DTEB, “Delight in Doing What God Wants”

“Psa. 40:0       To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

Psa. 40:1         I ^uwaited patiently for the LORD;

                        he inclined to me and ^vheard my cry.

²           He drew me up from ^wthe pit of destruction,

                        out of ^xthe miry bog,

             and ^yset my feet upon a rock,

                        ^zmaking my steps secure.

³           He put ^aa new song in my mouth,

                        a song of praise to our God.

             Many will ^bsee and fear,

                        and put their trust in the LORD.

Psa. 40:4         Blessed is the man who ^cmakes

                        the LORD his trust,

             who does not turn to the proud,

                        to those who ^dgo astray after a lie!

⁵           You have multiplied, O LORD my God,

                        your ^ewondrous deeds and your ^fthoughts toward us;

                        none can compare with you!

             I will proclaim and tell of them,

                        yet they are ^gmore than can be told.

Psa. 40:6         ^hIn sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

                        but you have given me an open ⁱear.¹

             Burnt offering and sin offering

                        you have not required.

⁷           Then I said, “Behold, I have come;

                        in the scroll of the book it is written ^jof me:

^{8           k}I delight to do your will, O my God;

                        your law is ^lwithin my heart.”

Psa. 40:9         I have told the glad news of deliverance²

                        in ^mthe great congregation;

             behold, I have not ⁿrestrained my lips,

                        ^oas you know, O LORD.

¹⁰         I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;

                        I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;

             I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness

                        from the great congregation.

Psa. 40:11       As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain

                        your mercy from me;

             your ^psteadfast love and your faithfulness will

                        ever preserve me!

¹²         For evils have ^qencompassed me

                        beyond number;

             my ^riniquities have overtaken me,

                        and I cannot ^ssee;

             they are ^tmore than the hairs of my head;

                        my heart ^ufails me.

Psa. 40:13       ^vBe pleased, O LORD, to ^wdeliver me!

                        O LORD, ^xmake haste to help me!

^{14         y}Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether

                        who seek to snatch away my life;

             let those be ^zturned back and brought to dishonor

                        who delight in my hurt!

¹⁵         Let those be appalled because of their shame

                        who ^asay to me, “Aha, Aha!”

Psa. 40:16       But may all who seek you

                        rejoice and be glad in you;

             may those who love your salvation

                        ^bsay continually, “Great is the LORD!”

¹⁷         As for me, I am ^cpoor and needy,

                        but ^dthe Lord takes thought for me.

             You are my help and my deliverer;

                        do not delay, O my God!” (Psalm 40, English Standard Version)

I read the following as part of my 12-step readings for today:

“And in the willing of God’s will there should be gladness. You should delight to do that will because when you do, all your life goes right and everything tends to work well for you in the long run. When you are honestly trying to do God’s will and humbly accepting the results, nothing can seriously hurt you. Those who accept the will of God in their life may not inherit the earth, but they will inherit real peace of mind.

Prayer for the Day

I pray that I may have a yielded will. I pray that my will may be attuned to the will of God.” (From Twenty-Four Hours a Day © 1975 by Hazelden Foundation.)

To delight in doing the will of God—what a concept! I’m afraid a lot of us, even mature believers who ought to know better, tend to think of God’s will as a stern thing. God’s will can certainly feel that way at times.

And yet, I have noticed that, when I do what I know or suspect to be God’s will, things do indeed go better for me. It as if God loves me better and knows me better than I love and know myself. I’ve often tried following my own will. I still do a good bit of the time. It never seems to end well.

Maybe I should remove the “as if” qualifier from my previous sentence about God’s love for and knowledge of me. Maybe I should also remove the word “maybe” from my preceding sentence.