Delight Yourself in the Lord: Everything You Need to Know
Here’s how to delight yourself in the Lord while waiting on that desire in your heart that hasn’t yet materialized. Learn what it means and discover some great verses on delighting in God.
What are the desires in your heart? That certain one that you are still waiting on to come to fruition? You’ve probably asked God when is it going to happen? How is it going to happen?
It all so frustrating, right?
When I was in a long season of waiting, specifically to be married, the Lord provided a few verses that were an anchor for my spirit. He began with the foundational verse for that season, which opens up a wonderful promise:
Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 NKJV
Why Our Focus Matters
We can easily make the desires of our heart an idol when our focus is on what we want, instead of pleasing God. It brings a weariness to our spirit.
Focus on this phrase:
Delight yourself in the Lord.
So what does it mean to delight yourself in the Lord? In delighting yourself in the Lord, it takes your focus off of what you’re waiting for and places it back on the Lord. Waiting brings strength, not weariness, if you are waiting on the Lord (Isaiah 40:31).
The key is choosing to live yielded to God, and in this case, delighting yourself in the Lord.
How It Works
I remember wanting to get married more than anything else in life. Every waking thought was about the latest guy I was enamored with. I found Psalm 37:4 one day and “held it over God’s head” as my ticket to get what I wanted: my husband—now.
He gently replied, “That’s not how it works, Daughter.”
What I was thinking was, Okay, God, fine. But I’m pretty sure You keep Your promises.
I’m fairly certain I was still trying to manipulate Him. But I wanted to get to the bottom of it. So I prayed:
“If that’s not how it works, then how does it?”
There was no immediate reply, but He did give me an immediate response. I sensed His sweet presence near me when I would think about a guy.
That verse about God being jealous of our love (2 Corinthians 11:2)? Yeah, He was reminding me of His continual pursuit of me. And the realization of that made my heart sing!
I decided to look up verses on delighting in the Lord and ones that talked about who He delighted in. That was probably the Holy Spirit giving me that idea.
With new fervency for those verses, and a little more falling in love with the Lord, I copied each one into my journal. I started praying them over my life and asked God to help them become a part of me.
He answered that prayer, and one day I was startled to realize I had been thinking about God more than a guy! I smiled and people around me thought I was in love with a man when really my heart was just captivated with my Love.
How to Delight Yourself in the Lord
The word delight is a verb. It is an action of taking great pleasure in God, to please Him or to be His pleasure.
When a man’s heart is tender toward a woman, in wooing her he will want what he is, does and says to be pleasing to the woman; he is delighting himself in her. In the same way, you can be God’s pleasure.
The Bible talks about many ways to delight yourself in the Lord (see below).
It’s not about a list to follow to make sure we are being righteous, but we delight in Him because we love Him. This is a specific way to live yielded to God.
As you dive into the verses below that describe ways to delight yourself in the Lord, and let them become a part of your life, God will begin to transform your heart. The result is that you will want to give your heart fully to Him and delight yourself in Him where you didn’t before.
It doesn’t matter what season of waiting you are enduring. God will take that time to draw you closer to Himself. The following verses can help open your eyes to delight in Him, your heart to live yielded to Him — and ultimately thrive in Christ. Here are some biblical ways to delight in God:
Doing His Will
I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart. Psalm 40:8 NKJV
Meditating on Scriptures
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2 NKJV
Having an Honest Heart
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, But those who deal truthfully are His delight. Proverbs 12:22 NKJV
Obedience
So Samuel said: Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22 NKJV
Prayer
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight. Proverbs 15:8 NKJV
Being All About His Word
I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. Your testimonies also are my delight And my counselors. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. And I will delight myself in Your commandments, Which I love. Let Your tender mercies come to me, that I may live; For Your law is my delight. Psalm 119:16, 24, 35, 47, 77 NKJV
A New Heart Cry
When I learned to delight myself in the Lord, I thought about how my heart looked to God more than how my hair looked for a guy. That was a huge change in my heart! He did that in me!
When you catch onto this concept, your heart cry becomes, “Yes, I want the desires of my heart, but I want You even more than those desires.”
And through the process of delighting yourself in the Lord, you see that He delights in you! You have His whole heart and will always have His love!
Are you in a season of waiting? Delight yourself in the Lord. Look up these scriptures in your Bible and begin to familiarize yourself with them. Highlight them, write them in your journal, pray them, but mostly get them in your heart! And He will give you the desires of your heart!
Need more encouragement while in a season of waiting? Check these out:
Kelly, thank you for reminding us to delight ourselves in the Lord. During this hurried season it is truly a time when we should concentrate on delighting ourselves in Him.
Thank you so much for posting this. All too often, I so easily delight in my free time, which usually leads to me feeling stressed out because I don’t have enough of it. But I want the Lord to be my delight. Reading Psalm 1 in my devotional time, I took particular notice that delighting in God is connected to delighting in his law, something that I intend to explore more fully. Your thoughts have given me some food for thought.
Thank you so much but one question I have is did you get married? And were you praying for a husband. Did you just ask God or did you just meditate on the scriptures you listed?
Thank you very much for this word. I find it very helpful. ive been struggling to understand this scripture but now I have a clear view on what to do. Thank you VERY, VERY much! God bless you and continue the good work.
Not only do the verses you have provided given me insight, into this area of my life but also coming from a sister in Christ it reminds me that I am not terminally unique and that fellowship (even online) can be a blessin gto someone enduring some trials or hardships. Thanks Kelly.
thank you for this devotion Kelly! ive meditating on what it means to really delight myself in our Lord, as I am in a time of waiting. And our Lord directed me here. This devotion had truly blessed abs helped me today! I’ve bookmarked it to re-read. thanks again sister!
Sometimes we just need a handle, to simplify the word in our everyday lives. Waiting becomes much easier when we focus on God, and not the situation. Delighting, in the above mention ways, brings peace. Thanks for such an uplifting article.
This is exactly what one must do when they are waiting! Delight ourselves in the Lord this is the most happiest moment for me! Even before I knew it what I was waiting on had come and it even seem like it wasn’t a wait at all! There is no other joy, peace and assurance that you could do as the devil trys to make you doubt our Saviour! God’s word kept me through the whole process because I made a point to STAY in His word!! Oh, oh what a friend we have in Jesus!
Oh yes. I love how you put it, to put our focus back on him. Which means at some point we took it off of him and that is where we go wrong. I know we won’t live it out perfectly, but keeping our eyes on HIM is what will keep our hearts content in the waiting.
Thank you for explaining how to delight yourself in the Lord in so much depth and giving an example of your life and how you sought to change. God bless you for sharing
Thank you Kelly for defining how to delight in God. The statement “ when a man’s heart is tender …. was the pearl I was looking for. Your article has become a blessing in my life. God bless
[…] wants to direct over my shoulder while I carry out His plans. No, it’s not just waiting. It’s releasing my control of it all: the tiny steps, the timing, the waiting, the preparation […]
Girl, I’m there. Thanks for the timely word. Blessings to you!!!!
Your welcome. Blessings to you as well!
Kelly, thank you for reminding us to delight ourselves in the Lord. During this hurried season it is truly a time when we should concentrate on delighting ourselves in Him.
That’s true!
Thank you so much for posting this. All too often, I so easily delight in my free time, which usually leads to me feeling stressed out because I don’t have enough of it. But I want the Lord to be my delight. Reading Psalm 1 in my devotional time, I took particular notice that delighting in God is connected to delighting in his law, something that I intend to explore more fully. Your thoughts have given me some food for thought.
Thanks for stopping by. I’m glad it was helpful!
Beautiful! I often like looking up Words in Hebrew for deeper meaning too, this read was so encouraging thanking Abba for you.
Hi, Kesh! I’m so glad this was encouraging to you! Praying you stay nourished and thriving this week!
thanks kelly, really touch with this message, i am asking God to give me the grace to delight in him more than my personal desire or pleasure.
Thank you so much kelly. Your message has helped me
Great post….the rationale being as we delight in him….our desires become more in line with his will for us, rather than our will for us
Thank you so much but one question I have is did you get married? And were you praying for a husband. Did you just ask God or did you just meditate on the scriptures you listed?
this was amazing Thank you!!
Thank you very much for this word. I find it very helpful. ive been struggling to understand this scripture but now I have a clear view on what to do. Thank you VERY, VERY much! God bless you and continue the good work.
Not only do the verses you have provided given me insight, into this area of my life but also coming from a sister in Christ it reminds me that I am not terminally unique and that fellowship (even online) can be a blessin gto someone enduring some trials or hardships. Thanks Kelly.
more post
Thank you for Defining the word Delight I have understanding of DELIGHT be blessed.
thank you for this devotion Kelly! ive meditating on what it means to really delight myself in our Lord, as I am in a time of waiting. And our Lord directed me here. This devotion had truly blessed abs helped me today! I’ve bookmarked it to re-read. thanks again sister!
Thanks, so pleased that it blessed!
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Thank you very much for giving me more understanding of ways I can delight myself in The Lord..
Sometimes we just need a handle, to simplify the word in our everyday lives. Waiting becomes much easier when we focus on God, and not the situation. Delighting, in the above mention ways, brings peace. Thanks for such an uplifting article.
Amen.
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Wow ! I needed to read this today. Thanks for posting this
Thanks for reading Jessica! God bless you!
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This is exactly what one must do when they are waiting! Delight ourselves in the Lord this is the most happiest moment for me! Even before I knew it what I was waiting on had come and it even seem like it wasn’t a wait at all! There is no other joy, peace and assurance that you could do as the devil trys to make you doubt our Saviour! God’s word kept me through the whole process because I made a point to STAY in His word!! Oh, oh what a friend we have in Jesus!
Amen! Thanks for sharing, Rita.
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Oh yes. I love how you put it, to put our focus back on him. Which means at some point we took it off of him and that is where we go wrong. I know we won’t live it out perfectly, but keeping our eyes on HIM is what will keep our hearts content in the waiting.
Truth! And the enemy will vie for our attention daily. Keeping these verses forfront is helpful. Blessings, friend!
I am just encouraged and empowered by your sharing. Thank you and may God bless your ministry
You’re welcome, Rose, and God bless you, too!
Thank you for explaining how to delight yourself in the Lord in so much depth and giving an example of your life and how you sought to change. God bless you for sharing
My pleasure, Vanessa! Thanks for reading!
Thank you Kelly for defining how to delight in God. The statement “ when a man’s heart is tender …. was the pearl I was looking for. Your article has become a blessing in my life. God bless
I’m glad it was helpful to you, A P! Saying a prayer for you right now as you delight yourself in the Lord!