This morning prayer meditation on Scripture was on Psalm 37:4, a verse I have known for a very long time. It is a very popular verse that is often quoted. It states:
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires. (CSB)
The context of this verse is what the righteous ought to do when they see unrighteous people prospering and antagonizing them. Those who are righteous should not get revenge nor desire to have more material gains than them. They should trust the Lord (v. 4) and “take delight in the Lord”.
Warren Wiersbe in his commentary writes the following:
In Jesus Christ, we have all God’s treasures, and we need no other. If we truly delight in the Lord, then the chief desire of our hearts will be to know Him better so we can delight in Him even more, and the Lord will satisfy that desire! This is not a promise for people who want “things,” but for those who want more of God in their lives.
I agree with the fact that our “chief desire of our hearts” should be to delight in knowing God. But “knowing” as we use it, is a word of the intellect. Delight means more than just knowledge of God.
Here is another commentary on this verse:
“for he who, entirely severed from the creature, finds his highest delight in God, cannot desire anything that is at enmity with God, but he also can desire nothing that God, with whose will his own is thoroughly blended in love, would refuse him.” – Keil and Delitzsch Commentary
When God is our “highest delight” we will not desire anything that is against Him. Why? Because in the process of delighting in God our wills become “so thoroughly blended” or mixed in the love of God. We are so close to Him that we wouldn’t dare ask him anything that was not aligned with His will.
Yet, God wants us to ask him what is in our hearts. Jesus also said in John 6:24
“Until now you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”
Jesus wanted his disciples to ask him for something in his name. He was ready to give to them, if they were to ask. Their joy would be complete once they receive what they asked for. If your delight is in the Lord, ask away. Ask what is in your heart. It is very likely that what you ask aligns with what He wants. It is very possible that he put that desire in you.
So today I prayed for Him to give me the desires of my heart. After delighting in Him that is.
