There's a promise in Psalm 37 that troubles many people: "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart" (vs. 4). Years go by, and they seem never to realize the "desires of [their] heart." They never get what they wanted. Some want a happy marriage, and never get it; others want health, and they stay sick; others want the conversion of a spouse or children, and it never seems to happen. There's no end to the desires of people's hearts that are yet unfulfilled. If you're not in this group, maybe you belong in heaven, not on this sinful planet. In trying to understand the problem, we want to read the conditions to this promise. Are they in fine print so you hardly notice them? No, let's see:
(1) Verses 1, 2--the promise is not to "evildoers" or "workers of iniquity." Well, you're not in that group!
(2) You are to "trust in the Lord." In other words, believe the Lord loves you, believe you have the blessing that you need even before you realize it. Learn to realize that a check signed by the Lord is as good as gold in your hands. Maybe that's your problem!
(3) "Delight thyself in the Lord ..." Ah, there may well be the problem! "The desire of thine heart" is a new Rolls Royce, but Jesus doesn't ride around in a new Rolls Royce. If He rides at all, a Honda Civic might be much more appropriate for Him. Now, if you "delight yourself in Him," you'll really be happy with what makes Him happy. And lo and behold, you discover that you're much happier in your Honda than you could possibly have been in a Rolls Royce. Yes, He has actually given you "the desires of thine heart," the problem being you didn't know what you really wanted, because you didn't know your own heart. Well, there's also,
(4) "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (vs. 7). But we don't have time for that today.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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