Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 NKJV
This is a verse that we could easily use out of context and get a bit twisted. I read it this morning and thought, “This is why studying the Bible is so important.” Without Bible study we could pull a verse out of context and try to make it fit any purpose or situation we are facing. The problem with that is we could get it wrong.
It’s easy to focus on the, “He shall give you the desires of your heart” without truly understanding what it means to, “Delight yourself in the LORD.”
I want to begin by asking you to stop a minute and consider what exactly it is that your heart desires right now. And now just hold that thought for a minute.
When we study Scripture, a good place to start is the verses before and after the specific verse we are reading. So, let’s look at verse 3. Verse 3 tells us to trust in the Lord and do good and to dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Verse 5 tells us to commit our way to the Lord, trust in Him and He shall bring it to pass.
This Psalm is written by David and one Bible titled it, “Instruction in Wisdom” and another version titled it, “The Heritage of the Righteous and the Calamity of the Wicked.” David begins by telling us not to fret over evildoers for they shall soon be cut down like grass. He goes on to explain how the righteous will prevail while the evil will be destroyed.
When David says in our Scripture passage, “Take delight in the Lord” think about that. Our heart’s desire is typically whatever we take delight in, right? So, if we take delight in the Lord, He is our heart’s desire. And certainly, if we take delight in the Lord, He will give us our heart’s desire which will be Him.
We are told in Jeremiah 29:13, “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” God wants all our heart. He doesn’t want a little piece that we carved out for Him on Sunday mornings.
If you read this Scripture passage and think well I go to church and I’m a good person, so why isn’t God giving me what I want? Well, it might be because you are not wanting God enough.
Jesus said in Matthew 21:22, “And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.” Jesus said in John 14:14, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.”
The verses that precede these verses stress the importance of believing in Him. If we truly believe in Him our will aligns with His will and we know all things are done according to God’s will.
It used to be hard for me to pray for a loved one’s healing and say to the Lord, “If it be your will,” knowing that it might not be His will. The more my relationship with Him grew, however, I came to understand that His will is always what’s best. I have come to trust in Him.
When we believe in Him and love Him with all our hearts, we want His will above our will. This is why Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:10, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
We are told in Isaiah 55:9 that His ways are higher than our ways. We should always want God’s will over our own will and in time we will come to trust in Him. This is when our will aligns with His will. This means we want what He wants.
So, what is your heart’s desire? If you take your delight in Him, He will be your heart’s desire. And if He is your heart’s desire you can rest assured that He will give your heart’s desire to you.
Have a great day!