(Psalms 37:4 NKJV) Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
So what are the desires of my heart? What does this text mean?
I had for some time accepted the company line that the closer I drew to God that he would change the desires of my heart, thus he would then be able to fulfill these desires.
But some time back another idea came into the picture. Being created in God’s image I believe we all have certain desires deep within in us that are in line with the character and will of God because he is the designer. When we delight ourselves in God, these good desires begin to be fulfilled.
What might some of these be? Significance, meaning, love, creativity, belonging, purpose. . .
With the rebellion described in Genesis 3, our means of fulfilling the desires were perverted. Adam and Eve were convinced that total fulfillment was being withheld from them by God. So they took matter in their own hands and set out toward self-fulfillment with the guidance of the serpent.
They set in motion the pattern to find fulfillment outside of God’s care and instruction. So we may give ourselves in sexual relationships to feel loved. A person might sacrifice everything in his life for a career that gives him meaning. Many people do drugs because that is the only world in which they find meaning and significance. Drugs are their hope. And we don’t understand the problem. We say, “How can they do drugs and ruin their lives?” But that may be the only realm in which they can touch these desires of the heart. Is it wrong and sinful and stupid and self-destructive? Duh! But it is all they have.
Why have so many people been able to overcome their addiction and destructive lifestyle? Because they reconnected with their original purpose to enjoy God and delight in him. They come to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and their life has more meaning than they ever imagined. Their world of significance now matches God’s “world” of eternal significance.
Why do we abuse credit cards? Because we are discontent. The desires of our hearts are not being fulfilled. New furniture is a temporary fix, as is a new car or home or a new relationship. . .all are dead-ends. We buy things and do things that seem to touch meaning and significance and reality, but the trail always ends in disillusionment.
This is why we need to have a better understanding of the glory of God. Because that is the only “end of the trail” that doesn’t disappoint. And that is why when we delight ourselves in the Lord that our heart desires are fulfilled. They aren’t changed. God just changes our watering hole, where we go to get a drink of life. All of the things that matter deep within us find their fulfillment in God.
I also believe that this is part of the freedom that Christ refers to in John 8.32. The truth allows us to live in the light of God’s forever. We are freed from our illegitimate attempts to live life. We are freed from the constraints of sending the bucket down the well by our own means. We are freed from the “drugs” of self-fulfillment.
I don’t have to buy this to feel significant or find meaning. I don’t have to violate my conscience to remain accepted in my social group. I can live free before the glory of God. Do I want to be accepted by my peers? Yes. But am I no longer a prisoner to my fear of rejection because God himself has fulfilled by heart’s desire to be accepted. That is why they could face being burned or hanged or sawed in to. Because they were “in a zone.” They were living in the fear, the reverence, of God. Their lives had the light of God’s glory illuminating every dark crevice.
They weren’t alone. You are not alone. I am not alone. The only way that desire to not be alone is completely filled is in God. I believe this text teaches us that having our delight in him brings us into this truth in our daily lives.
But in all of this, I am not talking about a mere knowledge of these things, but living them out. Live this truth. Delight yourself in God. Live your life like God is there. Here is an example Christ gives in sharing with the needy.
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you (Matthew 6:3-4 ESV).
Don’t try to fulfill your heart’s desire for significance by giving so people notice. Keep it between you and God, a secret between you and your invisible Friend, who happens to be the Creator and Redeemer of the world.
When you are having an interpersonal struggle with someone, and maybe they withdraw their love. Don’t take your wounds to the gossip circuit. Go to the secret place where you can share intimately with the King of the universe.
Give up the illegitimate means to find life and fulfillment. Delight yourself and God and he will touch you in the deep places of your soul. Delight ourselves in God and get a glimpse of what God intended in the first place and what he will one day bring about fully in his children.
One day he will wipe away the last tear from your face.
Adam and Eve set the human race on the downward spiral of fulfilling our heart’s desires by stepping away from God’s kind instruction. Not until we come to a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ and subsequently delight ourselves in God will we once again find that wonderful contentment and fulfillment of Eden before the fall.
