Introduction
In The Lord Will Give You the Desires of Your Heart – Psalm 37:4 , I want to explore the true meaning of this biblical promise. Many understand this verse as a guarantee that God will grant any request, but is this interpretation correct? Throughout this article, I will examine the context of the passage, the relationship between the desires of the heart and God’s will, and how this promise applies to the lives of those who delight in the Lord.
Will God Grant All Our Wishes?
How many times have we heard people say in sermons or even during prayers that God must do something we ask for! Some even use harsh words like “ I determine that this happens, ” or they claim that God has an “ obligation ” to do what we ask Him! It seems absurd, but unfortunately it is common to see such attitudes in evangelical circles (NOTE: there are churches/religions that do not follow this type of thinking).
Some seek to justify themselves by using some biblical passages. Among them we can cite Matthew 7:7, where we find the following words of Jesus: “Ask, and it will be given to you“. Others still cite Psalm 37:4, which reads:
Psalms 37:4 – “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.“
Even though these passages present the idea that we can ask the Lord for something and He will grant it to us, in none of them do we find a thought of arrogance where the sinner can speak in such a way to the King of the universe! It should be very clear that this type of attitude comes from a heart that is not converted to the Lord, because He is not our servant, but we are His creatures.
The Publican Left as an Example by Jesus
Our petitions should take as an example that of the tax collector mentioned by Jesus:
Luke 18:13 – “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’“
With this in mind, we must now correctly understand the meaning of the above-mentioned passages (Matthew 7:7 and Psalm 37:4). Will God really answer all the requests we make to Him? You may answer no, but then what would happen to the passages we read above? Isn’t this what Jesus stated when He said to His disciples: “Ask, and it will be given to you“, and is it not also written by the psalmist that the Lord “will grant you the desires of your heart“?
Desires of an Evil Heart
If this interpretation were correct, we could then affirm with full conviction that the Lord God would fulfill the worst desires found in the human heart, because as it is written in Jeremiah 17:9, our heart is deceitful and wicked:
Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?“
Could it be that the Lord really “will grant the wishes of” our heart, being deceitful and wicked?
Of course, this makes no sense, and it is a misinterpretation of the Word of the Lord. If the following verse of Psalm 37:4 were read together with this passage, then the meaning of the text would not be misunderstood. Let us see:
Psalms 37:4-5 – “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will bring it to pass.“
When Our Heart Is In Harmony With Him
The Lord God will grant the desires of our hearts when our way is surrendered to Him! In other words, our hearts are converted to the Lord! This implies that the evil desires of our hearts will not be fulfilled by ourselves, because we will no longer be listening to our flesh, but rather to the Spirit of God speaking in our hearts (Romans 6:6; 8:5). In other words, our own desires will be God’s desires. We will not seek to do our own will, but rather the will of the Lord.
When we pray to the Lord asking for something we desire for our own benefit, without the real need to have something, it is quite possible that the Lord will not answer us, as the apostle James declared:
Carnal Heart
James 4:3 – “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, that you may spend it on your passions.“
It is evident that prayers where a mere sinner “commands” or “determines” something for God to do will not even be “heard” by the Lord, because such prayers proceed from a carnal heart unregenerated by the Spirit of God. It is man speaking at this point and not God! Therefore, it is likely that the Lord will not fulfill such “requests.“
According to His Will
A human being can only be convinced that his prayer will be heard by God when he meets the following requirement:
1 John 5:14 – “And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.“
The Lord will hear the prayer of the righteous, when it is in agreement with “Your will” (God’s). Sometimes we can ask the Lord for the wrong things, even when we use the best words our lips could utter. We do not always know what is good or not in our prayers. What may seem good to us may not always be so. Therefore, we should take as an example the words taught by Christ in His model prayer:
Matthew 6:10 – “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.“
How Did Jesus Pray? The Example of Jesus…
Jesus made it very clear that in our prayers, we must mention that God must fulfill His will. It is not our will, but the Lord’s will! He not only taught us this through words, but also gave us an excellent example to follow:
Matthew 26:39 – “And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.“
When He was in Gethsemane, shortly before His suffering and crucifixion, Jesus was praying to the Father and asked Him to take away that cup, that is, the suffering He would soon experience. Even though He made this request, demonstrating the feelings that arose in His heart, He stated that He did not want it to happen according to His will, but rather according to the will of the Father.
What a contrast we find in the example of Christ to the examples set by many who profess to be Christians! The Spirit of God must dwell in our hearts and cause our desires to be the desires of God Himself. Only then, when we ask the Lord for something, can He fulfill the desires of our hearts.
Conclusion
When we examine Psalm 37:4 in light of Scripture, we understand that the promise that “The Lord will grant you the desires of your heart“This does not mean that God will grant any request we make, but rather that as we delight in Him, our desires will align with His will. The true Christian does not seek to impose his will on God, but submits to His purpose, trusting that He always knows what is best. Therefore, more than a guarantee of material blessings, this verse invites us to an inner transformation, in which our desires reflect what pleases the Lord. May we then surrender our ways to Him and trust that His promises will be fulfilled in the right time and way.
May God bless us.
