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Psalm 37:4 “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

Much of the emphasis on this verse, when quoted, seems to focus on receiving things that are on our hearts from the Lord. Now it is true that the verse (promise from God) clearly visualizes receiving from the Lord that which our hearts desire.

The overlooked thought of the verse, however, is the very first word of the verse that reads, “Delight thyself also in the Lord.” What we need to have opened to our understanding is this: How do I delight myself in the Lord? How can I grow in my delight toward Him? The simplest answer and the most powerful answer is this: that which brings the greatest glory to our Lord is His Will! Our constant prayer should be to know and to do His will.

In other words, loving what God loves, wanting what God wants, doing what God does, saying what God says, having care and compassion on that and whom God cares and has compassion. That is the greatest level on delighting ourselves in the Lord.

Pray, “Lord, increase my delight in Thee.” When we delight in Him our desires will also be what He wants.

Tim. 3:16 – 17 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

Practically every one who reads the Word of God is familiar with these verses. Clearly recognized as a statement of Heavenly authorship of the Bible. I love, however, the fact that inclusive in this declaration of authenticity is an outline of the overall purpose of the Word of God; that is pointing us to His perfect plan of salvation. I heard a dear preacher state it in this fashion. Using a bullet point style he used the following to explain it: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable –

for doctrine – what’s right
for reproof – what’s not right
for correction – how to get right
for instruction in righteousness – how to stay right

The entire Word of God is about the Lord Jesus Christ; from “In the beginning God . . .” to “In the beginning was the Word . . .” to “Even so come Lord Jesus . . .”. The message of His love and price paid for our sin brings us hope for all eternity. That’s the focus of these verses. “Doctrine” is the glorious plan of salvation through Christ. “Reproof” is exposure of the many fallacies of man’s idea of how to get to God. “Correction” is the direct route laid our as to how to obtained His forgiveness and salvation. “Instruction in righteousness” is the manner in which we can grow in our walk with the Lord. And the “follow-through” of accepting the truth of our condition and God’s gift is the promise “that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”