THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART

The Desires of My Heart

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:4-5

These verses are often quoted, frequently admired, and often misunderstood.

We love the idea that God will give us the desires of our hearts. It brings comfort, hope, and even excitement. But here’s something deeper, something that changes the way we approach not only this promise but our entire life.

The desires of our hearts do not originate from us, they originate from God.      

   Think about that for a moment.  This is not about God rubber-stamping our wish list or endorsing the dreams we come up with on our own. It’s about something far more beautiful and lasting.

It’s about how God shapes, gives, and fulfills the desires that He Himself places within us. He is both the giver of the desire and the one who brings it to pass.

“He Shall Give Thee the Desires of Thine Heart”

Notice the phrasing: “He shall give”. This is key. Just as in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son”. God is a giver by nature. He doesn’t just give us things; He gives Himself first, then everything else flows from that. He gave us Jesus. Notice that it was God who gave us what we did not have.

In John 10:28, Jesus says, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish...”

The life we now live is a gift, not earned or created by us, but given to us by Him.

   So, when Psalm 37 says He will give us the desires of our hearts, this is not about us dreaming big and hoping God blesses it. It’s about being so in tune with Him, so delighted in Him, that our hearts begin to want what He wants for us. The desires of our hearts are not self-generated; they are God-given.

So what does it mean to “delight” in the Lord?

To delight in something means to take great pleasure in it, to find joy and satisfaction in it. When we delight in the Lord, we aren’t just acknowledging Him occasionally or checking in once a week. We are enjoying His presence, His Word, His ways, and His guidance. He becomes our source of joy, not just our means to getting what we want.

   Like a musician tuning their instrument to match the pitch of a tuning fork, we tune our hearts to His frequency.

During that process, He gives us desires, not just grants desires we already have.

   Here’s an example: Imagine an artist who is given a blank canvas, a beautiful set of paints and instructions about the desired subject to paint.

As the artist begins to work, inspired by light, color, and the subject in their mind, a masterpiece is created. Now imagine that God is both the giver of the canvas and paints and the one who inspires the subject of the painting.

Likewise Our lives are the canvas. The gifts and talents we were born with, (our personalities, abilities, and passions), are the paints. And God places in us the vision, the desire, the inspiration for what our lives can become.

It all comes together, because it all comes from Him.

Verse 5 builds on this idea: “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.”

   To commit your way to the Lord means to hand over the reins, surrender your plans, and align your path with His purpose. And here’s the beauty of it: when He gives the desire, and we commit our ways to His desire for us, He brings it to pass. God isn’t in the business of planting desires and then leaving us to figure out how to make them happen. He provides the desire and then fulfills them.

   Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” God not only created you with intention but has already prepared the desires and the paths for you to walk in.

The frustration in our lives comes when we are constantly trying to fulfill our own desires, instead of opening ourselves up to God’s desires for us.

   Psalm 37:4-5 is not a blank check for personal ambition; it’s the promise of a divine partnership. It’s an invitation to live a life guided by God-given desires, fueled by grace, and fulfilled by His Hand.

   You don’t have to manufacture your own dreams and desires. You simply need to delight in the Giver, commit your ways to Him, and then trust the process.

In doing so, you’ll discover that the desires of your heart are more than you could have imagined, because they came from the heart of God. And He always finishes what He starts.