I saw someone quote Psalms 37:4 to justify sexual foreplay. What does the passage really say?
Question:
I read about foreplay and agree, but I was on a singles site and saw: "Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalms 37:4). So what does this mean?
Thanks and God bless you!
Answer:
"Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday" (Psalms 37:1-6).
Languages can be vague at times and when you take just a small piece of a statement, it is easy to make it appear to be saying something completely different from the author's intentions. Notice that in the context the emphasis is on being obedient to God; thus, the statement "Delight yourself in the Lord" should have an emphasis on "in the Lord." Literally, the passage says, "And take pleasure concerning Yahweh and may He give to you the requests of your heart."
Thus, there is nothing sexual about what is being discussed.
Response:
Bless you, brother and thanks.
Yeah, there are a lot of evildoers out there, and the devil takes God's words to make them be his, so we get misled from the path to his kingdom.
