Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4, ESV

 

If you’ve read our verse today before, did you stop to ponder it and identify what it looks like for you in your own life? At first glance, it may resemble a fairy-tale magic formula to get what you most want in life, but God doesn’t deal in magic. He deals in truth and relationship.

 

Saying that, God delights to bless his children, not because they can ever earn his blessing, but because he “ ... is good and his love endures forever …” (Psalm 100:5, NIV) “…the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.” (Psalm 103:17, NIV)

 

David’s blessings didn’t just fall into his lap, however, but came through a long and rich relationship of trust in God from boyhood, as he shepherded his father’s sheep, and became aware of God’s power in his life; his delight in what God could do through him was real, and, as author of the verse, he lived it before he wrote it.

 

In Psalm 21, he recognised that he’d received “the desires of his heart”, promised by God, “with rich blessings … a crown of fine gold … length of days … salvation; splendour and majesty … joy of his presence” (Psalm 21:3-6) and didn’t want any other because “the king trusts in the Lord, and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.” (Psalm 21:7) What faith.

 

For me, this verse “came alive” after a time when, as a young family with three children and growing needs, we were under immense pressure to be able to meet our commitments. I’m now very grateful for that experience which helped shape my faith.

 

Remembering Paul’s words to, “give thanks in all circumstances ...” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) my husband and I set to pray. We began by thanking God for all that he’d given us, naming each, big and small, before bringing him our concerns; and the most amazing thing happened.

 

As we thanked God for our home, family, lives, work, possessions – a seemingly endless stream pouring from our lips – we realised, increasingly, how rich we were in him, by his grace. In fact, we had so many blessings to count, that the “problems” – which were real – and we hadn’t yet mentioned, began fading into insignificance. We were so overwhelmed that joyful laughter and tears flowed at the same time. Our cup was half full, not half empty!

 

God showed us, that day, how he’d always been with us, sustaining us, and, by faith, we knew that in time he would enable us to meet our needs. Our concerns shrank to their right size by the richness of his grace, delighted our hearts, and made us overflow with joy.

 

God had already given us the desires of our hearts, and we delighted in him.

 

Prayer: Father God, how beautifully you speak to us through your Word. Help us to drink deeply from your full cup as we delight in you. Amen