One of my favorite scripture verses for a long time has been Psalm 37:4. The NKJV says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” I would say the reason the scripture originally caught my attention was the, “And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” portion. I enjoyed reading that, and honestly, it gave me hope. I had desires to get married and have a family and that scripture gave me hope that He would give me the desires of my heart. When my friends were getting married and starting families, and I was still single, that scripture gave me hope. When my life continued on without a husband and children, that scripture gave me hope. When it seemed my life was going in the opposite direction of my desires, that scripture gave me hope.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with having hope in scripture such as this. Scripture is meant to give us hope. However, I don’t think we can ignore that there is an invitation in the beginning of that scripture. The scripture also says, “Delight yourself also in the Lord.” The passion translation puts it this way, “Make God the utmost delight and pleasure of your life, and He will provide for you what you desire the most.” Let’s read that again. “Make God the utmost delight and pleasure of your life.” I think the point is that God’s ultimate desire is relationship with us. He gave everything for that to happen. He sent His only son Jesus to the Earth to die for our sins so that relationship with God could be restored. So if God’s ultimate desire is relationship with us, shouldn’t our ultimate desire be for relationship with God?
I think when we commit to delighting in God by spending time with Him, reading His word, worshipping Him, listening to his voice, our perspective on our desires change. It doesn’t necessarily mean our desires are unholy or invalid. Most of the time those desires are put there by God. But when we delight in Him, we are able to submit to His timing and His ways. When we draw closer to God, He is able to show us His heart on different matters. Instead of trying to make things happen in our own timing or in whatever way we think is best, we can realize we are not God. We do not have the whole picture. But we will have peace knowing He will not abandon us. He is working things out according to what He knows is best for us. And really isn’t that what we want? Isn’t His way truly better?
Now, when I look at this scripture, I see it as God is already delighting in me. He is extending an invitation to me to delight in Him. Through that relationship God is able to give me the desires of my heart. I think my desire to have a husband and family were desires put there by God. But I had to be willing to submit to His timing and His path to bring that about. Whatever those desires are in your heart that you may or may not have shared aloud, God knows they are there. Don’t be afraid to talk to Him about them. That is the beautiful part of having a relationship with Him. He wants you to share your heart and He desires to share His with you. He loves you more than you can understand.