The Desires of the Heart
The Struggle
For the believer, life in this world does not always unfold like a fairy tale. The righteous are not always rewarded in ways we can see. Honest people do not always prosper. Faithful people do not always receive the ending they hoped for. Sometimes they do—but many times, they do not.
And because of that, some believers begin to question the promises of God. Their hearts grow weary when faith does not seem to open every door they hoped would open. They may struggle in business, face sickness in the body, bury those they dearly love, or remain in an ordinary place far longer than they expected. And when trusting God does not bring the blessings they imagined, they may begin to feel that the Lord has given them disappointment instead of deliverance.
I understand that struggle, because I have walked through broken hopes and disappointed dreams myself. I, too, have read Psalm 37:4, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” and wondered how such a promise could be true. There were seasons when it did not seem true in my own life. Many of the things I longed for appeared to be given to others instead. I felt as though I were standing on the shore, watching other people’s dreams come in while mine remained out of reach.
But today, I believe the promises of God more than ever. Why? Because God has not only promised blessing—He has also promised that in this world we will face trouble. “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” (John 16:33). Paul wrote, “In fact, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12). And the Scripture also says, “Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordeal comes among you to test you, as if something unusual were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12). Those words are just as true as every promise of comfort and provision. We must receive the whole counsel of God, not just the parts we naturally prefer. The Lord has not promised to keep us from every hardship in this fallen world, but He has promised to carry us through it. So, when trouble comes, one promise is being fulfilled. And when He sustains us in the middle of that trouble, another promise is being fulfilled as well. And let us remember that when Jesus said, “You will have suffering in this world,” He also declared, “Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
What the Promise Really Means
With that fuller view of God’s promises, Psalm 37:4 can be understood rightly.
So then, what does it mean that God gives us the desires of our hearts? Does it mean that if I delight in the Lord and ask for riches, heaven is obligated to provide it? No. Faith in God is not a tool for self-fulfillment. The real question is this: what does a heart truly desire when it delights in the Lord? It says, “not my will, but yours, be done.”When we abide in Him, our deepest longing becomes this: that His will be done. And when that becomes the desire of the heart, God is pleased to fulfill it.
Faith in God will not place into your hands everything you want, but it will secure for you what God knows you need. The unbelieving heart reaches for whatever it desires, but the Christian must learn to desire what is truly necessary. And God has promised to supply our need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. That is enough. It is enough because what God wisely withholds could never truly help us in the end.
How to Respond in Faith
So, the prayer of the believer must be, “Lord, I want this, if it is Your will.” And if the answer is no, then let us rest on this: it was not His will. And if it was not His will, then it was not the true desire of a heart fully surrendered to Him. In that holy place of delighting in the Lord, disappointment begins to lose its hold, because trust has learned to rest in the wisdom of God.
So, if you struggle with Psalm 37:4, do not conclude that God has failed to keep His promise. The problem is not with the promise; the problem is that the condition of the promise is often neglected: “Take delight in the Lord.” And when you truly delight in Him, your desires will be shaped by His heart, and they will become the very desires He has promised to fulfill. In the end, the heart that delights in God will never find His promise empty.
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.
