DELIGHT IN GOD AND HE WILL GRANT US OUR HEART’S DESIRES?

 

What does Psalm 37:4 actually mean?

Does it mean when we delight in God, He is bound to fulfil our desires, like giving us our dream job, car or house? Or the life partner of our dreams?

Let us study this verse in its context (in relation to the other verses in this chapter).

If we study these other verses, we will realise that we are to trust in God and do good (verse 3), commit our way to God (verse 5), wait patiently and not fret (verse 7). These attitudes and actions on our part all show that we delight in Him. And it means we are not allowing circumstances or people to affect our lives in a significant way.

But delighting in God has deeper implications.

• It means coming before God in worship and adoration because of His unmatched attributes: His greatness and majesty, His love and justice.
  

• It means we delight in spending time in God’s presence: studying his Word, meditating on it, praying and listening to the Spirit’s leading.

• It means we remember God’s past mercies and faithfulness towards us (Psalm 77:11).

And when we delight ourselves in God in all these ways, we will experience His reward: He will give us our heart’s desires … not necessarily what the world hankers for (big houses and flashy cars) but what our sanctified desires look forward to (more ways to praise and thank Him, more ways to serve God and experience His empowering).

Caveat: God may bless us materially when we delight ourselves in Him. For the reward for humility and fear of the LORD is riches and honour and life (Proverbs 22:4).

But that should not be our ultimate aim. If it comes as a by-product of our finding delight in Him, then well and good. If not, we still praise God and give Him the glory. 

Anyway, don’t you think if we spend so much time delighting in God, won’t the main focus of our desires switch from temporal things to something far more lasting and significant? 

 

FREE WILL AND SALVATION

 

Salvation is offered to all. Yet, because of free will, man can choose to accept or reject it.

Next, after having accepted it, man can still lose it by willfully living in sin or by denying God.

Why? Because he always holds the power of choice, whether before or after conversion, having been given a free will by God.   

God leaves the door open for reconciliation but if a sinful man refuses to repent, he cannot be saved. And God can do nothing about it (Matt. 23:37). This biblical teaching runs counter to Calvinism's "Irresistible Grace."

Why does God not immediately unleash his judgment on sinful man? Because God's justice is tempered/modified by His mercy:

1. "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; mercy and truth go before Your face" (Psalm 89:14).

2. "And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:16-17).

3. "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9).