"Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps.37:4). What are the desires of our heart? A big house, a new car, visiting a distant country, making a lot of money? If such are the desires uppermost in our mind, it shows us that what we treasure in our heart is tied to our life on this earth. If these are the desires in our heart even after coming to Jesus, it shows us that our primary reason for coming to Him was only to get earthly blessings. Then what kind of 'delight' was it that we had in the Lord? What Jesus wants is for us to seek the treasures of eternity instead (Mt.6:20,21).
It was very different for Jesus. The primary desire of His heart was to do the will of His Father (He.10:7). This desire was so dominant in His life that He derived satisfaction and meaning in His life from knowing that He was doing the Father's will (Jn.4:34). The apostle Paul had his mind set on completing what the Lord had called him to (Php.3:13,14). Earthly fame, riches and pleasure were like 'dung' to him in comparison!
When God gave King Solomon freedom to ask anything he wanted, he asked for wisdom to rule the nation well (1Kg.3:9). It is even more remarkable that this answer came in his dream, indicating that it was truly the desire of his heart and not something he asked in false humility! No wonder God was so pleased with him! What is our desire in the innermost being of our heart?
The desire of our heart shows whether we are spiritual people who desire God's glory to be seen and His will to be done (Mt.6:9,10) or carnal people who only seek things for themselves. This will not only determine how much we will enjoy God's pleasure over us in this life but also in the life to come. Carnal people think only of the here and now. If we are carnal we won't understand that this life is a preparation for the life to come, and that by wise and sacrificial choices here we can reap (true) riches for ourselves in eternity (Jn.6:27). It is sad to see many use Ps.37:4 as a basis for claiming from God whatever they desire! There are preachers who tell them to 'dream big' and to 'expect great things from God' – all in relation to the earth! If only the preachers and the hearers took that to refer to eternal values!
It is very much possible that when we begin our life with the Lord we are very zealous and single-minded to be pleasing to Him, but we drift away to earthly pleasures when He adds earthly blessings to us. That was what happened to Solomon himself (1Kg.3:13;11:4), and many others we read about in the Bible. He got away so far from the Lord as to worship other gods, but it looks like he never realised this had happened to him. How sad to let this happen to us! It is necessary to begin well, wholeheartedly. But then it is all the more important to remain faithful all throughout life and finish triumphantly. Let's cleanse ourselves from all defilement of spirit as seen in our desires (2Co.7:1).