Delighting in God
W. Dickson. Psalm 37:3-8 Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shall you dwell in the land, and truly you shall be fed.… I. THE DUTY REQUIRED. 1. What is necessary in order to the performance of it? (1) The first thing required is evidently an acquaintance with God. We must, to some extent, be acquainted with His character, His works, and His disposition and intentions towards ourselves. (2) We must be possessed of conformity to Him, and have some degree of likeness to Him ourselves; otherwise, we may know the truth about Him, but it will afford us no delight whatever. From Ephesians 4:22-24, and Colossians 3:9, 10, we learn that the likeness must consist in two things — holiness and knowledge. Holiness includes two things — justice and goodness. We cannot conceive of a holy being in the character of a malignant one, or suppose any, with a deep love for what is right, to be filled with malevolence. We must have a love for justice, then, before we can delight ourselves in God. And the only way by which we can come to have it, is by faith in Christ. Then, in conjunction with this, our character itself is changed; we have no longer the love of sin, but a true regard for everything in which there is any "virtue or any praise" — and therefore a supreme admiration of Him who is the "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty." If we would be able to delight ourselves in God, we must likewise be conformed to Him in His knowledge. God knows what is the chief end of man's life, what is right and what is wrong. The Christian, by believing God's revelation, knows this too, and is conformed to Jehovah in respect to knowledge. 2. The way in which we should show our delight in Him. (1) By meditating upon Him. (2) By taking an interest in creation and created things as His work, and by observing the course of events as His providence working out the great end of His own glory and blessing His creatures. (3) By reading His Word, attending on His ordinances, and observing His sacraments. II. THE BLESSING PROMISED TO THOSE WHO PERFORM THE DUTY. This would be a dangerous promise to make to those who were to retain their corrupt heart; for were the wicked man to obtain "the desires of his heart," he would destroy at one stroke all whom he thought his enemies, annihilate hell, make heaven a place of sensual enjoyment, and dethrone the Lord of all Himself. Happily, however, all who "delight themselves in God" will have very different wishes from these. 1. Those who delight in Him will desire to have a greater acquaintance with Him; and they will not fail to be gratified. 2. If we delight in God we shall desire a greater love to Him, and shall obtain it. 3. If we delight in God we shall wish to have closer communion with Him, and shall obtain our desire while we remain on earth. 4. Those who delight themselves in God will desire and obtain a greater degree of likeness to God; and what a noble thing it must be to resemble in the slightest extent the Lord of all! Their likeness will perhaps be best seen in regard to "God manifest in the flesh." "Because he lives, we shall live also." We shall partake of His glory, resemble His character, and sit down upon His throne. (W. Dickson.) Parallel Verses KJV: Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. WEB: Trust in Yahweh, and do good. Dwell in the land, and enjoy safe pasture.