The Crowding of Desires and Where One Can Find True Love

Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psa 37:4  

When it is Hard to Say ‘No’

We live in a day of relationships, sometimes complex, and we must have them whether we like it or not. As it is written, ‘For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself’ (Rom 14:7). 

Parents have not only their own desires, but they also carry in their hearts their desires for their children and even grandchildren – and for the wife for her husband. So one parent may want the child to be a lawyer, another engineer, another doctor, another entrepreneur – and the rest according to what they lack most in life. Probably himself he would love to be a poet but he knows he will be famous only after his death – and only after he has exited this world as poor as a church mouse. So he dabbles in all to please all – ‘and the last state of that man is worse than the first.’

In God Alone is our Chief Desire

One can break free from these entanglements (and desires) only through God. We give him our desires (our prayers) and he directs us in the path of finding them – or finding something better than what we had anticipated (‘like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field’) . We acknowledge him in everything and God directs us to the best, and ‘If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed’ (Joh 8:36).  

Mountains of Spices

Desires have a way expanding into the infinite, as if water in a river, breaking from its banks and consuming every object along its way. Desires are both beautiful and perilous. When they afflict an unstable mind the desire can turn into a nightmare. And desire grows both by what we have – and what we don’t – and sometimes it is the latter which is most intense and intoxicating.  

    As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Psa 42:1 

    O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee         in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. Psa 63:1

    My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for     the living God. Psa 84:2  

    My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. Psa 119:20  

    I opened my mouth, and panted: for I longed for thy commandments. Psa 119:131  

    The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver. Psa 119:72  

    I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. Psa 119:14  

    Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold. Psa 119:127  

    I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil. 

Lastly desire can be that chord and note in a song or flower garden…or that thing which lifts the mind from the mundane into the sublime -

    He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Son 2:4  

    Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love. Son 2:5  

    Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow     out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. Son 4:16  

    I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have        eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink,            yea,     drink abundantly, O beloved. Son 5:1  

Desire too can be delusive – immersing one into a hole without an end – or plunging one into a room full of mirrors – and finally desire is progressive – growing into vintage like fine wine: ‘When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things’ (1Co 13:11), and ‘leaving the principles… let us go on unto perfection.’  

God Makes Streams in the Desert

So what is your desire my friend?

‘Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened’ (Mat 7:7-8).

Sometimes God gives the best wine last. So don’t despair. Don’t give up. Carry on. Soon he will bring you to the banqueting table – so you can sing with the congregation, ‘He shewed me the path of life: in his presence is fulness of joy; and at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore’. In the desert of the soul only God can satisfy. ‘And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes’ (Isa 35:7). 

    Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psa 37:5  

    Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be        moved. Psa 55:22  

    Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your            requests be made known unto God. Php 4:6  

    Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. Psa     62:8  

    He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. Psa            145:19  

    They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of         the river of thy pleasures. Psa 36:8