Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desire of your heart.”
The word “delight” puzzled me, as I dug into the original Hebrew of the text. When it’s used as a noun, as in when you might say that something is a delight, the word means “feminine.” In other places in the Old Testament it describes women who appreciate sophisticated, luxurious things. She recoils from setting her bare foot on the ground, because she doesn’t want to get dirty: that’s the picture.
Now, how you take a noun that like, which refers to a certain facet of femininity, and turn it into a verb, and tell everyone to take that action — well, my linguistic skill falls short of being able to explain it. But, it seems that when “delight” is a verb, a thing to do, the expressly feminine note is left off, while the idea of enjoying luxury remains.
I’m suggesting it is an invitation to let yourself “sink into” opulence or wealth, like being invited to spend the weekend at a wondrous mansion. Enjoy the lifestyles of the rich and famous, so to speak.
There once was a cartoon that featured Scrooge McDuck. He’s the uber-rich uncle of Donald Duck. McDuck had an immense vault filled with an ocean of gold coins, and he would put on his bathing suit and swim in it. I can still picture him doing the back-stroke, throwing coins into the air with each wave of his wings.
That’s what I picture when the verse tells me to delight in the Lord. I’m being urged to jump in, laughing and happy, and submerge myself in his riches.
The God of the Bible has made such amazing, overwhelming promises to all those who simply trust in Jesus the Christ. I’m convinced that if we really grabbed hold of about 10% of those, it would revolutionize everything about how we live. These promises are better than enough gold to fill a swimming pool.
You probably know people who would happily give away all that money in exchange for finally being free of the stuff that has enslaved them, whatever their substance of choice has been. Also, the whole world seems to be conspiring together to move in the worst possible direction and scare the living daylights out of everyone. As one commentator has put it, “Hey, where are we all going and why are we in this hand-basket?”
How much would you pay to see that trend reversed?
My experience counseling people tells me that, for a lot of us, the real need is rest. I’m not talking about an extra nap, although I’d raise my hand to second that motion. I’m talking about a deep need to find real peace, to simply soak their souls in soothing warmth like a giant bathtub, and to lay there with their eyes closed, undisturbed, for about a year and a half.
Gordon Runyan is the pastor of Immanuel Baptist Church in Tucumcari. Contact him at: