“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
The desires of the heart are why we do what we do, it’s called motivation. It is a good thing to look at what we are doing as followers of Christ. But let’s look deeper at the motive behind our desires.
As a teen, I worked at Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Parlor in Fort Collins, Colorado. I handed the rocky road single scoop to the customer, and he said, “This doesn’t look like a big enough scoop.” I took it back and put the ice cream on the scale to see and sure enough, it was about half an ounce too small. The reason I had made it too small was that the ice cream was really frozen extra hard, and my arm was tired. I didn’t want to go for the extra dip to make the customer happy.
We in this culture like to put a period after the words in Psalm 37, “Delight yourself.” But in this relationship that God invites us into, we need to learn to delight in doing what God wants. If I had just taken that extra step, even though my arm was tired, and put a little more ice cream on that cone, I would’ve had a delighted customer and a much better workday. The same is true in relationship with God. Are we doing life just to please ourselves? What if we were to form our desires around what pleases God rather than the pleasing of self?
The first five words of this verse in Psalm 37 are a door opener: “Delight yourself in the Lord …” We all are looking for delight. Who doesn’t want to be happy, find joy, laugh a little, experience peace? There is a temporal delight that the world offers. But there is a delight that has eternal value to it. If you read on in Psalm 37, you can see that God extends a life of true delight to the “godly.” Those who seek to please Him first, it says that he takes care of them, they will receive an eternal inheritance, they will not be disgraced, will not lack in times of famine, their steps are directed by God, they will be kept safe, be given honor and have the promise of a wonderful future.
In his latest book entitled “The Gift of Thorns: Jesus, the flesh, and the War for Our Wants” Dr. A.J. Swoboda gives powerful insight into why we should be pursuing God’s desires above our own. He states, “We worship what we expect will give our lives ultimate meaning and value … what we seek, want, and spend our lives pursuing is intertwined with what we worship. And worship, in the end, is what gives our lives a structure, ultimate meaning and purpose.”
So, how do we seek and want the desires of God? How do we pursue what He wants? Let’s look at the final words of Psalm 37:4. “… he will give you the desires of your heart.” Many interpret this to mean that God will give me whatever my heart wants. But what if this means that when you get close enough to delight yourself in God that He will begin to influence the desires that motivate your heart? What if He begins to gift you with desires that steer you toward seeking first God and His Kingdom?
Galatians 5:16 and 17 says, “Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then, you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires.” God does not just say “start doing what I want you to do.” As we draw close to Him and seek to delight ourselves in His presence, He then imparts to us the Holy Spirit who transforms our sin-craving desires into God-pleasing desires. That is where true joy comes from, having a heart that wants to please God over pleasing oneself. When I learn to find delight in being with and serving God, the Holy Spirit then begins to transform my motivations and desires do be what God desires.
Summer is a time to enjoy the great outdoors, and Central Oregonians have much to enjoy in God’s creation. I remember vacation time last summer 2023, my kids and I embarked on a 12-day camping trip. I had a choice to make. Am I going to indulge in what my sinful nature craves? Or am I going to take time to listen to God’s heart and embrace His desires? Each morning my two little girls would get up and would want to go and play. I invited them to join me in reading a scripture and then writing in their journals what they felt Jesus was speaking to them. It was a great time of putting God first in our day. We weren’t perfect, we had our selfish moments, but we found that wonderful things happened as God was guiding us with His desires. It not only brought joy to our hearts but to Him as well.
What if we took time each day to simply ask, “God, what are the desires of your heart? Holy Spirit, would you please impart those desires to my heart?” As you choose to delight yourself in God and allow His desires to motivate you, true peace and true joy awaits you.
Most Popular
Comments / 0