A New Way of Thinking About an Old Truth

Growing up in church, I have often heard Psalm 37:4 quoted, applied, and (unfortunately) misused.  The verse says Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Some people take this verse with a sort of bargaining kind of attitude;  they come to God, pulling their wagon of "desires" behind them, saying "ok...I'll delight myself in the LORD until I get the "desires of my heart" (which are all conveniently located in the wagon).  People that use this verse in this context really annoy me because I don't think that's at all what this verse means!

My mom and I have talked about this verse off and on for a long time.  We've agreed that one way of looking at this verse is this: when you delight yourself in the LORD, HE becomes the desire of your heart!  Paul Katsion, my current Sunday School teacher, gave me a new way of thinking about this truth. The emphasis on the second half of the verse should be on give rather than on desires.  I loved that!  When we delight ourselves in the LORD, its not our way of bargaining with him to get what we want;  by delighting in the LORD, He will GIVE us new desires in our heart.  It's often hard for us to "know the will of God" and if our desires "line up with the will of God."  If we truly delight ourselves in the LORD, we can be sure the desires of our heart will line up because they are no longer our desires, but His.

I hope you find encouragement in this little nougat of truth with a new spin.  Thanks, Paul (and mom) for helping me to see what this verse truly means and how it should be impacting my life!