Scripture
“Delight yourself in the LORD and He will satisfy the desires of your heart.”
PSALM 37:3b
Quotes/Color
“If you look within, you’ll be depressed. If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed. And if you look at God, you’ll be at rest.”
Corrie Tin Boom
“True delight in [God] causes us to take our sights off of what we want in order to long for what He desires.”
Rhonda Stroppe
Context
Sometimes I feel like my interests are at odds with God’s. It feels like a Venn Diagram with very little overlap.
I have my delights in life, the things that I wish for – a 2023 Ford Raptor (instead of my 06 Corolla SPORT… it’s got a spoiler), incredible world travels to New Zealand and Yosemite and Mars at the drop of a hat, countless friends who fuel my ego and make me feel endlessly charming and hilarious, and unlimited wealth. Not asking for much.
And then there is God. Whose delights are his masterpieces, the pinnacle of creation (you and I), care for the forgotten widow and orphan, a life that honors and represents God, worship and openhandedness/generosity.
When I read through the Bible, He seems to value such different things than I value.
Our natural interests are a bit at odds with only a little bit of overlap… Baylor sports (God’s favorite team, goes without saying) and puppies (humanity and the Almighty God are on the same page that we need to protect puppies at all costs, I am certain we can all agree.)
Application
Regarding this Scripture, one of my favorites in the Bible, there is a right way to interpret this and a wrong way to interpret this. Let’s go through both, starting with The Wrong Way.
The Wrong Way
“I have lots of interests and desires. And this Scripture is awesome because it tells me word for word that God will ‘satisfy the desires of [my] heart.’ This is because He loves me! He wants me to be happy on earth. So he will (1) move towards my interests, (2) move towards my existing beliefs, (3) like the same things I like, hate the same things I hate, like the same people I like and hate the same people I hate, and (4) ultimately help me reach my goals and allow me to feel fulfilled in the things I want out of life.”
In reading this Scripture, we get rather excited about the backend… “He will satisfy the desires of your heart,” and focus on it entirely.
In the process we baptize our own desires as God’s desires and move our perception of Him towards ourselves. Inch by inch we distort the image of God making Him look more like ourselves and our interests/beliefs. Moving our perception of Him over to us, until his interests completely overlap with our own.
“God wants me to be happy so I am going to be stingy and spend all of my money on personal enjoyment and things outside of my means.”
“God wants me to be happy so I know he’s going to reward me with prestige in my career and recognition among my peers.”
“God wants me to be happy so that special person is going to come along exactly when I want. Or when they do come along they will look exactly like this and treat me like this.”
“God loves me the way I am. He wants me to be happy, so I know that deep down God wouldn’t want me to change who I am.”
Very dangerous.
This way of thinking anoints our own motives/interests, distorts God’s image and leaves the real interests/delights of God behind.
The more we move God towards our own interests, the more His true delight is left behind.
A Conditional Promise
The most important part of this scripture is not the fun part that grabs our attention (“He will satisfy the desires of your heart. I get everything I want, God said so!!”… It is this.
FIRST: “Delight yourself in the LORD…” and
THEN: “He will satisfy the desires of your heart.”
The only way you get the outcome (“He will satisfy the desires of your heart”) is if you first accept the condition to the promise (“delight yourself in the LORD”). It’s the only way.
Why?
Because God made us.
He made the masterpiece (us). And he wrote the instruction manual on how it is intended to be used.
If you try to use his masterpiece (yourself) in a way that conflicts with His design (delighting in the LORD), then it will not get the desired outcome (satisfying the desires of your heart).
There is a condition to the promise. You have to wholeheartedly seek God’s interests to truly find delight in life.
The Right Way
“I have lots of interests and desires. But I know that often times they are at odds with God’s interests and desires and that His are better. He made me and knows what is best for me. So I am going to move towards His heart, His desires and His delight. Because I know it is ultimately for my better and His glory. This is because He loves me. So I will (1) move towards who he values and cares for, (2) move towards His teachings, (3) like the things God likes, hate the things God hates, and (4) ultimately aim for my heart to move towards God’s everyday until it overwhelmingly overlaps with His. If that means I leave some of my interests/desires behind, then so be it.”
This is the right way to interpret this passage… OF COURSE God wants you to be happy. But he designed you, and knows how you are supposed to work. So He knows better what will bring you delight that you do. And in that process what will bring Him glory.
Something to Chew On:
- Have you left behind God’s interests in favor of your own in any area of your life? Have you created God in your own image and made Him out to like the things you like/agree with what you agree with?
- How much does your heart overlap with God’s heart today? Draw it out.
- What interests/desires of your heart do you have right now that are potentially outside of God’s interests/desires of His heart? What about the other way around? What interests/desires of God’s heart are outside of your interests/desires of your heart?
Great Value Proverb:
If your perception of God loves all the same things you love and hates all the same things you hate, you’re either Jesus or you’re wrong.