Daily Bible Nugget #707, Psalm 37:4

The Nugget:

Psa 37:4  Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. (KJV)

Psa 37:4 And delight thyself on Jehovah, And He giveth to thee the petitions of thy heart. (YLT, Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible)

Psa 37:4  Take pleasure in Yahweh as well, and he will give to you the requests of your heart. (LEB, Lexham English Bible)

Psa 37:4 Yea, rest thy delight on Yahweh, that he may give thee the requests of thy heart. (EB, Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible)

Psa 37:4 Then you will take delight in the LORD,
and he will answer your prayers. (NET Bible)

My Comment:

Psalm 37:4 is instructive. It is another cause/effect relationship verse that is not on any of my published lists of such verses in the New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge or Nelson’s Cross Reference Guide to the Bible or The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury.

The CAUSE portion of Psalm 37:4 is “Delight thyself also in the LORD.”

The EFFECT portion of Psalm 37:4 is “and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

Reading the other English Bible translations I have shared above further clarifies the EFFECT portion of Psalm 37:4 with their renderings:

• that he may give thee the requests of thy heart. (EB, Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible)
• And He giveth to thee the petitions of thy heart. (YLT, Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible)
• and he will answer your prayers. (NET Bible)

The first part of  Psalm 37:4, the CAUSE portion of this verse, is clarified by comparing Scripture with Scripture using cross references shared below. It is important to study and understand these to know what to do to experience the benefit expressed in the EFFECT clause of this verse.

I have given an extensive list of CAUSE/EFFECT RELATIONSHIP verses at Psalm 9:10 in the NTSK, NCRGB, and the UCRT.

At Psalm 9:10 I also explain another simple but helpful Bible study method that involves noticing what any verse says about “my responsibility” and what it says about “God’s responsibility.” This method applies nicely to Psalm 37:4.

The first clause of Psalm 37:4, “Delight thyself also in the LORD,” represents MY RESPONSIBILITY.

The last clause of Psalm 37:4, “and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart,” represents GOD’S RESPONSIBILITY.

Here are the cross references for the first clause of Psalm 37:4 that I have collected and presented in The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury:

Psalms 37:4
Delight. T1323. Psa 37:11, +*Psa 1:2; Psa 4:7; Psa 16:5, 6; Psa 40:8; *Psa 43:4; Psa 73:25; *Psa 104:34; Psa 119:16; Psa 119:24; Psa 119:35; Psa 119:47; Psa 119:70; Psa 119:77; Psa 119:174, Job 22:26; Job 27:10; Job 34:9, Pro 16:3, Song 2:3, Isa 55:2; Isa 58:2; *Isa 58:14; Isa 64:5; Isa 66:11, Php 3:1; *Php 4:6; Php 4:7, *1Pe 1:8.