DESIRE OF YOUR HEART!

Psalm 37:1-7
To be like Jesus is the desire of my heart!
Do not fret! (NIV)
Do not worry! (NLT)
The word ‘fret’ is found 3 times i.e. vv 1, 7, 8
To fret means .............. That I am angry; I am disturbed. The root word for fretting and envying is the same meaning “being heated”
“Do not fret”- ‘I should not have been too agitated’. ‘Refrain from anger ‘can be understood in this context; ‘don’t get worked up over’.
Fretting is the culture of irritation that is prevalent in our modern age

Your desire affects every area of your life- your job, your family, your career etc.
Desire reveals your character- motive, actions. What do you think?
“Our inner thoughts are a lamp for the Lord, and they search our hearts. (Prov 20: 27
“What comes from inside is important”- Mark 7:20
It is nothing wrong to desire.
What is God’s desire for you? How to get it?
- God’s desire for you is to be saved
- He also wants us to know the truth (seek, read and pray)
- God’s desire the best for you- release from suffering, pain worry etc.
- God’s desire for you and me is to trust Him, to rely on Him. It is motivated by His love for us?
Are we willing to trust in His desires? As we desire, is it consistent, the best for my life?
E.g. To gets rich
Why do you want to get rich? - I Tim 6:9
It is the issue of what place it has in your life.
“Desire to get rich”-
ü It is to promote yourself! - You will have emptiness and disappointment
ü To help others, to be a blessing- contentment and satisfaction

What is the No 1, 2, 3 desire of your life?
As I had said before “Your desire impacts every area of your life.”
Ps 37:1 Do not fret because of evildoers, Be not envious toward wrongdoers.
Ps 37:2 For they will wither quickly like the grass And fade like the green herb.
Ps 37:3 Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.
Ps 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.
Ps 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.
Ps 37:6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday.
Ps 37:7 ¶ Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.
What is the desire of your heart- healing! Free from pain, children, wife, husband, needs etc
The Psalmist states five beautiful verbs:-

• DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD
  Ps 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.
  To delight means to be thankful, to be happy, exquisite delight, to make merry over.
  I delight in my wife or my son/daughter- I love her, she is no1 in my life
  The Psalmist here says, “DELIGHT in the LORD”. As one writer puts is “to delight in the Lord means “to delight in the character, will, and ways of God as means of increasing excellence, usefulness, and enjoyment”
  When the Psalmist said “He will give”- it sounds like a blank cheque reminiscent of what Jesus said “John 14:13, 14
  Do you love talking, listening and giving to the Father?
  Delight in God is to have pleasures in 0obeying Him. Our relationship with Him is paramount. When you delight in the Lord-, it overflows and the end result is the desire of your heart.
  
• COMMIT YOUR WAYS TO THE LORD
  Ps 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD,
  “Commit everything you do to the Lord”
  Commit- ‘roll on’
  The only path of peace – “commit your ways to the LORD”
  It is always better when He does it on His schedule. God will treat you beyond your expectation i.e. sickness, money, life partner, ministry, job.
  
  
• TRUST IN HIM
  Ps 37:5 Trust also in Him, and He will do it
  If you don’t trust Him, you cannot be committed.
  As Oswald Sanders said “ Trust in God does not mean that God will explain His solution to us, it means that we are perfectly confident in God and when we do see the solution we find it to be in accordance with all that Jesus Christ revealed of His character”
  Trust requires two components
  1. Character
  2. Competency
  
  When God says “Don’t go that way, Don’t do that”- TRUST HIM
  You cannot make God wrong because you think that wrong is right.
  - Don’t manipulate
  - The wheel of God’s judgment moves very slowly.
  
  
• REST IN THE LORD
  Ps 37:7 ¶ Rest in the LORD
  Rest mean: to cease from action; to be free from worry; to be settled; to be secure; to have something to lean on- rely on God for support , trusting Him to supply all your needs.
  “when you stop, God works
  When you let go, God begins”
  I am fully dependent on Him- show me the consequence of what happens if I don’t delight in Him.
  “My heart O Lord does not rest until it rest in you”
  -Augustine
  “There is a place of quiet rest near to the heart of God”
  -Mc. Afee
  If it is the desire God want you to have- Rest in Him.
  “Rest is not inactivity, it is directed activity”
  If you are fretting about something in life- It means that God and I are not in disagreement.
  
  
• WAIT PATIENTLY FOR HIM
  Ps 37:7 …………………wait patiently for Him;
  Wait without murmuring, grumbling, complaining
  The more intently I desire, I find it more difficult to wait. I want to have and have it now- so what happens? WE FRET!!!!!
  The basic principle is Learning to wait, wait for God’s timing.
  You say, Lord, I want to trust you in wisdom, love, knowledge, etc.
  
  God knows what you and I desire. God also knows that some of our desire once achieved- we will regret.