DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD

165th Meditation

Delight yourself in the Lord

and He will give you the desires of your heart” (Ps 36:4).

To delight in the Lord means to have access to the Heart of the Father and to rejoice in Him. This does not refer so much to rejoicing in what the Father has done and continues to do for us, but rather to delighting in God Himself. He has opened His Heart to us, so that we can dwell in it and move in His love. The depth of this joy comes from the direct encounter with our Father. His love is communicated to our soul and permeates it, and it exults with joy in the Lord. Divine love awakens all its powers.

When our Father penetrates the soul with His love, there does not remain in the heart of man any desire that does not please the Lord. He will only want to do that which pleases God, because it is divine love itself, the presence of the Holy Spirit, which moves his will and his desires. Love unifies the soul with the Father, and God fulfills with great joy the desires of our heart.

St. Augustine’s maxim: “Love and do what you will,” corresponds to this verse of the psalm.

Our Father wants to fill us with an overabundance of His gifts and He takes pity on our poor heart, which is often blind and lost. He calls us to his Heart overflowing with love, so that we may obtain eyes to see. God purifies our heart with His love, so that it will desire for itself only that which can fill it with everlasting joy.