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Psalm 37:4 - Delighting In The Lord Will Give You The Desires Of Your Heart.Psalm 37:4 (NKJV) Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.Psalm 37:4 (NIV) Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 (NLT) Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires. WORD STUDY Take Delight In The Lord means aligning with the Lord's way in order to enjoy him. [NLT SB 2008] The Desires Of Your Heart. Some take "the desires" as referring to the feeling of desire, i.e., "God will shape your heart so that it desires the right things"; but the sense is rather, "he will give you what your heart desires." It is safe to say this to those who embrace the advice of this psalm, because as they delight themselves in the Lord, their hearts will desire the right things (cf. vv. 16, 31). [ESV SB 2008] CONTEXT AND OVERVIEW A Godly Heart Psalms 37:1-8 The Lord promises to give us the desires of our hearts. But many people take this passage out of context, forgetting that their own mindset plays a vital part in bringing it to fruition. As my mother once said, "Where your mind goes, your feet go, so be careful what you think about." What is your responsibility when it comes to claiming promises from God? Delight yourselves in the Lord (Ps. 37:4). Christians should rejoice in God and desire to walk in obedience. The Lord must have first place in your life before you can claim the promise in this verse. Commit your way to the Lord (v. 5). Allow God to change any aspect of your ambition that is not His will. Remember that when He doesn't answer a prayer as you wished, it is for a reason. Trust in Him (v. 5). God is merciful, all-knowing, kind, and generous. You can trust Him with your hopes and dreams. Rest in Him (v. 7). Resting in the Lord means trusting Him to answer prayers in His timing or transform your aspirations so they conform to His will. Wait upon the Lord patiently (v. 7). Jesus waited three decades before beginning His three-year ministry on earth. According to His example, waiting is one of the key principles of Christian living. Do your desires align with God's purpose and plan for your life? He longs to give His followers abundant blessings and fullness of joy. So allow your dreams to be conformed to the Lord's will, and follow His guidance faithfully. Only when you surrender to Him will you experience God's best for your life. [In Touch Daily Devotional by Charles Stanley at www.intouch.org] COMMENTARY PEARL When You Wish It first won the 1940 Academy Award for Best Original Song. When the velvety voice of Cliff Edwards recorded "When You Wish Upon a Star," no one knew it would become the signature song of the Walt Disney Company. Based on the animated Pinocchio, a fairy tale of a wooden puppet who magically becomes a real boy, the character of Jimmy Cricket dreamily sings, "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are. Anything your heart desires will come to you?' Anything? Today's Bible text speaks of receiving the wishes of our heart. It's easy to read the last part of verse 4, "He shall give you the desires of your heart," without the rest of the passage. It does make a difference who you are, for the verse tells us the conditional nature of this promise. There are requirements preceding God giving us the wishes of our heart, for without a new heart our desires will lead to death (Proverbs 16:25). "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things" (Jeremiah 17:9 NLT). That means we cannot trust what we desire. Five verbs in today's promise guide us to 1) trust in the Lord, 2) do good, 3) dwell in the land, 4) feed on God's faithfulness, and 5) delight ourselves in Him. There is a falling star who promises to grant all your wishes (Luke 10:18; Revelation 12:4), even if you turn away from God and His sacred law (Genesis 3:4, 5). But don't buy his lie. Only the Lord can make your dreams come true as you trust in Him and do good. Lord, I pray that my dreams are Your dreams, that my wishes come only from You. [The Most Amazing Bible Promises by Amazing Facts] COMMENTARY Praying for Your Deepest Desires Persistent prayer tests your desires. When you start praying for a breakthrough, you're going to find that your prayer evolves and develops as you hone in on what you really want. Everybody has desires. The reason you have desires is because God put them in you. All God's gifts are good, but a desire can be misused, abused, and perverted. Fire is good in the fireplace, but fire in the wrong place can burn a house down. There are good desires in your life, and there are bad ones too. There are appropriate and inappropriate desires in your life, helpful and harmful, constructive and destructive. When you pray persistently, your desires are filtered, and God reveals which desires are good and which are not. Persistent praying also shows the difference between a whim and deep desire. If you ask God for something just one time, that's not a deep desire. It's just a whim. God is not in the business of fulfilling your every whim. As your heavenly Father, he is more interested in taking care of your deepest desires. Ultimately, God does want to give you your desires. But he just wants to make sure that he's your first desire and everything else is secondary. As you pray persistently, your heart is turned more and more toward God and the things he loves. Then you begin to desire those things that honor God and keep him first in your heart. There is almost nothing that God won't do for the woman or man who puts God first in every area of their life. The Bible promises, "Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you your heart's desires" (Psalm 37:4 NLT). God is not stingy. He's waiting on you to ask! Delight yourself in the Lord. Give him your attention as you pray persistently and filter out the whims so that you are praying your deepest desires. [Daily Devotional by Rick Warren: https://pastorrick.com/devotional/] CLOSING THOUGHT All I Want for Christmas... You've heard the song, "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth"? When I got out of the hospital back in the late 60's, my big holiday wish was, "Lord, all I want for Christmas is my body back!" I'd see a star in the night sky and whisper, "Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight..." and I'd plead, Jesus, I know that wishing on a star and asking for Christmas gifts may not be very 'Christian', but please may I have back use of my hands and legs? I was spurred on by John 15:7 where Jesus said, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you." It sounded like Jesus was on my side. I began to follow faithfully the condition of that promise from John 15:7. I sincerely abided in the Lord in prayer, as his Word abided in me. As I did, I came across Acts 14:22 reminding me I would "go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God." Romans 8:17 explained that I could be a co-heir with Christ if I shared in his sufferings. There were scores of other verses just like these! When Christmas rolled around years later, I knew I had received the best present. I delighted myself in the Lord according to John 15:7 and he granted me my desire - I had a deeper, more fulfilling relationship with my wonderful Savior! Of all the gifts you could receive at Christmas, what would be your heart's desire? When you see a star appear, for what do you privately hope? Jesus says that whatever you wish, it will be done for you if his words fill your life and if you abide in him. When you do that, you end up receiving far more than you could ever hope for - you get the Bright and Morning Star himself. Lord Jesus, I want you to be the sole desire of my heart. Grant me this desire, I pray. [Joni Eareckson Tada Daily Devotional: http://www.joniandfriends.org/daily-devotional] ILLUSTRATION The Desires of Your Heart I recently met a twenty-year-old, just discharged from the military, and pondering his future. He bore a square jaw, a forearm tattoo, and a common question. He didn't know what to do with the rest of his life. As we shared a flight, he told me about his uncle, a New England priest. "What a great man," the ex-soldier sighed. "He helps kids and feeds the hungry. I'd love to make a difference like that." So I asked him the question of this chapter. "What were some occasions when you did something you love to do and did it quite well?" He dismissed me at first. "Aw, what I love to do is stupid." "Try me," I invited. "Well, I love to rebuild stuff." "What do you mean?" He spoke of an old coffee table he had found in a garage. Seeing its potential, he shaved off the paint, fixed the broken legs, and restored it. With great pride, he presented it to his mom. "Tell me another time," I prompted. "This one is really dumb," he discounted. "But when I worked at a butcher shop, I used to find meat on the bones others threw out. My boss loved me! I could find several pounds of product just by giving the bone a second try." As the plane was nosing down, I tested a possibility with him. "You love to salvage stuff. You salvage furniture, salvage meat. God gave you the ability to find a treasure in someone else's trash." My idea surprised him. "God? God did that?" "Yes, God. Your ability to restore a table is every bit as holy as your uncle's ability to restore a life." You would have thought he'd just been handed a newborn baby. As my words sank in, the tough soldier teared up. See your desires as gifts to heed rather than longings to suppress, and you'll feel the same joy. Reflect on your life. What have you always done well and loved to do? [Max Lucado Daily Devotional at maxlucado.com] LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY Psalm 37:4 - Delight In The Lord. https://www.abible.com/devotions/2017/20171024-0954.html Psalm 37:4 - Find Your Delight In The Lord. http://www.abible.com/devotions/2017/20170224-1121.html Matthew 7:7, 8 - In Prayer We Ask, Seek and Knock to Receive, Find and Open. https://www.abible.com/devotions/2023/20231113-0908.html LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT https://abible.com/links/ |