Psalms 37:4

Psalms 37:4

There is no bodily pain equal to the pain of the heart. Bodily pains call for sympathy, but the sufferings of the heart are hidden; none know of them; none may know of them; they are a concealed, consuming fire, unsuspected by all around.

I. I suppose there are many now past the middle age to whom the fact that the chapter of life is closing, that the romance of life is concluding, causes many an ache. Without resurrection of the dead, new heavens and a new earth, God, and Christ, and eternity, we are of all men most miserable. There is nothing more hopeless than a declining life, nothing more calculated to fill with despair than the ebbing away of life's forces. "Delight thou in the Lord, and He shall give thee thy heart's desire."

II. There is the anguish of bereavement and of unrequited love. Here again the soul will find its only solace in prayer in prayer for the object of affection. In the kingdom of the resurrection those who have loved hopelessly here will meet with those they loved, and then the loved ones may discover with wonder to whom they owe their place, and who, unseen as an angel, stayed them up when faltering, saved them from falling, by the mighty power of loving, intercessory prayer.

S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year,vol. ii., p. 65.

I. Notice what the text says: "Delight thyself in the Lord;" that is, in everything the Lord loves and commands. Without this delight the Lord's commands will be galling and irksome; but with it the heart will be filled with sunshine. If we cannot bring ourselves to delight in the Lord while we are here, we can hardly expect to be able to delight ourselves in Him hereafter. Heaven is not really desired by sinners. Their delight is not in God, and they would rather flee away from His presence than dwell with Him. The end of that state cannot be otherwise than wretched.

II. The text goes on to tell you that if you delight in the Lord, He shall grant you the desires of your heart. It is not hard to tell what people often do desire in their hearts. Some desire money, and will do anything for it; some poor misguided persons desire strong drink, and will do anything for it. To desire these things and nothing else is very lamentable. But though people desire them, they do not always get them. But if you delight in the Lord, He will give you the desires of your heart. It is He alone who can do so, for He alone is all-powerful.

III. The next question is what your heart's desires will be. If you delight in the Lord, your desires will be such as will please Him. In that case one of the first desires must be to be like Him. Set your mind greatly on this, and God is sure to give you your desire, and the result will be to fill the heart with such sunshine as other desires can never give. You will also desire to be useful. As you grow up God will furnish you with opportunities. "He shall give thee the desires of thine heart."

G. Litting, Thirty Children's Sermons,p. 174.

References: Psalms 37:4. Spurgeon, Sermons,vol. viii., No. 454; Ibid., Morning by Morning,p. 166; Homiletic Magazine,vol. xv. p. 305; H. R. Reynolds, Notes of the Christian Life,p. m.