What does it mean that God will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4)?

A second instruction of a positive sort occurs in verse 4. "Delight thyself also in the Lord." The Psalmist discerned nothing in his surroundings that awakened delight, indeed the very opposite, the evildoers pressed in on every side with their persecuting and irritating ways. In the presence of all this it is good to trust instead of fretting, but it is also good to find an unfailing spring of gladness wholly outside the world which the evildoers dominate. This spring of joy is found in the Lord. The Psalmist here is anticipating that which more than once Paul said to the Philippians — "Rejoice in the Lord."

If we delight ourselves in the Lord we are sure to enjoy the happy consequence which the Psalmist indicates. The change of dispensation has made no change in this. We shall find that the desires of our heart are given to us. If any ask why this should be, the answer is simple: because delighting ourselves in the Lord we delight in His holy will. His thoughts become our thoughts, His desires become our desires. When our thoughts and desires are altogether astray from His then naturally our desires are not fulfilled. When our desires are partly in keeping with His, then our desires are only partly fulfilled. When our desires wholly coincide with His, then, and then only, are all our desires fulfilled. It is good to find pleasure in the saints, and joy in the work of the Lord; but if we delight ourselves in these instead of in the Lord, we are in for some big disappointments.

The Lord is not only worthy of our trust, but of our delight also. He is trustworthy indeed, but He is also the embodiment of all that is lovely, of all that appeals to the renewed heart as a source of joy.

But trust in the Lord will lead further, to "Delight yourself also in the Lord" (v. 4). In finding in Him our undivided pleasure, we shall without fail be consistent with His own pleasure. If our delight is in ourselves, then our desires would be selfish, but when one's delight is in the Lord, it is His pleasure that we will desire.

76 Next, delight thyself in Jehovah: He will give the desires of the heart. Holy desires, which have Himself for their object, will be satisfied. But opposition, shame, perhaps calumny, is there. "Commit thy way to Jehovah." How true is this! He has always, as men speak, the last word if we have only faith to wait for it. He will bring the result the righteous heart desires and make evident its righteousness.

Ver. 22: All scriptures of this kind bespeak the prayer of communion. You could not have anything like that stated unconditionally. We cannot take isolated portions but the whole word of God. "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart." Delighting in the Lord will form desires that are according to the mind of God. "He gave them their request but sent leanness into their souls," so we need to be on our guard as to what we ask. Not every prayer of believers is prayer "in the Holy Ghost." There can be no denial to us if it is. Even eloquence in prayer should be guarded against. A verse like this should make us think of Eph. 3:20, "Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think," not "can" ask, because it is praying in the Holy Ghost and there is no limit to Him. In the morning "I will direct my prayer unto thee and will look up," for the answer. You could think of a prayer like that of Epaphras for the saints at Colosse, and could ask it unconditionally. We can ask anything like that absolutely. But of many other things one can only say "If it be the Lord's will." Then we trust His wisdom as well as power. Some seem to think power is the only thing. For instance, some say it is shameful for a Christian to suffer, seeing the Lord has the same power as when on earth! But we want to trust His love and wisdom. There is the pruning of the fruitful branches of the vine.

Whatever the differences in the translation of this scripture the meaning is but little affected. It is scarcely to be questioned that verse 3 should be rendered as follows: "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on faithfulness." The Revised Version has "follow after faithfulness," but their alternative rendering in the margin shows that the translators had no foundation for the idea of "following," and hence that they were seeking to expound rather than to translate. If the context is studied, the wonderful appropriateness of the word "feed" will at once be discovered. The application of the Psalm is to the remnant in the last days (see vv. 9, 11, 22, 29, etc.; and and especially compare v. 11 with Matt.5:5); and the exhortations in verses 1, 7, 8 are given for the encouragement of the feeble few who, in the time of Jacob's trouble, will be surrounded by evil of every kind. To the outward eye the wicked and the persecutors are in prosperity, and work out their own will without let or hindrance. The temptation therefore would be to flee, to seek an asylum outside of the borders of the land where evil was, to all appearances, triumphant. No, says the Spirit of God, "Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on faithfulness" — on God's faithfulness, in the assurance that He would not forget His tried and oppressed people; and that He would in His own time deal with their oppressors. (See vv. 12‑15, 17-22.) We would also do well to remember this injunction when cast down on account of the prevalence of corruption and evil. Then there is another question as to the connection between verses 3 and 4. In our translation verse 4 is a separate, even if consequent, exhortation. Some take it as immediately connected with verse 3, in this way: "Feed on faithfulness, and delight thyself in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." There is no doubt that the one that "pastures upon" the faithfulness of God will soon come to delight himself in the Lord, and that then his inmost desires or petitions will be granted; for when the Lord Himself is the object before us, and when He is enshrined in our affections, His own desires are produced in our souls. Taken either way, as it stands in our Bibles, or as now suggested, verse 4 contains most blessed instruction. It is also thought that a similar intimate connection exists between verses 5, 6. If indeed a comma be substituted for the full-stop at the end of verse 5, this is at once apparent. The way of this persecuted remnant might seem to be hemmed in, hedged up, on every hand, and what is to be their resource? To commit it to, to "roll it off" upon, the Lord, and trust in Him. Leave it all in His hands; for "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delighteth in his way." Trust in Him, and He will bring it to pass; and He will also vindicate His oppressed people before the very eyes of their enemies: "He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday." Well might the Psalmist proceed, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him;" for, as we learn from all the dealings of God with His saints, they that put their trust in Him will never be confounded. We may thus at all times, in all trials and difficulties, simply trust, and simply rest!

Christ cannot dwell in a divided heart. If He enters it, He claims to be the undisputed Lord of its affections. He will abide in that dwelling-place alone. When received with honour, in the simplicity of our faith, He willingly remains there in the fulness of His peace. If we treat Him as a spy, He will afflict us in His jealousy. He will be as a moth, to eat away our carnal confidences and to disappoint our selfish hopes. He will rebuke us in His love (Rev. 3:19). If we delight in Him, He will delight in us, giving us, in the intelligent enjoyment of Himself, far more than the desires of our hearts (Ps. 37:4). A single eye is needed to discern Him, and a single heart to hold Him fast. Most Christians know something of the difference between the rich and happy fulness of a heart which, in simple and unclouded faith, must speak of blessedness, because the Blessed One Himself is there (Gal. 4:15), and the comparative and sometimes (for a while) entire destitution of that sense of blessedness, because some barrier has been suffered to grow up between the heart and the gracious Object of its trust. Faith must be kept in exercise, or truth will lose its power, and spiritual deadness be the result. Nothing is more necessary than to keep this principle in mind. For it is a fixed law of spiritual life, which, whether observed or neglected on our parts, never fails of its effects.

A strong practical tone pervades this Psalm. Delighting in the Lord is connected with the attainment of the heart's desire (verse 4). No blameless wish is alien from the tone and spirit of true worship. Grace sanctions with the holiness of Jesus' name all natural objects for the eye of faith (Col. 3:17; Titus 1:15). Our calling is to liberty. But the law of Christian liberty is Christ the Lord. We are to walk in Him. Sin was the bondage out of which we have been brought. Holiness is the liberty into which we have been called. The desires of a heart that enjoys redemption cannot but flow to Godward as their home and rest.

(2) If you know the presence of the Lord, and if you experience the delight of His company, you may then appropriate the promise of this Psalm: "Delight thyself also in the Lord: and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

Let us try to take these things to ourselves. First, there is the heart's delight, and then the heart's desires answered. But the heart is the essential factor throughout, so far as we are concerned.

(1) "Delight thyself also in the Lord." This is the heart-satisfaction and the joy which arise from the contemplation of the excellency and the glory of our living Master. It was out of sheer delight of heart that John the Baptist, looking upon the anointed Jesus as He walked, said, "Behold the Lamb of God." Two of John's disciples heard the burning words come from the heart of their master, and they followed Jesus. Out of the abundance of his heart's delight, John's mouth spoke, and his words were with power.

Just as a man's speech or writings is the means or instrument by which he communicates his thoughts, and makes known his feelings, so is God's word the instrument or means by which He makes Himself known. Meditation is the means by which we, on our part, become possessed of that which is made known. In the case of a fellow-creature, suppose I find all my happiness in keeping company with him, listening to his discourse; or, supposing him absent, in reading his letters or writings, poring over their contents, repeating them to myself and following out the trains of thought to which they give rise — clearly, in such a case, it is my delight in the speaker or writer, my admiration of his character or abilities, my sympathy with his thoughts and principles and pursuits, my attachment to himself, which accounts for the delight I have in his writings and discourses. So, if my delight is in the word of God, and if in that word I meditate day and night — my thoughts, whenever released from pressure, returning to God's word and flowing spontaneously in that channel, it is because God Himself is known, loved, and delighted in. If it be, then, the secret of true happiness which is here unfolded to us, what is it but that God Himself alone suffices for the happiness of his intelligent creature, man? "Delight thyself also in the Lord, and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." (Psalm 37:4) "The Lord is my portion, saith my soul." (Lamentations 3:24) "Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." (Psalm 73:25) "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup." (Psalm 16:5) Such breathings as these are expressions of the counsel of the godly. Even as to the means of enjoying Him as our portion, other scriptures are not wanting. "Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever; for they are the rejoicing of my heart." (Psalm 119:111) "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." (Jeremiah 15:16) See also Psalm 19:7-11; and the whole of Psalm 119.