Delight Yourself...

"Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it" Psalms 37:4-5 (NASB).

This verse has been brought to my attention several times in the last day or so. As I know I've said, that's the #1 sign for me that I need to spend some time with it. So, I did.

So, most of this passage makes pretty obvious sense to me. Being given the desires of my heart... ah, this is a phrase that seems well translated in my (very, very) lay opinion. For me, a true lover of words and their nuance, I think the true essence of the language comes across - at least to me.

I did want to make sure I understand what it meant to commit my way to the Lord. So, I looked it up. :) This was an interesting one! The Hebrew word used here is actually translated only once (in the KJV) to "commit." It's also translated once as "trust." Most frequently (with 9 times) it actually translated to the word "roll." Huh? Exactly.

The meaning of this word is not well understood (at least by me - ha!). Here's part of the Strong's definition that I think helps shed some light: "roll (away, down, together)." This helped, but didn't give me that light bulb moment for which I was hoping. So, I checked some other translations. Here's the AMP: "Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]."

So, yes, that made a little more sense. I wondered if it wasn't a fair translation to simply say, "When you 'roll with it', let Him be in charge of the rolling." I'm half kidding, but honestly, it seems like a decent approximation.

The last word in this passage that really spoke to me was actually the first word. What does it really mean to delight myself in the Lord? I admit; I can be very rigid in my thinking, and I often find myself reading the commands of the Bible or even receiving advice from friends, and asking, "Okay, but what does that mean? What does it look like?" I had this same set of questions about this idea of delighting in Him.

The definition for "delight" is a little obtuse as well, but somehow, upon reading it, I "got it" in that deep down way. This word is also translated as "delicate" and "delicateness" elsewhere in the KJV version of the Bible. And that is essential information in trying to understand the essence of the word. It means to be soft or pliable, to be delicate. The word implies a feminine essence, as well as luxuriousness. I sort of understand this as a word that means letting go and letting God - but in a way that isn't about being defeated in my own human attempts. It's more about the luxury of letting God be God. Strange idea, maybe, but as someone who has tried to accomplish items on God's "to-do" list too many times, I can tell you, I definitely understand the idea of it being a luxury to be able to let God handle it.

I invite you to consider the word and the definition information above letting the Spirit lead you in understanding it for yourself. I appreciated my Lord so much more when I did. Not only do I have the option of this kind of "delighting." But by doing so, I please God and He promises to give me the desires of my heart. Awesome. Love that Lord. Thank You, God!