Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Ps 37:4
Many people, including myself, have taken this, and other similar scriptures as a promise that God will fulfill us by granting us the things we want. We want so many things, and so often our wants are quite legitimate biblically-speaking: godly children, a Christian spouse, a job where we can work as God intends us, etc. We seem to take such verses as Ps 37:4 as promises from God that if we do what he wants, He’ll give us what we want. However, I was reading through verses on the heart, and when I got to this one, I was suddenly struck by a new reading of this verse—at least, it was suddenly new to me. Thinking back to all the reading I have done, the sermons I heard, etc., it is not really a new concept at all, but I felt it was important to reorient this verse in my own heart, and hope that it will help shed new light in other people’s hearts as well.
Too often we try to use scripture against God. We take verses promising that obedience will be rewarded, and try to use obedience to get what we want. This is obviously a works-oriented approach to Christianity, and one that it is all to easy to slip into. If God demands obedience, and promises to reward our obedience, it becomes very easy for our sinful humanity to begin demanding His reward on our own terms. When we do not seem to get our “deserved” reward for our obedience to God’s will, we get angry or hurt, and begin to believe the same lie that Satan used to tempt Eve: we think that God is holding out on us. We cry, “I’m doing everything He asked (to the best of my ability): why doesn’t He give me what I want?”
Why doesn’t He give me what I want? “What I want” is not important; what God wants is. God does not have an immense tally sheet in heaven where He checks off our obedience against our disobedience and if obedience wins we get rewarded. One sin, no matter how “small,” is enough to send us to Hell. One sin blots out any of the good we may think we can do. Our obedience is not the measuring line by which we are rewarded, because God demands perfect obedience and we, no matter how we try, cannot ever do His will perfectly. Christ’s obedience is the measuring line—and it is Christ’s desires that are fulfilled.
“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” This is where the eyes of my heart were suddenly opened. This text is not an equation where “Delighting myself in the Lord” = “Getting what my heart desires.” No, it promises something far better. In this text, God promises to give us the desires of our hearts. He is not promising to give us want we want, but rather promising to give us desires that come from Him. His desires. Not our Wants, the things we think we “need” or the things we lust after, but His desires. “Delighting in the Lord” = Being Gifted with the desires of God.
Our little Wants become even smaller as we immerse ourselves, delight ourselves, in the Lord. And as our Wants shrink, He gives us holy Desires to take their place. We must not keep a death-grip on our Wants, or try to manipulate God into giving us what we think we need; instead, we must, by the Holy Spirit’s power, surrender our small Wants and pray to be drawn by God and given His desires.
Jesu, joy of man’s desiring,
Holy Wisdom, Love most bright;
Drawn by Thee, our souls, aspiring,
Soar to uncreated light.
Word of God, our flesh that fashion’d,
With the fire of life impassion’d,
Striving still to truth unknown,
Soaring, dying, round Thy throne.
Through the way where hope is guiding,
Hark, what peaceful music rings!
Where the flock, in Thee confiding,
Drink of joy from deathless springs.
Theirs is beauty’s fairest pleasure;
Theirs is wisdom’s holiest treasure.
Thou dost ever lead Thine own
In the love of joys unknown.
Traditional Hymn
