#DailyDevotion Don’t Fall For The Delusion. Delight In The LORD.
Psalm 37 Don’t get upset about evil people or jealous of those who do wrong. 2Like grass they soon wither and fade away like a green plant.
It seems that we really need to hear this throughout all ages. Evil people do evil things and seem to live without regret. They seem to get away with everything, including murder. They try to control us and the world around us, imposing rules on us they themselves do not obey. If they are on a more local level, they often seem to engage in things that look like fun but are sinful and nothing bad ever seems to happen to them. The LORD tells us here not to get upset about them or be jealous of them. You don’t see their end and you do not know what torments the LORD places in them because of their wrongdoing. We are told, like the grass, they will soon wither and fade away. Their lives at best are an illusion.
3Trust the LORD and do good; live in the land, practice being faithful. 4Delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart’s desire.
Instead of focusing on the wicked, David directs us to trust the LORD and do good. He directs us to live and the land and practice being faithful. Trusting in the LORD is not always easy. It requires us to continue to do good when it looks like all we are being rewarded with for our good is evil. Such is the life of being a disciple of Jesus who tells us to pick up our cross and follow Him. We follow Him to Golgatha where He is crucified and dies. It looked like all Jesus got for all His goodness is an excruciating death. We may experience that many days and many times. It will require much practice in being faithful.
Jesus though rose from the dead and is seated at the right hand of power. So David says, “Delight in the LORD and He will give your your heart’s desire.” First comes our delighting in the LORD, in all His thoughts and all His ways. Sometimes we may delight in the LORD in all the good things He bestows upon us. Sometimes, we may have to delight in the LORD as we join our LORD Jesus Christ in His suffering. Peter tells us in his first epistle, ch. 4, “13But as you share Christ’s sufferings, be happy so that you will also be full of joy when His glory will be revealed.” The LORD will give you your heart’s desire when you delight in Him. Mind you, what you heart desires is going to different when you are delighting in the LORD than when your heart is set of evil, wicked things. I would think, on my best days delighting in the LORD, that my hearts desire is to see God and experience His good and faithful presence. My heart’s desire is to no longer fall into sin and shame. My heart’s desire is to live in a world where sin, wickedness, evil, iniquity and the like no longer exist. Would a bigger house, a nicer care, a fuller bank account be nice? I imagine it would be. But I don’t think I’d be satisfied with those things. What I want is what those things make me feel for a short period of time. What I want to feel ultimately and for forever, can only be provided by the LORD Jesus Christ and His grace and mercy to me. The same is true for you as well. The LORD then will have to change our hearts and minds and conform them to His will through His Word and Sacrament. Then I will delight in Him all the more and desire and want what He desires and wants to give to me.
Merciful God and Father, give a heart and mind that can perceive Your reality so we don’t get jealous of evil people but rather delight in You Son Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen