Why not Run? Workshop Series
Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. –Psalm 37:4
This verse is by far one of my favorite verses.
Over the years I have had mixed feelings about it.
When God answers small desires or requests I am delighted.
But when He seems to ignore my big prayers or things that weigh heavy on my heart, that is when I have a hard time believing the verse is true.
As a person who has a love/hate relationship with this verse I can speak from both perspectives.
From the side of me that loves this verse, it is a life-saver! It gives me hope, purpose and peace about my prayer life.
It reminds me that God hears my heart. It reassures me that He knows me intimately and has a deep desire to have me delighted in Him. He smiles when He thinks of me. He wants to see me smile. He wants to give me my desires. His jealousy is glorious and beautiful! He wants our relationship to be special and full of life. I know that when I have no words to say, He hears my heart. I know that when I’m short on time and want to pray for others that I can rely on this verse for them as well. I know that on days that I just want to sit in His presence or listen to Him through His word that I don’t have to speak. He knows my heart and I can rest assured that He will give me my desires for anyone and with anything.
From the part of me that has a hard time with the verse, it forces me to remember who God is and how He is working in the other areas of my life. It gives me space to lament before God and cry out to Him to keep His promises. It reminds me that there is hope and that He is working in the background. And because it forces me to look to God, that in return gives me peace.
As a teenager, Psalm 37:4 was a verse God had put on my heart and I began a list of things I wanted. God would always come through. Being young I was excited thinking that this was awesome. There were so many items I would write on that list and God would give them to me. Anything from a used black and pink road bike and a Garmin running watch to finding something that was lost or fix something that was broken.
When reading this verse we often skim over our part of the “doing” presented. We ask God to answer our prayers and give us our desires, but forget that we must delight in Him. The following verse also adds that we have to trust Him and commit our desires into His hands.
Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in Him; and He shall bring it to pass. – Psalm 37:5
Sharing with God what is on our heart can sometimes be a scary or difficult thing. We either have quit dreaming long ago or have been disappointed so many times that our hope is very minimal. Then we condemn ourselves when we hear of the faith of others. When this happens we need to remember that the enemy wants to steal our joy, kill our faith, and destroy our dreaming. He is the exact opposite of God and hates Him to the core. And because you are God’s child, satan will do anything he can to destroy you… and his biggest weapon? Deceit! He will lie to you and make you doubt everything the bible says. And that includes this verse.
I think Psalm 37:4 is one of the most beautiful verses in the Bible. It wraps up a women’s heart into one verse. To be deeply loved, and to love deeply. It’s a two way street. We share our heart and Jesus shares His. Don’t believe me? I encourage you to meditate on the verse. Take a couple weeks to read the verse everyday and think about it. Ask yourself questions. Ask God to show you what depth is squeezed into that one verse.
In the workshop, we have a session where we do this. Below are the sheets if you want to print them for your own personal use. They may help get you started.
I pray that God would open up your eyes to the truth of this verse and how much He loves you.
Until next time,
Happy Running!
