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*/Desires of Your Heart/*
Hide ‘em in Your Heart – pt 2
Sept 14, 2008
Dr. Rick Isbell - New Church Memphis
Psalm 37:1-8
4Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Do you have an special desires?
- Is it okay to have desires or should we just be satisfied with who we are and what we have?
There was a frog that desired to be a prince.
He absolutely knew his destiny was to turn in to a handsome young prince.
But for confirmation, he decided to visit a fortuneteller.
The fortuneteller gazed into her crystal ball and said, “Oh, I see something.
You are close to a beautiful young woman.”
The frog gets very antsy, “Yes, I knew I’m going to become a prince.”
The fortuneteller continues, “I see her radiant face coming close to you as she desires to know everything about you."
The frog, very excited, asks the fortuneteller, “Where am I? On a date, in a club?”
The fortuneteller answers, “No, Biology class.”
We all have desires, don’t we?
- Without desires, we wouldn’t accomplish much in life.
- Our desires determine the direction of our lives
- they can reveal our motivations
- they can reveal our priorities.
In the warm Caribbean waters there was a prawn (shrimp) named Joe and one named Christian who were best buddies.
The two prawns had a good, easy life but were always in fear for their lives because sharks were always looking for prawns to eat.
Joe became more and more frustrated with his life as a prawn and wished that he could become a shark.
Suddenly a mysterious, wise old Cod swam up and said, “Your wish is granted” and instantly Joe became a shark.
The problem was, now Christian, his best friend, was afraid of him and quickly swam away.
Joe then headed off to sea to experience life as a shark.
Several times Joe approached Christian to talk and Christian would always run away in fear.
Feeling very lonely and sad, Joe now desired to be a prawn again.
To his surprise, the wise old Cod came around turned Joe back into a prawn.
Joe immediately went to Christian’s house and banged on his door saying “Let me in, I’ve changed.
“No,” came the voice from inside, you are an enemy.”
“No I’m not,” said Joe, “I’ve changed, I’m different.
I found Cod and now I’m a prawn again Christian!”
Desires… desires… everyone has desires at some level.
Even God has desires
- Example: He desires that all men be saved 1 TIM 2
- He wants all people to come to the full knowledge of Him
If something is God’s desire for me, it must be the best… right?
- What if God allows me to go through some terrible pain and suffering to bring me back into a right relationship with Him, is it still a good thing?
- Or now is God’s desires all of a sudden a bad thing?
The last half of Psalm 37:4 says that, “God will give me the desires of my heart.”
Great, I desire a new Harley, I expect delivery of that this week.
This is a mis-used scripture, isn’t it?
Does God give me or IS God obligated to give me EVERY desire of my heart… after all, His Word says it clearly?
- What if my desire is to cheat on my wife?
- What if my desire is to embezzle today’s offering?
- If it is my desire, shouldn’t God make good on His word?
One of the first things we have to understand about this promise in God’s Word and how it applies to our lives is that
*I.
We can have wrong desires*
If we have wrong desires and those are met, will we feel fulfilled?
- How many adulterers have you ever known that have acted on their lustful desires that felt fulfilled a short time into it?
- How many crooks, thieves, have you ever known that when the lights are out and they are alone, really feel good about who they are and what they do?
We can even work hard, honest and maybe make enough money to accomplish some desires whether they are good for us or not.
- We can manipulate situations and people and accomplish some desires.
- I could take my family’s offering today and make my first Harley payment if I wanted to.
- Do you think I am going to be ultimately fulfilled in that?
- Have you ever known someone that wanted a certain job so bad and when they got it they were miserable?
- Have you ever known someone that wanted to move to a certain house or a certain neighborhood and when they got it, it just wasn’t all that great?
Ask yourself in advance… If I get what I desire, am I truly going to be fulfilled?
- Will it really make me happy?
- For how long?
- Or is there something else missing in the equation?
God’s Word asks us, “what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?”
- Paraphrase: What will you gain if you get what you want but loose your joy in the process?
We can have wrong desires and even if we get those desires, we will not be ultimately fulfilled.
Let’s look at the whole passage surrounding this concept of desires and try to figure out what God is saying to us today with this promise.
Psalm 37:1-8
/1//A Psalm of David.
/
/Do not fret because of evildoers, /
/Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.
/
/2//For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, /
/And wither as the green herb.
/
/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.
/
/5//Commit your way to the Lord, /
/Trust also in Him, /
/And He shall bring it to pass.
/
/6//He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, /
/And your justice as the noonday.
/
/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 brings wicked schemes to pass.
/
/8//Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; /
/Do not fret—it only causes harm.
/
*II.
The “do not’s” of desires*
*1.
Do not fret*
Prov 24
/19//Do not fret because of evildoers… /
The righteous (the Christian) should not* *fret when the wicked succeed.
- Fretting leads only to evil, including anger
* *
* *
FRET
1. to feel or express worry, annoyance, discontent, or the like: /Fretting about the lost ring isn't going to help.
/
2. to cause corrosion; gnaw into something: /certain/ /acids fret at the strongest metals.
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