God will give you the desires of your heart...

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What does part of the verse tell you?

  • He will give you what you ALREADY desire in your heart

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • He will give you THE desires of your heart, like He will give you NEW desires

    Votes: 2 33.3%

  • Both

    Votes: 2 33.3%

  • Neither (I'll explain in post...)

    Votes: 2 33.3%
  • Total voters
    6
AbigailZeke

AbigailZeke

Beloved
#1
Mar 11, 2016
3,055
241
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Singapore
abigail.pro
#1
This is a poll. I just thought it'd be interesting to hear what people thought about this verse. (Psalm 37:4)

I understand this verse in two different ways:

A. He will give you what you ALREADY desire in your heart (whatever it is you think you desire right now)
B. He will give you THE desires of your heart, like He will give you NEW desires

Now, I know the verse starts with "delight yourself in the Lord" and there are MANY threads about that and this isn't one of them. So, FYI, this thread is about what DESIRES the verse is talking about.

And before you say, this is for the BDF, I'm not looking for bible verses (and chapters!) for an answer, I'd like to hear from the practical perspective, like how real people understand this verse at a glance (not that BDF people are not real!! far from it! but some of them are what we call keyboard warriors and take everything as a bible battle!)
 
J

jovanovic

Banned
#2
Jun 13, 2017
136
2
0
#2
so god will give me a wife, friends, make me rich, make my favorite sports team the best? i dont think so. that verse has to mean something else. my hearts biggest desire is to be a true follower of jesus christ.
 
AbigailZeke

AbigailZeke

Beloved
#3
Mar 11, 2016
3,055
241
63
Singapore
abigail.pro
#3
jovanovic said:
so god will give me a wife, friends, make me rich, make my favorite sports team the best? i dont think so. that verse has to mean something else. my hearts biggest desire is to be a true follower of jesus christ.
Click to expand...
So, what DOES it mean to you? There's a poll up there.
 
J

JB2018

Guest
#5
#5
The scripture says that if we delight ourselves in God, he will give us the desires of our heart. If we really delight ourselves in God, spending time in his presence, getting to know his will, praising and worshipping him, then his desires will automatically become our desires.

And, their no doubt that the desires we have will not be selfish or outside the will of God. So, he will give us those desires if it’s in his will.
 
S

Sweetmorningdew78

Guest
#6
#6
If you live and walk for the Lord God will give your desires,HE will give you new desires... :)


Like for example myself...I desired to get married someday and have children to the person that will going to love me and will start a family with me (to a believer or unbeliever)...but now as i strive to please and obey the Lord my desire changed..God gives new desires in my heart...I still want to be married but to the person who follows the Lord...the person who loves the Lord and serve the Lord Jesus :) and yes! HE will give my desire because HE puts this new desire in my heart to be married to the person who loves HIM :) or so maybe in the future if all the godly men are married and no one is left for me :D GOD again will work in my heart the desire is still there but HE will give me new desire in my heart to be contented being single :)


So what desires the verse is talking about...Desires that comes from HIM... yayy that's how i understood that verse :)
 
M

Miri

Guest
#7
#7
I suspect it only applies when what we want, lines up with what God wants.

Also the full verse is

Psalm 37:3-4 NKJV
[3] Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on
His faithfulness. [4] Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you
the desires of your heart.


It’s conditional. If we trust in Him, feed on His faithfulness and delight in God, our
desires probably will line up with His.

Its like when a parent wants the child to do well at school but the child wants
to skip school it’s not going to go well. But if the child wants to do well at school
as well then it all works out.
 
melita916

melita916

Senior Member
#8
Aug 12, 2011
10,418
2,660
113
#8
the more time I spend with the Lord, the more my heart aligns with His. as a result, my heart and mind begin to change through Holy Spirit. my heart desires what God wants.
 
Deade

Deade

Called of God
#9
Dec 17, 2017
16,724
10,530
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Vinita, Oklahoma, USA
yeshuaofisrael.org
#9
I remembered traveling on a highway south of Yellville, AR when I was about sixteen. We were going to look for some property that my grandmother had bought in the 30s. There were a lot of big loblolly pines. I thought to myself: I would like to live down here it is beautiful. My mother had bought a retirement home in Yellville, and we move her from San Bernardino to Yellville in 1992.

We stayed there with her while I got on disability because my health had gotten so bad while working missions. When I finally got on disability it was 1995. They retroed it back to 1990. I put a down payment on five acres with a three bedroom - two bath home. God fulfilled my childhood desire, but it didn't mean as much as it thought it would. But it shows us: He keeps track of our wishes.
 
Lynx

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
#10
Aug 13, 2014
24,910
8,163
113
#10
There is no option for "All of the above" in that poll. All four choices apply to the topic in some ways, at some times.

God will sometimes give you what you want, even if it is against your best interest, if you pray hard enough. I've done that before. Then sometimes God will not give you something no matter how much you pray for it, if it would flat-out destroy you.

Your wants will sometimes change as your perspective gets closer to God's. Then there are some wants that are purely human, that won't go away until we get new bodies. We have to learn to just live with those.

So yeah, "Both" and "Neither" both apply sometimes.
 
Didymous

Didymous

Senior Member
#11
Feb 22, 2018
5,047
2,099
113
#11
Deade said:
I remembered traveling on a highway south of Yellville, AR when I was about sixteen. We were going to look for some property that my grandmother had bought in the 30s. There were a lot of big loblolly pines. I thought to myself: I would like to live down here it is beautiful. My mother had bought a retirement home in Yellville, and we move her from San Bernardino to Yellville in 1992.

We stayed there with her while I got on disability because my health had gotten so bad while working missions. When I finally got on disability it was 1995. They retroed it back to 1990. I put a down payment on five acres with a three bedroom - two bath home. God fulfilled my childhood desire, but it didn't mean as much as it thought it would. But it shows us: He keeps track of our wishes.
Click to expand...
I lived in West Fork, and Fayetteville for a few years. Tics!
 
T

toinena

Guest
#12
#12
I think...
My heart has got broken too many times, for me to believe in a God that will give me what my heart desires. He wouldn't be a wise God, if He did.... because I am the unwise, and what I desire, is not necessarily what is according to His plan or for the best for His kingdom and for my well being. I am a fool, and my heart is often deceived, and God knows that.

All I see when looking back is broken dreams and desires. Some have been beautiful, some I have been convinced was from God, some seem just unfair, and some I am happy never got fulfilled. Where was God in this? He was there. Gently pushing and pulling me back on track.

Now... I am not dreaming or hoping for anything else than to stay close to Jesus and one day be able to come home to my Heavenly father. I am not expecting a well done, and I can't boast of doing great things. I just pray for His mercy and am so grateful I don't have to walk through this life without Him.

To many, it sounds like a hard and boring life, but I rejoice in the small victories and blessings I have in Him. I have a hope in Christ beyond this life. And that alone is making my life easier and worth living.
 
preacher4truth

preacher4truth

Senior Member
#13
Dec 28, 2016
9,171
2,718
113
#13
Scripture isn't subject to "what it means to me," or "what it means to us."

That's a huge misnomer and a reason why so many arrive at false hopes, interpretations, doctrines.

Also, it has been stated (fair enough) to tell the OP what the verse says at a glance. Of course, this is not a proper method of interpretation, but will respect this is what the OP is asking others to do in answers given. At a glance it may appear that the verse is a WoF proof text that God will give whatsoever we desire so blab it and grab it. I hardly see the passage as a license for covetousness.

When we are right with God, so too our desires will be correct, God will see to it that we have correct desires. It doesn't matter what the verse means to me, it matters what the truth of the passage means, for example, applying 2 Timothy 2:15 to it to come to a biblical answer. It is for God's glory, not man's.
 
Deade

Deade

Called of God
#14
Dec 17, 2017
16,724
10,530
113
77
Vinita, Oklahoma, USA
yeshuaofisrael.org
#14
toinena said:
I think...
My heart has got broken too many times, for me to believe in a God that will give me what my heart desires. He wouldn't be a wise God, if He did.... because I am the unwise, and what I desire, is not necessarily what is according to His plan or for the best for His kingdom and for my well being. I am a fool, and my heart is often deceived, and God knows that.

All I see when looking back is broken dreams and desires. Some have been beautiful, some I have been convinced was from God, some seem just unfair, and some I am happy never got fulfilled. Where was God in this? He was there. Gently pushing and pulling me back on track.

Now... I am not dreaming or hoping for anything else than to stay close to Jesus and one day be able to come home to my Heavenly father. I am not expecting a well done, and I can't boast of doing great things. I just pray for His mercy and am so grateful I don't have to walk through this life without Him.

To many, it sounds like a hard and boring life, but I rejoice in the small victories and blessings I have in Him. I have a hope in Christ beyond this life. And that alone is making my life easier and worth living.
Click to expand...
Yes toinea, when we give ourselves to God are whole perspective on life changes. That is why I said it didn't mean as much as it thought it would. My answered prayer, that is.

preacher4truth said:
Scripture isn't subject to "what it means to me," or "what it means to us."

That's a huge misnomer and a reason why so many arrive at false hopes, interpretations, doctrines.

Also, it has been stated (fair enough) to tell the OP what the verse says at a glance. Of course, this is not a proper method of interpretation, but will respect this is what the OP is asking others to do in answers given. At a glance it may appear that the verse is a WoF proof text that God will give whatsoever we desire so blab it and grab it. I hardly see the passage as a license for covetousness.

When we are right with God, so too our desires will be correct, God will see to it that we have correct desires. It doesn't matter what the verse means to me, it matters what the truth of the passage means, for example, applying 2 Timothy 2:15 to it to come to a biblical answer. It is for God's glory, not man's.
Click to expand...
When we become God's children our wants and desires are not of this world, but in the Kingdom of Heaven. I think Paul said it best: 1 Cor. 15:19: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." That explains our mindset, today.
 
zeroturbulence

zeroturbulence

Senior Member
#15
Aug 2, 2009
24,580
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113
#15
Twice now I tried to write a reply in here, and both times I was interrupte..
 
Didymous

Didymous

Senior Member
#16
Feb 22, 2018
5,047
2,099
113
#16
Taking part of a verse without the rest of that verse is not only irrational, but it also leads to misunderstanding GOD's word.
 
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