Hearts Desire

Psalm 37:4 "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires."

Delight: a strong feeling of happiness; great pleasure or satisfaction; something that makes you very happy; something that gives you great pleasure or satisfaction

Desire: to long or hope for 

The Psalmist tells us to delight ourselves in the Lord. What does that look like today?  

Psalm 40:8 (KJV) "I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart."

Romans 7:22 (KJV) "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man."  (NLT) "I love God’s law with all my heart."

Delighting in the Lord means we obey his laws (Word) and do his will. We practice obedience daily. We spend time with our Savior in the Word and prayer.  We are intentional about our spiritual walk. We don't simply attend church once or twice a week and call it good. We dig into the Word and get to know the God of the Word. We meditate on his Word and learn to hide it in our hearts. 

Psalm 119:11-16 "I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. I praise you, O Lord; teach me your decrees. I have recited aloud all the regulations you have given us. I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches. I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways. I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word."

As we delight in the Lord he will give us the desires of our heart. 

Matthew Henry states, “He has not promised to gratify all the appetites of the body and the humours of the fancy, but to grant all the desires of the heart, all the cravings of the renewed sanctified soul. What is the desire of the heart of a good man? It is this, to know, and love, and live to God, to please him and to be pleased in him.” *

Can you imagine what the desires of our hearts would be if we focused our attention on the first half of the verse rather than the last half?  

God's desire has been and always will be intimacy with his bride. Just as newlyweds take delight in getting to know each other, God delights in getting to know us as we get to know him. He created man to have fellowship with him. He came down and walk with Adam and Eve in the cool of the evening.  Genesis 3:8a "When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden."  

As we grow closer to our Savior we will learn to delight in him. He will then cause our desires to become his desires. As we grow and mature in our walk he will grant those desires. 

Let us delight ourselves in the Lord from this day forward. 

*Taken from Matthew Henry's Commentary