HOW TO DELIGHT IN LIFE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Who is the man who delights in life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good?

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. Turn away from evil and do what is good;
seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry for help. The face of the Lord is set against those who do what is evil, to erase all memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
He saves those crushed in spirit.

Many adversities come to the one who is righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all. He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken. Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished. The Lord redeems the life of His servants, and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished.

Psalm 34:12-22 (HCSB)

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Who wouldn’t like to live a life that was considered delightful? Don’t we all yearn for a life that is totally wonderful in every way? I think we all do because I don’t know anyone in their right mind who would wish for a life full of misery.

So how do we get the wonderful life we crave? We can find the answer, like we find all answers, right from the word of God and we find some keys given in the final verses of the 34th Psalm. Look at these verses:

Who is the man who delights in life, loving a long life to enjoy what is good?

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech. Turn away from evil and do what is good;
seek peace and pursue it.

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry for help. The face of the Lord is set against those who do what is evil, to erase all memory of them from the earth. The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them from all their troubles. The Lord is near the brokenhearted;
He saves those crushed in spirit.

Many adversities come to the one who is righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all. He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken. Evil brings death to the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished. The Lord redeems the life of His servants, and all who take refuge in Him will not be punished.

So how do we delight in a long life, one we can love to enjoy what is good from the One who grants us every good and perfect thing from above?

From this passage we are given four key steps:

1. Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from deceitful speech.

The scriptures are full of words that speak about our tongue and lips. Some of them speak with warning, Consider the following:

“The tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.” James 3:5-10

To live a delightful life, one pleasing to the Lord, we have to ensure that every word we speak is sinless. Think that is impossible. It is when you consider trying to control your words by your own strength. No one can do that. But we must remember the words of Paul as he explained how he could be content no matter his circumstances. Paul discovered he could do all things through Christ who strengthened him, the same Christ who stands ready to strengthen you and me today and lead us to a wonderful life – a life fully lived in and through Him.

2. Turn away from evil.

When we are living with Christ fully in our hearts and minds, not only will our tongue and lips be controlled but our behavior will be as well. Not only will everything we say be of Christ but everything we do will as well. And as we talk and act as Jesus, we live in righteousness, living in delight as we turn away from evil.

3. Do what is good.

Something else happens as a byproduct of us turning from evil and toward righteousness. We do good things and delight in that kind of life. We don’t do good because we are good because Jesus told us that no one is good but God (Mark 10:18). No, we do good because the God who lives and abides within us through the Holy Spirit is perfectly good. So credit for anything good we do goes to God and God and God alone. Only He is worthy of glory. Only He can bring us to a wonderful life.

4. Seek and pursue peace.

So what do we gain from living this life that is righteous and good? We find peace. We find peace in knowing we live in delight, in the way that God expects for us to live, and we find peace in knowing we are living in a way He favors. When we live totally for the Prince of Peace, we find ourselves totally at peace in Him.

So to find delight in life, we control our tongue and lips, turn from evil, do what is good, and seek peace. In return, God grants us the following from this scripture passage that only add to our delight:

1. Help and deliverance.

“Many adversities come to the one who is righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.”

2. Comfort in times of hurt.  

 “The Lord is near the brokenhearted”

3. Salvation.

“He saves those crushed in spirit.”

4. Safety.  

“All who take refuge in Him will not be punished.”

5. Protection.

“He protects all his bones; not one of them is broken.”

6. Redemption.

“The Lord redeems the life of His servants”

Friends, it is crystal clear to me that the Lord wishes for us to live in delight. Why else would He encourage us to do so through His word if it wasn’t so?

Are you living in delight today? If so, it’s probably because you are living in the way prescribed in this psalm.

And if you’re not living in delight, then God has shown you the way to get there. And there is no better way for us to live.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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