10-20-2016

Good Morning All,

              Psalm37:4; “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

        It is one of the most popular interpretations of the Bible.  It goes something like this:  “if you give God what he wants then God will give you what you want.”  This is one of the verses they use to profess this belief.  As if there was some type of negotiation between man and God.  “God I will give you my praise and my adoration in exchange for a big bank account and if you throw in a couple of nice homes I’ll toss in my twice a month attendance at church and a decent yearly offering; what do you think?” 

    Of course we all realize this is not how it works at least in our head but sometimes in our heart we want it that way; I give to God what he wants and God gives to me what I want.  You hear it when people talk about God being “fair.”  “I go to church every Sunday, why did I lose my job when the unbeliever kept his; God that’s not fair!”  “I taught Sunday School for 10 years, why did my spouse die of cancer when the neighbor smoked like a chimney his whole life and he is still alive; God that’s not fair!”  “I remained chaste until I was married and yet I cannot have children but that tramp I went to school has four kids; God that’s not fair!”  If you have said or thought along this line of thought, you are buying into the idea that if you give God what he wants then God will give you what you want and we miss what God truly desires from us and that is our heart.

    There are many errors in that logic.  First, the desires of a sinful man are sinful so why would God give to your sinful desires?  Second, we have nothing to bargain with; God has all he needs and wants.  Third, this logic assumes we are God’s equal.  So how should we read this verse, what does this mean?  One of my favorite statements goes as follows; the Word of God in the hearts of men changes lives.  When we delight in God’s Word, when we truly trust Him and his grace to be all that we need; then we do not bend God’s will to ours rather God bends our will to his.  Faith is not about manipulating God; faith is trusting God’s promise and that God’s will for our life is superior to our will for our life.

    When we have faith in God our sinful desires are replaced with the true desires that are to follow God’s will.  It is not that God will give you the desires of your heart rather God will give you the desires, the proper desires, of your heart.  Faith is trusting God’s will to be the greater good for our heart.  Faith is clinging to this truth over the falsehood of our sinful nature.  We will stumble and fall at times; that is what forgiveness is for.  Yet God’s grace for us is the continual renewal of our spirit and the cleansing of our heart.  Trust God’s Word, delight in it, spend time reading it, studying it and then believing it.  Then God will fill your heart with His truth and desire.

Father, teach me your ways.  Lead me to delight in your Word.  Lead me to savor each morsel of your grace.  Lead me to follow your paths.  Create in me a clean heart and renew me that I may ever know and do your will.  In the precious name of Jesus we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret