Friday the 13th, second time around. And this time, we didn’t have electricity till, oh, around 30 minutes ago.
In the words of national hero Emmanuel ‘Manny’ or ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao, ‘Thanks God’.
Fast-tracking here, or getting as many words in as I can, because Mom’s getting ready and I’m about to drive her out.
I did do some writing earlier, but I’m not going to put in the full details here.
March 13, 2026
Brownout at home, and I left my notebook at church.
Meditating now, on Psalm 37:1-5.
1 Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers!
2 For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.
3 Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
What I’m dwelling on right now is the oft-quoted verse 4; I know that priority is to delight in the LORD, but am I also to understand that, before He gives us said ‘desires’ of our heart, when He says He gives it, does that mean that He defines it?
Because right now I’m more or less aware of my wants and needs, but when it comes to desire – I’ll be honest, I haven’t desired anything so deeply for the longest time, much less have any of said desires fulfilled. And I recall how, back during those days, true desire gives us direction, and motivation unto action. These days still cross my mind, because I believed that those were times when God gave me the desires of my heart, and God gave me the desires of my heart.
See the difference? Fine; Those days, God gave me the desires of my heart, and then God fulfilled these desires of my heart.
However it actually was versus how I was probably biased in recalling all of it, I’m led to say that before any of that, there was a phase, a season where I delighted in the LORD; and in His Word – BUT I believe I have to say that even before that, I found grace in the eyes of the LORD. I mean, really, what did it mean when Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD, in Genesis 6:8? Previous discussion mentions Noah’s name means ‘rest’; Am I to rest, then? Because, honestly, from the perspective of things, I’ve been resting – so rested, actually, that I’m down to wants and needs, and no desire in my heart or in the horizon.
Is it so much for me to find grace in His eyes again (ex. Moses, Mary, the people of Israel)? Or, have we ALREADY found grace in His eyes?
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
15 Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.Titus 2:11-15
Christ is our finding grace in God’s eyes. Or, that’s what I’m being led to realize and rest on.
While waiting for our desires, we would probably do well to delight in the LORD.
Yeah, I’m back to the start. I tried going past it, and found out I was impatient.
I mean, come on now. I’m 42. Of course I’m impatient.
But even so, I shall delight in the Lord.
I shall labor to enter His rest.
I shall continue to trust in the Lord. I believe that He has made me a new creation, and I have a new heart, and also new desires. Sure, I may not know what these new desires are, but until I come around to what these are, I shall act from my new heart, taking in the finished work of Christ (which is the ultimate indication of our finding grace in God’s eyes).
I shall rely on the Holy Spirit alive in me to wade through my realized wants and needs, discerning ungodliness and worldly passions from what is good (self-controlled, upright, and godly);
I shall abide in Christ, our Vine, who has redeemed us from lawlessness, and produced in us zeal for good works.
The moral of all this was already mentioned earlier – the priority is to delight in the LORD.
Thank You, Father, for the continued reading of Your Word.
Psalm 41 isn’t too long, but I’ll just be focusing on the last 3 verses:
11 By this I know that you delight in me: my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But you have upheld me because of my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.
13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.Psalms 41:11-13
This is our God – who, in these times of wars and rumors of wars, is pleasantly remembered as our Refuge and our Fortress.
He is the God of Israel. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Creator of all things.
He naturally demonstrated His eternal nature by being the Maker of time – by setting the sun, moon, and stars, in all their paths, that we would determine day and night.
He also established His infinite power by being the Author of space – by setting borders in the seas, separating land from water, and establishing the borders of the firmament.
With all this being said it doesn’t matter where we are in terms of location or time zone;
By the grace of our Father, the finished work of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit, we are at peace, knowing:
(1) that the enemy shall not ultimately shout in triumph over us, and
(2) that He upholds us because of the integrity He established in us, and
(3) He set us in His presence, now and forever.
Indeed, because of God – Our Father, our Protector, our Defense, and our Help – we naturally pour out praise and worship unto His name!
And, just now I notice – we’ve been talking in length earlier about how we ought to delight in the Lord, but what was mentioned in the first part of that first verse we are discussing?
He delights in us, too!
Oh, give glory to our God, for He is good – both now, and forever; From everlasting to everlasting, indeed!
Father, give us all a good weekend, please. Amen.
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