The Desires of the Heart

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

Dee could not do anything right. At least not in her own eyes. And she had a bad case of “comparison-itis” with her neighbor Rebecca. When they were kids, Rebecca had won all the prizes, had the best boyfriends and got the best grades. And she didn’t even have to try. As an adult, Rebecca had the biggest house in the neighborhood, a handsome husband and the fabulous job. Dee just couldn’t keep up.

Finally, she asked her pastor about the promise in Psalm 37. She and Rebecca were both believers. Why did Rebecca seem to have it all and Dee had none of the desires of her heart?

“Because,” her pastor explained, “Psalm 37 isn’t about getting all the physical goods you may want. It’s about the temporary nature of material things of this world. It’s about trusting and delighting in God. When we do that, our true desires come in line with what He wants for us.”

When David wrote Psalm 37, he recognized an age-old dilemma, one we still wrestle with today. Evil people thrive while righteous people suffer. Greedy and scheming non-believers seem to succeed while the faithful struggle. How can we come to terms with that?

David encouraged us to look at a bigger picture, one with an eternal time frame. The ultimate success comes from trusting God and building a lasting intimacy with Him. When we seek His heart, we’ll want nothing more than to be closer to Him.

Today’s One Thing

Whenever you begin to compare yourself with someone else, stop and spend a few minutes drawing closer to God instead.

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