My Heart’s Desire

It’s easy to read a scripture and believe what it means at face value, but I think it’s so much more rewarding to dig into the actual meaning of that scripture and see what God intended for us to see. 

I’ve so enjoyed getting to do this little series with you all. It’s been fun for me to learn more about the Word and share with you what I’ve learned.

I hope you’ve learned something as well.

We’re in our last week of the “Thus Says the World” series and we’re going to take a look at Psalm 37:4, which says, 

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

This is a powerful verse that gives us a glimpse of what it’s like to be a follower of Jesus.

However, a lot of times when we read this verse we tend to think it’s like a magic potion or something.

“If I can just delight in God, then he’s going to give me everything I want. He’ll bless me with a nice car, a good job, plenty of food, and the most on-trend clothes.”

It’s a nice thought, but it’s not what David is trying to get us to understand here.

Again, if you’ve been keeping up with the blog series, you know that as believers we WILL have trials and hardships on earth. We’re called to suffer for the glory of God. 

Just because we love God, does not mean he will automatically send bountiful blessings our way.

When we do get blessed with a promotion or a nice car or a beautiful home, we should always thank God for his provision and remember to give back to those who are less fortunate than we are.

Okay, that was a rabbit trail that I could keep going down, but let’s get back to the verse we’re looking at.

Let’s break this one down one phrase at a time.

“Delight yourself in the Lord”

The Hebrew word for delight is anag and it simply means: "to be happy about." 

Be happy in the Lord. 

Notice the verse doesn’t say be happy in the Lord because he’s given me this, this, and this.

We are to delight in Him simply because of who he is. 

Because of his majesty and wonder. Because of his sovereignty. Because of his Grace. 

And what happens when we do those things is our heart's desires align with His desires. 

“And he will give you the desires of your heart.”

This isn’t stating that we will automatically get every little thing our hearts desire.

It’s promising us that when we fix our eyes on God and how magnificent he is, the desires that we have for the things of this world will quickly fade away to be replaced with the desires that honor Him and bring Him glory. 

Unlike what you may have originally thought when you first read that verse, God is not a magic genie that will give us whatever we want just because we take delight in him.

This verse is way more powerful than that.

When we can find happiness in the Lord - in simply who he is - then all of the sudden, we don’t want the things that this world has to offer. 

I want things that only He can offer.

I want joy.

I want peace.

I want hope.

I want an abundant life.

Those become the desires of my heart.

Not worldly wealth and possessions.

As followers of Christ, we need to remember that our only source for all of these things is through God alone.

I hope you continue to learn, as I have, that delighting in Him is more rewarding than anything we could ever imagine.