Overcoming Anxiety
The third step in overcoming anxiety is found in verse four of our text, “Delight thyself in the Lord”.
David repeatedly told us that he delighted himself in the law of the Lord. Look at these passages:
- Psalm 1:2 “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”
- Psalm 119:16 “I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.”
- Psalm 119:24 “Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.”
- Psalm 119:35 “Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.”
- Psalm 119:47 “And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.”
- Psalm 119:70 “Their heart is as fat as grease; but I delight in thy law.”
- Psalm 119:77 “Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight.”
- Psalm 119:174 “I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight.”
- Romans 7:22 “For I delight in the law of God after the inward man:”
It is clear from the scriptures that the first step to delighting in the Lord is to delight in His Word. The Webster’s 1828 dictionary has this statement about the word delight, “Delight is a more permanent pleasure than joy, and not dependent on sudden excitement.”
This delighting in the Lord is not due to accident, it is a purposed direction, a choice of life. David says in Psalm 40:8 “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.”
Most things in life are a choice; it is not God’s will for us to leave our lives up to the winds that blow. We are to choose to be what He desires us to be. In that choosing, we must put those things around us that cause us to see how good it is to delight in Him.
Being thankful and keeping lists of things to be thankful for is an excellent way to delight yourself in the Lord.
