stomachs as possible, because we forget it so easily! We have to survive in the knowledge that He IS faithful; that a solution IS coming; that a day is coming when He WILL wipe the tears from our eyes, and there will be no more pain. Then: Delight in Me, He says, and I will give you the very deepest desires of your heart. Can you BELIEVE that?!? Think about this for a second. The God of the whole universe is offering you here the key to everything you have ever wanted, to the very deepest desires of your heart. And how do you get these? Delight in Him. God is literally offering the world to us here and all He asks in return is that we enjoy Him!

I think this is because the deepest desire of every human heart IS to enjoy Him. Enjoy Me, He says, and the desires of your heart will be fulfilled. When we do that, when our core motivation is to enjoy God, everything else He desires for our lives falls into place. When our deepest desire is to be with Him and enjoy Him, we are willing to do anything, go anywhere, for the sake of finding that enjoyment and intimacy. And in doing that we become the men and women that He intended us to be, the men and women that Christ sacrificed himself for because He knew what we would become in that tireless pursuit of intimacy with Him - the Creation of God, fulfilling its ultimate purpose of enjoying Him.

So that's what's on my mind at this wee hour of 1am. Hope it was a blessing to you all the way it was to me.