Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
Trust in the Lord and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:1-4)
The psalmist reminds us: “Don’t envy those who look like they have succeeded on their own terms without God. However flashy and wonderful it all looks now, it won’t last. Those who ignore God will ultimately fail. Those who seek to honor God will ultimately prevail.”
Instead, we are advised: “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” A wonderful promise! But what if we don’t get our heart’s desires?
When we run up against perplexing or confusing questions like this, a good first step is to take a wider view. In this case, we could begin by looking at more verses that mention the word “heart.”
OUR HEARTS
Here’s a small portion of what we’d find:
- “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a ‘unclean.’ For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” Matt 15:18-19
- Here we learn something important– our hearts are not necessarily pure, nor are the desires of our hearts necessarily what God would want to give us.
- “For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:6
- We don’t naturally know God or know what God wants for us—we come to know God only because God has revealed himself to us by shining his light into our hearts through experiencing Jesus Christ.
- “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Rom 5:5
- “Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” Gal. 4:6
- “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” Eph. 3:16-17
- Are not these three saying the same thing in different ways? When we say “yes” to God, God sends the very Spirit of Christ into our hearts. “Jesus in our hearts” is not just a phrase used with children—it’s the literal truth. Jesus takes up residence in the center of our being.
By beginning with a wider biblical understanding of our hearts, we’ve been led back to Jesus. That’s good to remember about any spiritual question we might face. Since Jesus Christ is God’s fullest revelation of himself, how can we see every question through Jesus?
Was there ever one who more than Jesus “delighted himself in the Lord?” Yet did even Jesus always get the desire of his heart?
On his last night on earth, Jesus slipped away to his favorite quiet retreat where he could without hesitation completely open his heart to his heavenly Father. Many of us remember the cry of his heart on that dark Jerusalem night, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from my lips.” He was referring to crucifixion, which he hoped he might avoid if at all possible.
The Father did not agree with this desire of his heart—but gave Jesus a different desire, which Jesus went on to express: “nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
THE DESIRES OF OUR HEARTS
I’ve experienced what one medieval saint called the “dark night of the soul” when the desires of my heart were frustrated and unfulfilled. Like this psalmist, I looked at external measures of success and saw others flourishing while I was not. Nothing that I wanted (even supposedly good things)–like building a big congregation and becoming a famous pastor who was in constant demand–came out the way that I hoped. It was a dark time.
And then out of this dark time, Jesus slowly helped my heart grasp some new desires, desires that I saw were far more in line with how He measured success, than the selfish, prideful ways I had been measuring success.
As we delight ourselves in the Lord, I’m sure he will give us the desires of our hearts. Our God is a heavenly Father who loves us with an undying, passionate love and, as Paul says in Romans, has poured his love into our hearts.
But other times, He will slowly plant new, even better desires in our hearts. These will be the very best desires of all. Why? Because they will come from Jesus himself, who lives in our hearts and desires nothing but our greatest good. He knows which desires of our hearts perfectly fit his plans for us to become more holy, Godly people.
Prayerfully reading this psalm is one way to explore the desires of our hearts, by asking ourselves questions like these:
- Where do all these desires that bubble into my consciousness come from?
- Which desires are from those portions of my still untransformed, selfish heart?
- Which desires are from Jesus?
- Which desires might need to pass through the dark night, so they can emerge refined and pure?
Good questions to ask the next time you feel frustrated that all is not working out as you hoped or expected.
P.S. I encourage you to read through the entire Psalm 37. It speaks eloquently anyone who looks around themselves and sees evil winning–the rich and powerful always seem to get their way, whatever the cost to others. The psalmist assures us God is still in control.
