Delights and Desires

By Danny Saavedra

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”—Psalm 37:4 (ESV)

In a vacuum, it’s very easy to look at this single verse from Psalm 37 independent from the whole psalm, and conclude that if you’re a believer, God’s simply going to give you whatever you want. Wouldn’t that be nice? NO! It would be awful. Consider Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT), which says, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked.” To receive the desires of our natural, sinful, human heart is a recipe for catastrophe. Not only that but when taken out of context, this verse can trend towards a Prosperity Gospel ideology. Thankfully, that’s not what we’re told here in Psalm 37.

This psalm was written by David in his old age, and it was meant to be read as a whole. From the beginning, David tells us not to fret because of evildoers and, more importantly, not to envy them. This is a major theme of Psalm 37—not getting upset when evil people find earthly success and prosperity while faithful followers of God don’t. This psalm specifically speaks to people who feel disillusioned and wonder why the wicked prosper while they, along with many other righteous people, seem to receive no earthly rewards for their faithfulness.

The problem is we often see success, prosperity, and the desires of our hearts through earthly lenses. And in our tunnel vision, we tend to forget that not all rewards come to us during this lifetime. So, we look at the earthly success of the wicked and become discouraged. The same was happening in David’s day.

This psalm talks about how God will “bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday” (Psalm 37:6 ESV). It constantly reminds us that the righteous will inherit the earth and will delight in abundant peace. This psalm is also filled with references to judgment and eternal life, making it clear that prosperity and the desires of our heart in this context refer to something much deeper and greater than earthly gain.

Does this mean God won’t give us what’s considered prosperity on earth? No, it doesn’t! He can and often does. Many believers have been entrusted with earthly treasures, to be stewards of considerable resources. However, it’s not a guarantee or a necessity. In fact, for some, it may be a deterrent and a stumbling block in their walk with God.

So, what does this all truly mean? Well, the Hebrew word for “delight” comes from the root anog, which means “to be soft or pliable.” Thus, to delight yourself in the Lord means to be clay in His hands, to make yourself pliable to His molding and shaping of your heart, mind, and life. It means to be soft-hearted, completely open to His refining fire and potter’s touch.

So, by the time we get to the desires of our heart, it’s no longer like a wish list. Instead, the desires of our hearts look more like Galatians 5:22–23, Matthew 5:1–12, and 1 Timothy 3. The desires of our heart would be like Paul’s heart, which says, “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” (Philippians 3:8 ESV).

This is what the pliable heart that delights in God looks like! And when we make ourselves completely soft-hearted and pliable to His molding, when our heart desires to know Christ more intimately, to be conformed to His image, and to experience the power of His resurrection in our daily lives, He promises to oblige! We don’t get the benefit of the promise unless we commit our ways to Him and offer ourselves up like clay into His hands.

Pause: What does this psalm teach us about Christian delight and the Christian heart?

Practice: Make yourself clay in God’s hands! Make knowing Christ your single-minded focus, your sole desire, your heart’s great delight, and pursue this desire with all your heart! When you do, He’ll grant this desire, and I promise you’ll experience a flood of peace, satisfaction, fulfillment, joy, and enjoyment like you never thought possible, the kind no other earthly treasure could ever even come close to providing!

Pray: Father, today I ask for one thing: for You to give me the heart of Jesus. Make the delights of my heart the same as Yours. Teach me to love what You love and hate what You hate. Teach me to delight in You, Your Word, and Your ways. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.