Release Party
Psalms 37:4 Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. 5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. 6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.
I am wondering if there is ever much consideration of earthly things with regard to desire in the heart of the one who has taken their pleasure in the Lord. The way verse four is stated, it could almost be taken like an ad for a free credit card or sure way to win the lottery and have all the resources to get that long list of stuff you’ve been wanting for so long. You know, just do a little delighting in the morning for a couple minutes a day and, “shazaam!”, all those goodies you’ve had your eye on will show up at the front door. What a great and easy way to finally get what had once seemed to expensive or inaccessible.
There is something that is more easily observed from the parent’s perspective when it comes to delighting. For the child who is experiencing this ‘delight’, there is really nothing else that will console or satisfy them. Video games in particular have a way of gaining fixation in the heart of the young person (maybe old too?) and rendering them mostly oblivious to the world. Recently there was a new release of a game that had been played in the old version, but the new one apparently had significant new features. My son pre-paid a portion to secure his copy at the store around the corner and prepared for the release party that was supposed to take place at midnight on a certain date. The day prior was filled with reminders and expressions of excitement as to his need for a ride to the video store at midnight to secure his copy. Attempts at motivating him towards other worthy pursuits were futile as his heart became set on how wonderful that new gaming experience would be. I took him and his friend to the store about fifteen minutes before midnight to partake of this video game celebration only to discover that he had misunderstood the time and the party had actually occurred 24 hours earlier.
I am glad for my son’s passion and motivation, and that he is willing to do whatever it takes to get something that he becomes fixed on. He will check all the change repositories, mow the lawn, practice his guitar, and do all his house chores in order to acquire that thing he is delighting in. In the season of his passion, though, the only thing his heart is soft towards and completely embracing of is that object or that experience. Offering other things to him in the moments right before his ‘release party’ would not have produced any light in the eye or joy in his soul. In fact, there was a hardness and resistance towards other objects until that new game was acquired. Other games and stuff that had once been ‘must haves’ he would readily sacrifice for that precious new one. The only thing that his heart desired at that moment was what he has been delighting in and the only thing that could be given to him to satisfy that desire would be that very object.
I believe that the desires that are promised here in this passage have everything to do with this very same principle. If I am truly delighting in the Lord and my heart is soft towards Him, then there is really only one thing that can be given to me at the moment of my delight- Him. He doesn’t just become a means of getting all that world-produced junk that will become obsolete in a few days. He Himself becomes the desire that is given. I love this, too, because His release parties are never missed and gaining Him never comes with regrets or disappointments. He is unfailing in His love and once He is tasted of, every day becomes a ‘release party’ where that thing that delights the heart and excites the soul is celebrated anew with fresh discoverable features. There may be some other treats He brings to the party to give it His touch and make our experience of what He provides that much greater, but the true desire and the true gratification and the true fulfillment will only be Him in the heart of the one who truly delights in Him.
Psalms 21:1 The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord; and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice! 2 Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden the request of his lips. Selah.