Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4 KJV
It is interesting what people often do with this marvelous verse: they quote the second half and ignore the first half. I have had people ask, “Doesn’t God promise to give us the desires of our heart?” With the whole verse before us it is obvious that this is not an open-ended promise. I am sure glad God would not do such a thing. Not everything our heart desires is good for us and like any good parent God knows when to deny our requests. However, the first half of the verse does tell us how to insure a positive response to the desires of the heart. We must first delight ourselves in the Lord. When what pleases Him please us, His desires become our desires and God will grant the desires of such a heart.
Lord, I am glad You do not give me everything I want. In hindsight I have often been glad You said “No”. I still get distracted by my own pleasures. I pray that increasingly my pleasure will be in You, and that Your desires indeed will become the desires of my heart.
