Desire

April 5, 2024

To me, the heart of this psalm is verse (4) It’s also one of my favorite Bible verses because of its promise:

“Delight yourself also in the Lord, 

And He shall give you the desires of your heart.“

The desires of your heart! Who wouldn’t want that? Think of the things your heart desires—love, success, health, or perhaps wealth, a big home, fancy cars, a killer computer. There is a catch to it all, though. The condition is that you have to delight in the Lord. We know in our heads what that means, but often don’t know how to get there. What does it mean to delight in God? How do I do it?

When I was young, more than almost anything else, I wanted a Harley Davidson! I bought a 1953 Panhead basket case, dreamed about it, read about it, worked on putting it together. I sold it to go to seminary, then bought another basket case. I had it for years, finally trading it for the ‘42 WLA military surplus we finally got running last summer. A funny thing happened along the way—I got to the point where it didn’t matter to me any more. I had been delighting in something that didn’t really fill my heart. 

If we pursue knowing Christ like I pursued that Harley, thinking about him, studying him, desiring him, it never gets to the point where he doesn’t matter anymore. In fact, we get what our hearts have really longed for, because our desires are for him, and God loves nothing more than to give us more of himself. Trust me; it really works this way. The more we delight in Christ, the more our truest desires are met.