Delighting in the Lord
Delighting in the Lord || Psalms 37:4 || Dea. Dr. Lakeba H. Williams
Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37:4 NLT
Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist at the turn of the 20th century was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud an Austrian neurologist and psychologist. Jung’s groundbreaking work focused on the “shadow” as a fundamental archetype of the unconscious mind. He believed that the shadow encompassed the rejected, repressed or “godforsaken” parts of the personality. The terminology was important because like Flip Wilson’s famous character Geraldine in the 1970’s, prior to Jung’s work it was not uncommon for people to deflect responsibility for succumbing to debased desires by declaring, “The devil made me do it”.
Jung’s “shadow” concept represents “the thing a person has no wish to be,”. It’s the part that doesn’t align with “the thing a person wishes to be,” or the mask worn, to hide the socially unacceptable parts of us. Paul described the dilemma in Romans 7:19-20 NLT this way, v. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. v.20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong: it is sin living in me that does it.
The psalmist David addresses the shadow, by adjuring us to stop worrying and instead take delight in the Lord. This suggests that when we align our personal desires with the divine, we will get what we really want. We will become our true self. The goal is to accept the shadow and integrate it, not to eliminate it. Psalm 37:4 suggests finding one’s “original self” rather than the personality built by the traumas, triggers and tragedies of life.
Now delighting in the Lord, isn’t a transactional formula for getting your wishes granted by God. Instead, delighting in the Lord calls us to a conscious journey, a higher calling to find our satisfaction in God alone. “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8 NLT.
We know our shadow side, better than anyone else. And we know it’s desires. Instead of fighting with it, we are invited to give ourselves entirely to God (God is love). To come back to love, to come back to God. It’s noteworthy to mention here, that we move toward whatever our eyes are fixed on.
Prayer:
God of glory, God of love. Thank you for taking me as I am. Help me to do the same for myself and everyone else. Trusting that you will help me to be who I truly am. A child of God! Jehovah Tsidkenu you are “The LORD our righteousness”.
Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist at the turn of the 20th century was a contemporary of Sigmund Freud an Austrian neurologist and psychologist. Jung’s groundbreaking work focused on the “shadow” as a fundamental archetype of the unconscious mind. He believed that the shadow encompassed the rejected, repressed or “godforsaken” parts of the personality. The terminology was important because like Flip Wilson’s famous character Geraldine in the 1970’s, prior to Jung’s work it was not uncommon for people to deflect responsibility for succumbing to debased desires by declaring, “The devil made me do it”.
Jung’s “shadow” concept represents “the thing a person has no wish to be,”. It’s the part that doesn’t align with “the thing a person wishes to be,” or the mask worn, to hide the socially unacceptable parts of us. Paul described the dilemma in Romans 7:19-20 NLT this way, v. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. v.20 But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong: it is sin living in me that does it.
The psalmist David addresses the shadow, by adjuring us to stop worrying and instead take delight in the Lord. This suggests that when we align our personal desires with the divine, we will get what we really want. We will become our true self. The goal is to accept the shadow and integrate it, not to eliminate it. Psalm 37:4 suggests finding one’s “original self” rather than the personality built by the traumas, triggers and tragedies of life.
Now delighting in the Lord, isn’t a transactional formula for getting your wishes granted by God. Instead, delighting in the Lord calls us to a conscious journey, a higher calling to find our satisfaction in God alone. “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” Psalm 34:8 NLT.
We know our shadow side, better than anyone else. And we know it’s desires. Instead of fighting with it, we are invited to give ourselves entirely to God (God is love). To come back to love, to come back to God. It’s noteworthy to mention here, that we move toward whatever our eyes are fixed on.
Prayer:
God of glory, God of love. Thank you for taking me as I am. Help me to do the same for myself and everyone else. Trusting that you will help me to be who I truly am. A child of God! Jehovah Tsidkenu you are “The LORD our righteousness”.
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