Devotional Hours with the Bible, Volume 3: Chapter 12 - The Desires of Your Heart
By J.R. Miller
Psalm 37:4
"Delight yourself in the LORD--and He will give you the desires of your heart!"
The young people who have read "The Arabian Nights" will remember the strange story of 'Aladdin', who possessed a magic lamp--which commanded the services of certain genie. By rubbing the lamp, Aladdin got whatever he wished--and grew rich and great. But that is only an impossible story of fantasy.
Yet in this Psalm, we have a promise which seems to tell us of a way in which we can get anything we wish. "Delight yourself in the LORD--and He will give you the desires of your heart!" It is not by rubbing a magic lamp, however, that we can get what we desire. True religion is not magic. Yet some people seem almost to think that it is. Simon Magus thought so, and tried to buy the secret. A man who has lived a wicked life, never giving God a thought, when thinking that he is about to die--is greatly alarmed, sends for a minister, thinking that thus he can have heaven opened for his soul. It is not in this way--that a desire for heavenly blessedness can be gratified.
What is it to delight ourselves in the Lord? It means to love God--to love to be with Him, to love to please Him, to love His ways, to love His service.
We know what it is to delight ourselves in a friend. You love your friend so much that when you are with him, you are perfectly happy. You have no wish ungratified; you need nothing else to complete your contentment; your soul finds its home in him.
This is the ideal in marriage--that the two who wed shall delight in each other. They should meet each other's desires and yearnings. They should be one in interest, in purpose, in the aims of life.
Yesterday I had a letter from the Pacific Coast, from one I have never seen--but whom I have sought to help. She is considering the question of marriage and she writes of the young man: "I love him very dearly and yet I hesitate to give my life into his keeping. He is noble and kind and worthy--but in some respects he is far from being the man I have always had in mind in thinking of marriage. There is something lacking. There is a need in my life which is not met in his--the perfect union in consecration to God." There may be true love there--but there is not yet full, undisturbed delight in the friend. There is not complete accord, there is not perfect confidence, there is not absolute trust. All these elements are essential in delight in a friend.
To delight in God, also implies the qualities of love, trust, confidence, accord of will. There is a cluster of counsels in this Psalm which belong together:
"Trust in the Lord."
"Delight yourself also in the Lord."
"Commit your way unto the Lord."
"Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him."
"Trust in the Lord." You cannot delight yourself in God--if you do not trust Him. Trust implies confidence. John leaned upon his Master's bosom that dark night of the betrayal. The distress of the disciples was terrible. They could not understand. It looked as if all their hopes were in ruin. Yet see John leaning on Jesus' bosom--calm, quiet, unafraid. You remember, too, what Jesus said to His disciples that night, as He comforted them: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me." They could not understand, and He could not explain the mystery of their sorrow, so that they could understand. Then He asked them to trust in the darkness, just to believe that nothing was going wrong. We must trust God--if we would delight in Him. If there is not absolute trust, there cannot be delight.
"Delight yourself also in the Lord." Delight means joy, and if there is the slightest fear, there will be pain, a feeling of insecurity, a dread of something going wrong, or that something will go wrong. Trust in the Lord is necessary, to delight in Him.
"Commit your way unto the Lord." There will come hours of uncertainty in every life, Hours when we shall not know what to do, which way to take, where to find help. Then it is, that we should learn that Christ is not only our Savior from sin--but the Lord also who orders all our ways. There seem to be a great many people who can trust God for the salvation of their souls--but who have not learned to trust Him with the choosing of their ways, the direction of their affairs, the care of their lives. They fret and worry continually. We have not learned the full meaning of trust--until we have formed the habit of committing all our way unto the Lord. The reason for worrying, which is so common a habit, even among Christians, is that people do not roll their way upon God. If they only knew this blessed secret--they would not worry any more. Only think what it would mean to worrying people, if they understood this and instead of being anxious about every little thing--would take it to the Lord in prayer and let the peace of God keep their hearts and their thoughts in holy quiet.
Instead of trying to manage our own affairs, let us begin to commit them to God. Then there will be no blunders made. We will not any longer spoil the web--by ignoring the pattern and weaving our own way. If we learn to commit our way unto the Lord, down to the minutest matters--it will help us to delight in the Lord. It will add immeasurably to our feeling of safety--to believe that God is taking care of us!
Another of the words of trust grouped here in this old Psalm is, "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him." One of the marginal renderings is, "Be silent to the Lord." Never answer the Lord in the way of protesting against His guidance, or questioning His providence. Never ask in the day of cross-bearing or pain or trial, "Why?" Some of us are not silent to God--when He leads us in ways that are rough and steep. The words mean full and complete submission to the will of God. Silence to God is taught by our Lord Himself. It is woven into the daily prayer He gave us. "May Your will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." How is God's will done in heaven? Silently, songfully, sweetly. As in heaven, so on earth.
These are suggestions of the meaning of the words, "Delight yourself in the Lord." It means trusting in the Lord. It means committing our way unto Him. It means resting in Him, being silent to Him. It means having our home in God.
