Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.
-Psalm 37:4 (NIV)
At first glance, this verse appears to be a blank check — Enjoy God and get whatever you want! Not too bad of a gig, right?
Obviously, that’s not the intent of the psalmist at all, even though our selfish minds often twist it that way. In reality, we are no different than a child throwing a temper tantrum in the middle of a grocery store. “God, my heart desires a new car/job/home/girlfriend… Why aren’t you giving me what I want like you promised?”
I think the keyword to this passage is “delight”, a word that probably isn’t packed with as much power today as it used to be. In its truest meaning, “delight yourself in the LORD” means to find your deepest pleasure, your richest enjoyment, your ultimate fulfillment, through your relationship with your Creator.
And guess what? When that happens, when our relationship with God becomes so deep and so strong, suddenly we find that what is dear to our hearts is also what God finds dear to his heart. Our prayers shift and become in perfect alignment with his, and then and only then we will find that the Lord will indeed give us what we desire.
And that’s a blank check that we can cash.
