Psalm 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Every desire you will ever have falls into two categories:
1. A lawful desire
2. An unlawful desire
An unlawful desire is called “lust.” This is when we want something that we shouldn’t have. Remember Eve in the garden with the forbidden fruit? That’s a great example of lust.
Lust is something that happens in our head and when we act on it, it manifests itself as a sinful action with our body in some way. Inside of every sin is a delight that we desire. Yes, you read that correctly. All sins have some kind of delight worked into them, or no one would want to sin. This is why Hebrews 11:25 reminds us how Moses rejected the “pleasures of sin” for affliction with God’s people.
I would like to use Eve as our example of lust in action. The Bible says she saw the fruit and desired it because it would bring her the delight of making one wise. This was a partial truth. What sin never tells us is there’s a cost of the delight that comes with it. The wisdom that Eve would experience was far more costly than she anticipated. This sin also led to separation from God as well.
Genesis 3:6a And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat…
We can unequivocally say that all sin leads with a desire towards a delight of some kind.
However, this is an unlawful desire or lust.
On the other hand, there are lawful desires—things that are good and should be sought after. These are the things that God wants us to have, and we would be most wise to seek them out. The tricky thing about these good kinds of desires is that they work in an opposite direction. Let me explain.
If you look at our text above, you will see that if we “delight” in the LORD, this will lead to our desires. See the difference? Delight comes before desire. Interesting, right? Unlike lust, which leads with the desire to obtain the delight, lawful desires ask that we learn to delight in God first and foremost.
Let’s use an example of having a great family. If you say, “I want to have a godly family.” I would say, “Learn to delight in the LORD and He will give you a godly family.”
You see, delighting in the Lord means that you are doing what God has called you to do and enjoying the process! If you get to the place where you despise doing God’s will, this is an indicator that you have forgotten the desire you once sought in the Lord.
You can see this so clearly in new Christians. They are excited about all the possibilities in serving God! They see a road to God fulfilling their desires and this brings them great delight. Sure, we serve God because we love Him as well as out of duty. But remember, just like lust has a consequence tied into the action, lawful desires have a blessing tied into doing right!
If you can remember this, it will cause you to serve God with overwhelming excitement. Figure out what your desire is, ask God for it, and serve Him with your whole heart. As you do that, stop seeking the immediate delight that sin brings and start thinking about the future blessing you are missing out on by chasing your lust.
God is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think, and we would be most wise to take our desires to Him. With faith, He will help us.
