Psalm 37:4 is, quite possibly, the most misunderstood verse in the entire Bible. It reads as follows, “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Too many people treat this verse as if it’s God’s drive-through speaker box to humanity. Just place your order. So they say, “God, I’ll take the winning lottery numbers, a new Mercedes, and a luxurious new home.” You might also see a well-meaning person quote this verse to prove that God will grant someone a miraculous healing from a debilitating sickness. Or that God will give you that new job promotion, or that God will give a barren couple the child that they yearn to have.
This whole way of thinking is an unfortunate misunderstanding of Psalm 37:4. To see the verse in this way turns God into nothing more than a cosmic genie or vending machine; a deity that exists solely to give mankind every craving of their heart. In short, this is not the God of the Bible. Let me repeat that: in short, this is not the God of the Bible. Furthermore, this misinterpretation can easily result in anger towards God as well when the person doesn’t get the items on their wish list! It’s much better to look at Psalm 37:4 in a different way altogether. Look at this Psalm again:
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
To begin, notice that the first part of the verse has been completely glossed over or ignored. The verse says you have to delight yourself in the Lord first. What does that mean? What does it mean to delight in the Lord? I submit that it means to derive great joy and personal satisfaction in the Lord. For example, if you were to say that you “delight” in your spouse, you are simply saying that your spouse gives you great joy and fulfillment. The same idea goes for delighting in God. You simply enjoy spending time with God. This is so much more than having a brief time of prayer in the morning before work; this is conversing with the Lord in prayer as you go about your daily activities.
“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Moving on to the second half of Psalm 37:4: if a person is living with delight in the Lord, it stands to reason that he or she will have begun to have desires that are more God-centered than self-centered. In other words, Psalm 37:4 is not a magic formula teaching us that we can somehow coerce God to get anything we want from Him; it’s about how God will mold the heart of the person delighting in Him to desire what He desires. To give a few examples, if someone delights in the Lord, they will desire to live in a way that pleases God. They will desire that God’s name be magnified, honored, and glorified. They will desire to submit their will to God because they believe in the superiority of His plan.
We’ve covered a lot of territory. There’s more I want to express about this subject matter, but let me wrap it for today and say more in the next installment.
To be continued!
Kevin
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