Delighting in the Lord

 

               "Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4)

         What does it mean to delight in the Lord? What exactly are the desires of my heart that this verse is referring to? What is God promising readers through these words?

        As a human there are specific goals that we wish to achieve while living on this earth. Many of the common desires we may have include career's that fulfill self-meaning and financial needs, as well as spouses and children to fulfill desires for emotional security and family. Other desires include traveling, starting businesses, or doing something daring and exciting. Throughout life we experience different seasons that bring us different dreams and longings. They are considered good if they are used to bring glory and honor to the Lord. In fact, the Lord created many of the desires we have! He created the beautiful gift of marriage and motherhood, as well as our talents and gifts. 

       While desires are good, they can also become bad if they are more important to us than our creator. If we allow it, they can take over our thoughts and prevent us from living our lives in the very moment we are in. It's typical of us to praise and worship the Lord out of thankfulness and gratitude when he blesses us with things that we desire. But what about when God suddenly takes those blessings away? Will he still be the same God to us then? It's easy for a Christian to transition from worshiping the Lord when their life is sunshine and rainbows to being angry and doubtful of God when darkness intervenes. They forget that there are consequences for living in this world. Sin, betrayals, and hard times are all part of life in the flesh. All things on earth are temporary, including our blessings and trials. In my own experiences with temporary blessings, learning to continue praising the Lord for who he is and accepting the loss of a blessing was always a challenge for me. 

        As we live each moment of our lives, it's common for Christians to develop the mindset of "waiting on God to bless us with our desires" (or for him to return a blessing he took that we still desire). I have learned that it's important to discern the difference between "waiting" for God to give me my desires, and trusting God with my desires while living my life in the moment that I'm in. I have realized that for me, simply "waiting" on my desires is a complete waste of time and is very emotionally draining. Many of the desires I have had in life that I now have are Godly friendships, a college education, and a decent direction on where I want to go careerwise. However, none of these have fully satisfied me. Even though I have received the desires I wanted in previous seasons of life, I still want more. Now I find myself wanting to know what exactly I'll be doing as a career, and if I'll get married and have children. And if it's in God's will to give me those desires, I am almost certain that I will still desire more. The reality is that there is absolutely nothing in this world that will keep us fully satisfied. As cliche as it sounds, the only permanent satisfaction we'll ever have is found when we delight ourselves in the Lord. 

        In the verse at the top of this page, notice how the letters in the word "Lord" are all capitalized. It emphasizes the thing that we must desire and delight ourselves in the most, which is God the Father himself.

         According to the verse, the result of "delighting in the Lord" is that he "gives you the desires of your heart." "The desires of your heart" is a controversial phrase. In a literal context it appears to refer to the earthly desires' humans have, which can be pleasing for many Christians who have specific dreams. However, there is a deeper meaning. If a Christian is promised to receive something they want from God in exchange for delighting in him, they wouldn't truly and genuinely be delighting in him. Because they are human, it would be natural for them to pursue God with the expectation of getting their desire out of him. In my eyes, if the verse is read in the context it appears to be, then delighting in God would look more like a bargain made rather than a genuine desire. We cannot live fulfilling Christian lives believing that God will give us our desires in exchange for delighting in him. It is a dangerous mindset to have, especially if we end up going our whole lives without receiving those desires. 

            Instead, "he will give you the desires of your heart" is a phrase that assures us that when we make God the center of our lives, our desires will naturally begin to align with his. By delighting in him, we are promised the peace, contentment, and purpose that we would never truly receive from delighting in other things. 

        I will admit that I was a little bit frustrated by this meaning at first because I found a lot of comfort in believing that God would for sure grant me the desires of my heart if I delighted in him. It's hard, but I feel like Satan tries to make verses like these bring discouragement instead of the desire to pursue the beautiful promises it holds. Fighting against the discouraging thoughts I have on not getting what I believe I won't be able to live without requires trusting that God will always be faithful as long as I delight in him! 

       Plenty of Christians have lived fulfilling lives without receiving specific desires they may have had earlier on in life. My grandmother was devoted to the Lord her whole life. When she was young, like most young Christian girls she had desired and prayed that God would send her a good and Godly husband. During her life she had two marriages that both ended in divorce. After divorcing her second husband, she became gravely sick with cancer for the last part of her life and never got remarried. Even though she didn't get the man of her dreams she desired at eighteen, my grandmother continued delighting in the Lord because she knew that her life was temporary. All my life while she was sick, she would tell me how wonderful heaven would be when her time came. It's hard to believe that the helpless old woman I watched wail in pain as a little girl is now in that wonderful kingdom she had spoken so much of. Her failed marriages and cancer only pushed her towards what mattered most, her salvation. But just because those terrible events in her life took place doesn't mean that God didn't bless her! When the doctors told her she would die within a month when she first got cancer, she was blessed with another doctor who helped her live for nearly seventeen more years. This was enough time for her to meet all her grandchildren. God placed that doctor in my grandmother's life at the exact time she needed him. My grandmother's testimony shows me that just because my desires aren't necessarily guaranteed it doesn't mean I shouldn't take heart in knowing that God will provide me with everything I need at the time I need it!

       "And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19)

          I picture where I am in life right now. I am a psychology major in the middle of my 2nd year of college without a clue on what I'm doing after college. Instead of worrying about the desire to know what's coming next, I have to rest on the reality that I have at least two years left to figure that out! Reading God's word and making him the center of my life provides me with comfort and peace as I live through this season of not knowing. 

           In order to find complete contentment in Psalm 37:4, we must truly surrender our desires to the Lord and make him our ultimate desire. He will make everything else fall into place.

With love, 

    - Emma