Thursday, 19 June 2008
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Hearts' Desire
Then you will take delight in the Lord and he will answer your prayers. Psalm 37:4(or "and he will give you what you desire most")
This is a scripture that I have found myself holding onto a lot lately. With the death of my son as well as trusting God's role in my relationships with others. I have pressed on by delighting in the Lord's goodness and the promises he gives (Jeremiah 29:11).
After beginning to feel guilty for desiring anything (since God alone is sufficient and should be my only focus) I decided tonight to look further into the word "desire" as well as other scriptures that use this word.
First the scriptures,
He satisfies the desire of his loyal followers; he hears their cry for help and delivers them. Psalm 145:19
What the righteous desire leads only to good, but what the wicked hope for leads to wrath. Proverbs 11:43
What the wicked fears will come on him; what the righteous desire will be granted. Proverbs 10:24
The definition of "desire" is (verb) to wish or long for and (noun) a wish or a request. Looking further I found a few synonyms being crave, want, wish, covet....COVET?!? (That can't be good!) I was always taught that coveting is the "desire to acquire" AND as Christians we are commanded not to covet.
So, how can we desire (I suppose God wants us to since it is written in the scripture) without coveting? Any opinions on that?
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Comments (6)
I think when our desires are in line with Gods will, He will grant them. I wonder if the lesson is more about discerning the will of God and aligning our desires with those?
I think the difference between desire and covet is the emotion, or motivation behind the object. If you desire, for example, a new car because yours is old, prone to mechanical issues, whatever, God will honor that desire because He knows a car is needed in modern life. But, if you choose a new car because you like the way you look in it, people will view you as successful, or your neighbors will be jealous, that would be coveting. God knows we'll have desires; we're human, and certainly, I believe, would like us to have things, without guilt, if the motivation behind them is aligned with His will.
To echo mamma_sez and hopesjourney, remembering always that He desires that none should perish but all should have everlasting life through faith in the saving work of Jesus ~ so that our desires are indeed aligned with His through the transforming work of the Spirit, it would seem that the focus is indeed on the heart condition. Whether by His perfect will He has seen fit to grant us the trivialties in life, or how many gifts He chooses to give us, is up to Him. When we can come to acceptance of His perfect love, every good and perfect thing becomes a gift from Him, and the disappointments can be covered in contentment as we focus our eyes on His beautiful face. Our desires come into alignment with His will under the beautiful covering of contentment in our own lives and the priority of placing others and their need for care and salvation ahead of our own. He desires that none should perish. He desires that His children experience the gifts and blessings in coming under His loving covering through prayer and obedience. And He desires to bless His children. If we are spending our time, and I have to evaluate this in my own life as well, thinking on what we don't have, we are not allowing ourselves to experience the fulness of joy found in giving thanks always, praising Him for all His wondrous works. So His will is also that we focus on things that are "true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise ~ meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you." ~ Philippians 4:8,9
Another way to look at it might come from the scriptures themselves ~ The word "COVET" is used in 7 scriptures:
Exd 20:17, Deu 5:21, Mic 2:2, Rom 7:7, Rom 13:9, 1Cr 12:31, 1Cr 14:39.
The first 5 involve coveting something that belongs to someone else - the sinful coveting, based on a desire to take away from someone else, the heart being one of selfishness and greed. Interestingly, the last 2 references involve "coveting" or earnestly desire spiritual gifts. Here we can learn that the difference is based on WHAT IS COVETED.
The Hebrew word, CHAMAD, used in the OT references is defined as:
1) to desire, covet, take pleasure in, delight in
a) (Qal) to desire
b) (Niphal) to be desirable
c) (Piel) to delight greatly, desire greatly
And the Greek, epithymeō, in the NT means:
1) to turn upon a thing
2) to have a desire for, long for, to desire
3) to lust after, covet
a) of those who seek things forbidden
So to desire something greatly, in itself, is not always used in the negative tense, but rather depending on the source and the object of desire.
The scriptures you referenced, involving the word "DESIRE", tell us further that the difference is based on the HEART OF THE DESIRER. In each case mentioned, as well as throughout the scriptures, the heart of the righteous (who is turned toward God, seeking His fulfilled will and His glory) is the receiver of God's blessings, while the heart of the wicked (who has put himself on God's throne of rule, seeks to fulfill selfishness and greed, and to glorify himself) will not be granted satisfaction of desires. So again, the one whose heart is stayed on Thee will experience blessings in fulfilled desires and answered prayers, as the individual seeks in meekness and humility to draw closer and closer to the heart of God.
I commented just now on your Mar. 22 blog entry "Praise YOU in the Storm". I'm wishing you love and heart-smiles this evening.
Hugs,
Blue
And then, today, my 2-year-old daughter pulled up this scripture card ~ amazing those little ones are! It suits this discussion:
Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
~ Romans 8:5 ~
Just brought me back to thinking about your question.
Have a blessed day!