Foundation Against Anxiety — Part 3

Here is the link to Part 1 and Part 2

Text Psalm 37: 1–13

Introduction: Last week we looked at Trust as the first principle or foundational ingredient against Anxiety or worry. We looked at the 3 Hebrew boys and we differentiated between Faith and Trust.

Today we will be taking a look at the Second foundational principle called Delight. Also bear with my grammatical errors because I am typing this without premeditation on the go

[4] Delight thyself also in the Lord ; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4 KJV

David then mentions the next thing we need to do against anxiety after Trusting in the Lord. When you trust in the Lord it’s a process and there is possibility that you can get tired because you get into a wait state, therefore delighting in the Lord wars against any form wiles the enemy throws at you.

Trust is an invisible foundation and because of that your flesh doesn’t sync up and therefore there is still danger of fretting. But delighting in the Lord will continue to refresh your soul and thereby keep the flesh under great check.

Let’s quickly look at a series of verses regards delighting in the Lord. Another word for delight is to rejoice.

[23] The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord : and he delighteth in his way. Psalm 37:23 KJV

[111] Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. Psalm 119:111 KJV

[14] I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. Psalm 119:14 KJV

[1] Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.Psalm 112:1 KJV

Now you can see that it’s not talking about Thanksgiving Sunday or those dances you do on Sunday worship, yes those are inclusive but they very very minor. When we say delight or rejoice in the Lord, it’s more of a soul component thing than physical or flesh.

Let’s look at the key 🔑 way to delight in the Lord:

Study and Meditation: No matter how hard or busy your days are you need find time to study and meditate the Word. As busy as you are you still chat, watch BBN, watch movies, talk on calls, watch football etc; so why can’t you create time to delight yourself in God with meditation?

Meditation is beyond you just saying I will just read this verses so it will seem I have read the Word today. No, you doing yourself.

[8] This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Joshua 1:8 KJV

There is no magic!!!

When you meditate and study the word the commands of the Lord comes home to you everyday. That why I said you need to understand you made of 3 components of the Spirit, Soul and Body. Once you grab this understanding the importance of study and meditation comes to realization because if you think you read your Bible today and you don’t do it the next day, you will forget to delight in God.

[9] Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9 KJV

God’s command is found to Joshua in daily meditation and study. If as when God spoke to him he is encouraged and then fails to study or meditate he will forget. And once he forgets he starts to fret.

Joshua was faced with a daunting task of leading them to the promised so he started to fret greatly and God spoke to him that meditation is what he needs. Look at Moses the man who saw God face to face, he failed and you say Joshua shouldn’t fret? That’s unrealistic.

When you delight in the Lord you are taking in power into the inner man which is the Soul, and this is why you need this against anxiety because the fact that you trust in the Lord doesn’t mean Anxiety will not come and sometimes it’s daily for some of us depending on the situation.

When you delight in the Lord via study and meditation the strength to do other things like prayer, watching and overcoming temptation continues to flow.

The only way to delight in the Lord is via study and meditation. So you have to be more interested in things like this than any other. Things like study groups, Bible study, sermons etc must take precedence.

Your ushering or pastoring, paying tithe, offering is not delighting in the Lord per say because they outward soul expressions, it’s the intake that delights in the Lord because that what makes the Holy Spirit joyful and the Joy of the Lord is your strength.

Simply put, when you delight in God, the Holy Spirit is joyful and that translates to Strength for you

[39] And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. [40] But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. [41] And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: [42] But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10:39–42 KJV

I just love Jesus😘 He said only one thing is needful, you can see that most of the ministry work is nothing except you also delight in the Word. Jesus didn’t say Martha ministry work is insignificant and for sure Jesus Himself will eat from the Jollof rice she is cooking, but that when you don’t do the most important, other things becomes voided.

Now let’s get back to out text to see the effect of Delighting in the Lord

Psalm 37:4 KJV
[4] Delight thyself also in the Lord ; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Wow wow wow!!!

You have a desire or need and because you don’t have it you begin to fret? David is saying do not fret because that would cause a mental breakdown but rather trust and delight in God and He will give you those desires.

Now one thing trust and delight does is that it sharpens your desires, you get understanding of what you need because most of the time we fret at things because we feel we would need them but eventually those things aren’t fit for us.

Because all your friends have traveled out then you start to fret that yourself should travel ooo. But God might want you stay here like Isaac. And your prayer points are from the angle of fretting and anxiety rather than trust and delight in God.

Others are getting married and you are worried, though your status on social media shows you strong, but deep down you yourself know in private that you fret😂

And there are many situations like this we often find ourselves in and to mention them all, time will fail us.

In this series so far we have covered two most important things you need to do against anxiety:

1. Trust💪🏾

2. Delight🥰

You cannot pray for anxiety to not come because God will not answer that prayer, anxieties and worry are part of our daily lives in this present body. But you can build a great foundation or wall against it and that’s what this series is all about.

Shalom and have a blessed week in Jesus name. Amen 🙏