Delighting in God's Desires

This 1-minute devotion explains misunderstandings about Psalm 37:4 and it explains what it means to "work out our salvation with fear." #BibleLoveNotes #Bible

Psalm 37:4 is sometimes used to justify the prosperity gospel or selfish desires. 

But this psalm doesn’t simply say “God will give you the desires of your heart.” It says “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

 What happens when we delight ourselves in the Lord? 

 Our selfish desires disappear.

The New Testament puts it this way:
“Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:12-13

"Working hard" to obey, please, serve, and reverence God is part of delighting in Him. 

 And what happens when we do that? 

God works in us to give us right desires - His desires - and His power to accomplish them. 

There’s no promise for prosperity or fulfillment of selfish desires in Scripture. But there's a wonderful promise that those who take their faith seriously can fully experience the love, purpose and wisdom of our Lord!
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You might also enjoy "We Can't Ignore Our Role" and "Baby Muscles"
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This 1-minute devotion explains misunderstandings about Psalm 37:4 and it explains what it means to "work out our salvation with fear." #BibleLoveNotes #Bible

2 comments:

  1. Hadi YoussefMarch 13, 2019 at 7:27 AM

    I guess we workout our salvation when we become like our lord by putting others before ourselves. The therefore at the beginning of verse 12 tells us that what is next is based on what has already been covered. What do you think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gail @ http://biblelovenotes.comMarch 13, 2019 at 9:58 AM


      You're wise to look at the whole context of the passage. And you’re right. The passage starts by stressing our need to think of others. And after verse 13 it talks about being a godly light in our dark world.


      It’s highlighting certain aspects of dying to ourselves for the sake of others and the sake of the Gospel (as Christ gave up Himself for us).


      I love how Scripture comes to the same truth from different perspectives so we get a fuller understanding of our role in our sanctification.


      We find a similar but slightly different perspective in the commands to "put off" our old sin nature and "put on" our new Christlike nature (Ephesians 4:22-24).
      And another slightly different perspective in Romans 12:1-2 that talks about renewing our minds so we understand God's will for us.

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