A Meditation on Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the LORD,

and He will give you the desires of your heart.

(Psalm 37:4)

As we come to Holy Scripture, we seek to hear the voice of God. We do not want to impose our own meanings upon the text, but we want to hear from Him. Through the God-breathed word (2 Tim 3:16)–this vehicle of the Holy Spirit–we receive the comfort that only He can give. As we approach this particular text, we must pray for the illumination of the Spirit, considering carefully: (1) what does it mean to “delight yourself in the LORD?” (2) what does it mean for the LORD to “give you the desires of your heart?”

Delight yourself in the LORD

In Psalm 37, delighting in the LORD is contrasted with anxiety and envy regarding evildoers (Psalm 37:1). Our focus is to be on the LORD, not on the wicked. David, the author of this Psalm, was provoked in his spirit due to his enemies. When we are tempted toward stress or covetousness due to others’ evil plans or the good things bad people receive, we must re-focus our heart on God.

Psalm 37 defines “delight” towards the LORD in terms of trusting Him and doing good (v.3). Like David, we must believe in God’s covenant promises, even when we cannot see how those plans are coming to pass. Our beliefs, affections, and actions must be focused on glorifying God.

He will give you the desires of your heart

Once our focus is on the LORD, His Word will shape our desires, and we can trust in Him to bring about the fulfillment of our God-honoring desires. What does the psalmist desire in this passage? He desires to see the manifestation of God’s covenant promises. In Psalm 37, David desires God’s abundant provision (vv. 18-19; 25) and peace (vv. 10-11) in the Promised Land. These blessings may not be immediate, and they may be accompanied by trials, but God is faithful (v. 24).

Yourself

“You” in this passage is singular, not plural. Each one of us, encountering this verse, is accountable to the command to delight in the LORD. But all of us have turned aside, delighting in other things, seeking fulfillment in creation rather than the Creator. It is only in the New Covenant work of Christ, who always delighted Himself in His Father, that we can receive forgiveness and the new hearts that we need. In Christ, as we humbly trust in Him, we can receive abundant, eternal life. In Christ, we inherit the fulfillment of all God’s covenant promises, receiving a new and better country (Heb 11:6), seeing Him face-to-face (1 Cor 13:12).