Psalm 37:4 (NKJV)

Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Eisegesis: 

Just serve the Lord and perform your religious duties and you will be blessed with material wealth and personal success.

Exegesis:  

The promise of God granting the desires of the heart is not a blanket guarantee of material fulfillment but a transformative process. When one delights in the Lord, their desires align with God’s will, thus what they desire is what God also desires for them—often not material riches, but spiritual blessings and contentment.

Some people have wrongly interpreted Psalm 37:4 to suggest that God has promised that we will receive whatever we desire (such as material wealth or personal success) simply if we perform certain religious duties. This interpretation erroneously portrays God as a “genie in a bottle,” ready to fulfill our wishes on demand.

Of course this is not what this passage means and it is problematic because it reduces the relationship with God to a transactional one and aligns with the prosperity gospel that is not consistent with the entirety of biblical teachings.

But if we are honest, most of us have fallen into the trap wondering “Lord, why don’t You give me what I desire since it is not a bad thing?” This question can lead to disappointment and a sense of spiritual failure when such expectations (which are genuine) aren’t met.

This may be a good time for us to consider that maybe we are frustrated by a promise because we are not interpreting the verse correctly!

Background of this verse:

The broader passage encourages trust in the Lord, doing good, living in faithfulness, and finding satisfaction in God’s way. It warns against envy of the wicked and promotes a life of peace and patience, awaiting God’s justice rather than taking matters into one’s own hands.

The promise of God granting the desires of the heart is not a blanket guarantee of material fulfillment but a transformative process. When one delights in the Lord, their desires align with God’s will, thus what they desire is what God also desires for them—often not material riches, but spiritual blessings and contentment

When we examine the context, we observe that Psalm 37 tells us not to fret or be envious of the wicked and not focus on what they have or what they seem to be getting away with. Instead we are to focus on God, who promises to “supply all our needs (not our wants) according to His riches in Christ Jesus.” (Php 4:19)

The first prerequisite to receive the desires of your your heart is to obey the command to delight ourselves in God and God Alone.

The key to understanding this verse is the phrase “delight yourself in the Lord.” This means finding joy and satisfaction in God Himself, not just in what He can provide. It involves aligning our desires with God’s will and character.

The word delight speaks of the abundance of the blessings we have in the Lord Himself, totally apart from what He gives us. To enjoy the blessings and ignore the Blesser is to practice idolatry.

In Jesus Christ, we have all God’s treasures, and we need no thing else. If we truly delight in the Lord, then the chief desire of our heart will be to know Him better so we can delight in Him even more, and the Lord will satisfy that desire!

This is not a promise for people who want “things,” but for those who want more of God in their lives.