Mensa Otabil - Delight In The Lord (10/05/2025)
God is interested in our attitude, the attitudes we have when we’re waiting for something good to happen to us, when we go through a difficulty, when life is hard. God pays attention to how we should behave because the way we act during those periods will determine the outcome of our situation. So today, I encourage you to learn to delight in the Lord. Be excited about the things of God.
Psalm 37:4: «Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.» Isn’t that amazing? God says when you delight in Him, when you are happy and excited about what He is doing, then you will receive the desires of your heart.
Many times, while waiting for the realization of our desires, for our expectations, or when we’ve prayed and believed God for something, and the thing is not happening, we become moody. We can sometimes feel depressed and defeated because we’ve prayed repeatedly, and we’re not receiving the answers. But God says that while you are waiting for the answer to your prayer, delight yourself in the Lord. That means to get excited about the things of God; it means to praise the Lord, to worship Him, to thank Him, and to intentionally choose to be positive while negative things are happening to you.
Now, most of us worship God when things are going well; you know, when something good happens, we burst into singing or go to church and rejoice, waving our handkerchiefs as we do here in Ghana because everything is going well. Then, when things turn very bad, we go in the opposite direction, so our praise and worship are conditional on our feelings at that particular time. But we must delight in the Lord at all times; we have to have the joy of the Lord and express that joy, even when we don’t feel particularly joyful.
A few things to help you during those moments: First, practice praise. When you are tempted to yield to self-pity, open your mouth and praise God. Sing a song of praise. It may seem dry in your mouth; it may feel unreal, but sing it anyway. You will realize that when you praise God and sing praises, before long your atmosphere will change, your whole attitude will change, and the burden will become lighter for you. Practice the praise of God when you’re going through difficulty.
Participate in the joy of other people. While you are going through difficulty, someone else may have come out of theirs. Don’t be angry at the person who has overcome; instead, participate in their joy. When somebody has a baby, rejoice with them. When someone gets a good job, celebrate with them. When someone shares good news, be happy for them. It may not have happened for you yet, but rejoice with them because God says if you do that, He will give you the desires of your heart.
Practice the praise of God, participate in the joy of others, and promote God’s work. Be concerned about what God is doing. If you are in a church, participate; join a department; serve in the church. Invest your energies in the things of God. Don’t invest so much in meeting your needs that you forget the work of God. God promises that if you delight yourself in Him, He will give you the desires of your heart. If you forget about your own problems, challenges, and difficulties, and begin to be more outward in your praise, share in the joy of others, and get involved in the work of God, then God will take your burden as His burden and grant you the desires of your heart.So this week, learn to delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, thank You for meeting my needs. I delight myself in You and in all that You are doing in my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.»
Be happy in the Lord, be happy for people, and God will give you the desires of your heart. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.