“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” – Psalms 37:4 (ESV)
Have you ever wanted something? I mean really wanted something – so much that it’s all you can think about? Maybe it was (or is) a new pet, a really cool toy, a sports car, an iPod… Maybe it’s something of a different nature like wishing that someone special would pay attention to you, or that someone annoying will go away… At some point or another we all have wanted something. More than likely, you have wanted something every day of your life! I’m pretty sure I have!
Have you ever prayed a prayer like this? “God, please give me such-and-such,” or “Please let ______ happen.” I definitely know I have.
In light of these thoughts, a verse like Psalm 37:4 brings comfort, right? “Love the Lord and He’ll give me what I want.” Well, not exactly.
“Delight yourself in the Lord…” Delight means “To have or take great pleasure…” Do we truly take pleasure in the Lord? Do we love Him – really love Him – for Who he is? Or do we just say we love Him because we hope He’ll give us what we want and make us happy? As I mentioned in the study on having a Beautiful Tongue, we can’t “fake it” to God. He knows if we really love Him or not, and He will reward us accordingly.
“…and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Only when we are learning to be truly satisfied, taking pleasure in Him alone, will he give us the desires of our hearts. But that’s not the coolest part about it! As we are learning to find joy in Him, our desires will begin to change, and His desires will eventually become our desires also! As we get to know Him, and all He wants for us, those earthly things we used to want start to seem really silly and pointless.
So my challenge to you today is this: If there’s something you want that God’s not giving you, check your motives. Why do I want this? Is this for God’s glory or my glory? God doesn’t hate you – in fact He loves you so much, and He wants to give you all things to enjoy if you will trust completely in Him. (1 Timothy 6:17) Psalm 84:11 says: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” As Mrs. Erwin says, is it a good thing that you are asking Him for? If so, are you walking uprightly?
I WANT some of your bread right about now!!! Great post!
Me too!
“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.” Romans 8:25 (ESV)
I’m hoping to bring some Sunday if you’d like… 😉
Aww! I won’t get any 😦 Oh well!
I feel so stupid right now.
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. James 4:3
It seems like you are writing to me. Scary.
This is exactly what I need to hear.
I went to study this and I found that it says He will give you everything you NEED, and looking at what I was praying for right before I checked this blog, it really wasn’t a need. In fact, it was attention from a guy. (more like, “show me if he likes me” but close enough) My heart dropped to the bottom of my stomach when I read the first paragraph.
Thank you
Hey, you’re not stupid! Trust me, I’ve asked for the exact same thing in the past! And I bet most of the other people reading this blog have, too! I know I sure needed to hear this life lesson sooner than I did. Thank you for being honest!
Very well said! It seems this blog is exactly what I needed to hear. 1 Corinthians 10:31