Our editor-in-chief Gerald Flurry has drawn a lot of attention recently to Psalm 37:4. He has gone so far to say that it’s probably his favorite verse in the Bible. It says, “Delight thyself also in the LORD, and he shall give you the desires of thine heart.”

What an awesome promise! Maybe you have certain life goals or desires: certain extra-curricular activities, personal opportunities, or achievements in school. Down the line, maybe you have a special college you want to attend, a particularly desirable career path, an ambition for baptism, or even a desire for marriage and family. Maybe you don’t even know what the desires of your heart are yet. That’s okay—the promise is still in effect! Of course, we have to work according to God’s timing: He knows when a certain blessing is best for us. Nevertheless, God’s promises are 100 percent sure.

But wait.

Did you notice that this particular promise comes with a condition? For us to receive the desires of our heart, we must first “delight ourselves in the Lord.” Naturally then, we should ask ourselves: How do I delight myself in the Lord?

Doing this takes more than simply fulfilling a single checklist item. But the Bible actually does give us one very practical step to delighting ourselves in the Lord. It’s found in Isaiah 58:13-14:

“If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.”

Isaiah 58 says when we keep the Sabbath properly, we delight ourselves in the Lord. Then, Psalm 37 says when we delight ourselves in the Lord, we receive the desires of our heart. If a=b, and b=c, then a=c. Proper Sabbath keeping is directly linked to receiving the desires of our heart.

Isaiah 58:13 actually uses the same word “delight” to describe the Sabbath itself. Do we look forward to the Sabbath? Do we enjoy every moment of it, or are we counting down the minutes until Saturday-night sunset? If we don’t really value the Sabbath the way we should, then it’s easy for us to want to want to get back to our regular weekly routines. The Sabbath pictures the coming Millennium: do we yearn for the Sabbath as much as God yearns for the Millennium? Is having a good Sabbath day one of the desires of our heart?

God tells us to avoid “doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure.” Of course, this means not working our regular jobs on the Sabbath. But the law goes beyond that. Are we really into sports? What kinds of movies do we watch? What about books or music?

The Sabbath isn’t a day for us to delight in our pleasures, but God’spleasures. Anything that distracts us from that purpose isn’t in line with the Sabbath command. This is why certain activities, books, movies, or music that might be fine during the week aren’t appropriate for the Sabbath.

Isaiah 58 also discusses “speaking thine own words.” How easy is it for us, on the Sabbath day, to being talking about things happening at school, our extracurricular activities, or the exciting developments of this years’ football season? It’s easy for us to want to see our friends at Sabbath services, but do we also desire having Sabbath-worthy conversation?

We mostly talk about what we’re already thinking about (Matthew 12:34), so we really need to watch what we think about during the Sabbath. To delight ourselves in God, we should ask: what does God think about?

During the Sabbath, we can meditate on the particulars of God’s work—what He’s doing through Mr. Flurry and those under him. Every Friday, the Philadelphia Church of God sends out an email with details about what’s happening in God’s work. Peacefulstorms.com is also usually updated every Friday. These can provide good topics for Sabbath conversation.

God’s mind is also on world events—specifically fulfilled prophecy. Discuss what’s happening in the world, both at home and abroad. Focus your mind on how God is fulfilling what He has revealed through His apostle. And make sure to view that prophecy through the God-family concept. No matter where they live, God desires for every human to be a part of His family—and the Sabbath pictures the time when that large-scale conversion process will begin.

One great conversation topic after services is the main message of the day. Of course, starting a conversation with “What did you think of the sermon today?” can be a little awkward, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily wrong. Actually, instead of prompting other people, why not take the lead yourself! You could start with something along the lines of: “I really liked the point he made today when he said … .”

God’s mind is also focused on our personal character growth. Are there places in your life where you’re learning to build more discipline? Learning to respect authority? Do you have to stand up for your beliefs in front of your peers at school or extracurriculars? Sharing these experiences, if done the right way, can be beneficial for others and can make for uplifting Sabbath conversation.

For specific direction on particular “dos and don’ts,” your parents under the ministry are your primary resource.

The Psalms of David and the Psalter of Tara says, “Learning to see things the way God sees them is key. Always ask God to help you delight in Him and think as He thinks, and then He will give you the desires of your heart!”

God won’t give us the desires of our heart if they clash with His desires. That’s why delighting in God comes first. It means thinking what He thinks and wanting what He wants. Keeping the Sabbath day properly teaches us how to do that very thing. When we forsake our own pleasures on the Sabbath and dwell on the things God thinks about, we are developing a desire for the same things God desires for. When we do that, we are well on our way to delighting ourselves in the Lord.

To receive the desires of your heart, have a delightful Sabbath.