There’s this common verse that everyone dwells on when they want to claim something that they eagerly desire:
“Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart” – Psalm 37:4 NIV
A verse that may commonly be misinterpreted as “I might be able to get anything I want as long as I delight in the Lord”. But before we go to the desire part – a thought that everyone wants to happily think of whether it’s a dream job, the perfect mate, the salvation of someone dear, or anything else that we fervently want – there is a need first. And it starts first with delighting in the Lord. But what exactly is delighting in the Lord?
Delighting in this context is taking pleasure in the Lord, being close to Him and drawing near to Him. It is a relationship where you are closely walking together and being one. It is a position of happiness alone in God and as he delights having a relationship with you, you experience the same. So what does this mean? As long as I draw closer to him, get to know him and delight in him I get to ask anything and get anything I want?
Not Exactly.
You see, as you delight, that initial desire you had (whatever it is) will never remain the same when you continually walk (delighting in the Lord) with God. Because you begin to get to know who He really is and what He wants, and in that process re-align your desires to His desires. For example, I really have a desire to get married soon and have been asking God to lead me to my future wife. And that has been a constant desire in my heart but as I have been delighting in the Lord and spending time with him that desire has suddenly changed.
What I suddenly desire right now is to be in a position of satisfaction in Him alone. What I want right now is to be able to embrace my singleness and just be complete even if it’s just me and the Lord. It’s not bad to desire to get married but I have finally understood that what He wants from me is not to desire marriage but desire Him. And I can’t find any reason for God not to give me that desire of my heart because that desire is now much more aligned to Him and a product of delighting myself in Him.
This is my desire. This is what I want. That I may be able to say what Deuteronomy 30:20 contain.
“… And that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” – Deuteronomy 30:20
The Lord is my life.
