Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Psalm 37:4 NLT
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 ESV
So frequently in our books, movies, thoughts, and even quite often in sermons, our desires are portrayed as less than wholesome parts of who we are. Our desires are pictured as sinister, shameful, and suspect. I think that suspicious take on human desires is part of why young people take a dubious look at the subject of God’s will. They don’t have confidence that God’s will, what He planned and designed for them, has real connection with what they see in their hopes and dreams. Maybe you’ve had those thoughts before. “Yeah, I really want that. I would absolutely love that. But it can’t possibly be what God wants for me. It’s just too good. God’s plan for me is to surrender all my desires and all the good stuff – and just take what He gives me. It’s not what I’d ever choose, but I guess some day He changes me enough to decide I like it.”
Recognize that way of thinking? Surrender is truly part of the way God works, but that’s a twisted way of viewing God’s whole creation of us and His design for our best. In the very beginning when He created us, He saw that we were good. GOOD. Not passable. But good. The same way He described the amazing cosmos and the rest of our amazing world. He didn’t design us with flaws and the inability to desire anything good.
In fact, His faith in us is so complete that He cherishes our desires, and He even promised to fulfill the desires of our heart. That’s great news. It was one of my father’s favorite verses, and he quoted it as the rationale for an “ordinary guy like me to have the extraordinary joy-filled life I have had.” He dovetailed Psalm 37:4 with Psalm 34:8: “O taste and see that the Lord is good!” He said that God was able to understand him deeply and make sense of his desires. He saw what Dad REALLY wanted, then guided him past the detours threatening to draw him away from what his heart really wanted and needed. As he submitted to God and “tasted His ways,” Dad found his desires being fulfilled in ways he never imagined.
That has been true for me too. It’s true for all of us. God made us to have deep desires that He wants to shape and fulfill. He wants you to “taste and see” that He is good. As you find your delight in doing that, your relationship will become increasingly intimate, and the fulfillment of your desires will be a source of immense joy to both you and your Father.
- Thank You for Your promise to fulfill the desires of my heart. Help me to learn to delight in You and trust You to make it happen. Amen.