Psalm 37:4

 

Psalm 37:4

The desires of your heart

This next verse in David’s song looks simple but is anything but! How do we “delight in the Lord”? Delight = pleasure, joy, gladness, satisfaction – all words that we understand but, so far as the Lord is concerned, they do not always describe a relationship with Him. For many, the Lord is a God to be feared; a stern judge, a rule-making headmaster, a spiritual policeman. For others He is the object of their demands and their constant requests. Still others see the Lord as a kind of lucky charm, you’re better of with Him than without Him but He’s not really someone to relate to. 

How do we perceive the Lord our God? The man who wrote this Psalm delighted in Him. For David, God was a source of constant delights, someone who made him glad, their relationship was the basis for all that was good in his life. Let’s be fair here, some of the Psalms we have read are very different, they depict a David who is woeful and depressed and in those times the Lord seems very far away. But, overall, on reflection, after consideration, “Yes” he confirms, “The Lord is my delight!” Let Him be so for us. Let us pursue a relationship with Him that will satisfy us and fill us with joy. If He is God and if He loves us, then that should be the zenith of our human experience.

 

So, what about the desires of our hearts? Does the Lord always provide the desires of our hearts? Notice that we are talking here about hearts. The verse does not say that the Lord will give us the desire of our eyes, or our mouths, or our hands, or our souls. The heart is the basis of the spiritual life, it is the centre of our beings where God dwells. It is the spiritual engine within us and those who do not know God do not have a heart for Him. We all have spiritual longings, even if we don’t recognise them, and the Lord wants to provide for us. Our longings are for intimacy, for knowledge and wisdom, for truth, for holiness and for relationship. If our hearts are beating soundly and our desires are to honour the Lord, then He will satisfy us. Does that mean that the Lord God is not interested in our physical needs? Of course not! The trouble is that all our physical needs are governed by our senses and affected by the world we live in, too often those desires are subjective or cultural and not particularly in tune with the Kingdom of Heaven. In modern Britain, if we desire food we don’t have to turn with longing to God, we go to the fridge! So, let’s think hard about what our hearts desire. If we are in tune with our heavenly Father, He promises to fulfil those desires. Hallelujah! 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more

Psalm 71:17

Psalm 71:17 Since my youth ..... You have taught me I am reminded here of Paul’s words to Timothy.  “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”  2 Timothy 3:14-15.  “I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, lives in you also.”  2 Timothy 1:5. Timothy and David may well have enjoyed a similar upbringing. We know that Timothy’s mother was a Jewish Christian although his father was an unbelieving Greek. (Acts 16:1) It appears that the boy had a Christian grandmother also and, as Jewish boys began to study the Hebrew Scriptures at the age of five, Timothy would certainly have been taught by his mother and grandmother from infancy. Wouldn’t it be great if all our children were able to say,
Read more