He will give you your heart's desire

A continued reading of the Psalms through this filter: God’s care for us.

May he give you your heart’s desire and fulfil every one of your plans (Psalm 20:5)

·         This verse takes on special meaning in light of today’s Gospel passage from Mass, where Jesus tell us to Remain in me as I remain in you. . . . . [if you do so] ask for anything you want and it will be done for you. (John 15:4, 7). And what, we might ask, is our heart’s desire? To answer this question, we have to withdraw from the noise of our lives and look deeply inside to see what really resides there. Keep in mind that the way this verse is worded, Jesus Christ is already within us; we don’t need to look outside of yourselves. But what is it that we want to ask for?

You have granted him [the king] his hearts desire;

you have not refused the prayer of his lips (Psalm 21:3).

·         The king in this Psalm is David. Interesting, isn’t it, that this passage refers back to the previous one I had selected. King David had a deep spirit, and he dwelled with the Lord in his prayer. Otherwise, how could we have these beautiful psalms? The Spirit of God was within him; Jesus Christ was within him, although he did not realize it at the time.

·         The lesson here is that David gives us an example of what it means to “remain in God,” and as a result, heart’s desire was fulfilled.

“Heart’s desire:” I need to jump ahead and call to mind one of my favorite verses from the psalms. It’s found in Psalm 37:4. If you find your delight in the Lord, he will grant your heart’s desire.

·         Once again, the same promise, and once again, a condition imposed on it which comes down to what we have already discovered: remain in God; find your delight in the Lord. If we take too much delight in things that are not of the Lord, then we will find that our desires are not fulfilled and we will not find the happiness we never stop searching for, as is says in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, ¶27.

I wrote about “heart’s desire” in an earlier reflection, and I will repeat it now in case you didn’t get it the last time.

What is this “heart’s desire” that he will grant us? It’s not what you might think, and most likely it is not something you would pray for. In fact, this “heart’s desire” is probably something you have never thought of before, have never anticipated, and at this point you might not even know it exists. We’re dealing here with the realm of grace, with the realm of mystery, and in terms of a supernatural process that is set in motion by the commitment itself.

I’m speaking from experience here. I remember the time I first read those words and took them to heart. And from that day forward, life changed in ways that I never would have predicted. What I was given was far more than anything I had ever asked or hoped for.

And, this gift to my heart is a gift that keeps on giving, some thirty-five or forty years later. It has never ceased to fill my life with good, even in the midst of trials and difficulties.

If you’ve already made that commitment, if you’ve already begun to realize that your greatest delight is with the things of God, then you know what I am talking about. If you haven’t yet done so, or if you aren’t really sure that your life could change so radically, then simply pray for the grace to realize and to live these words, in your time, at the right time, which is, after all, God’s time. And God’s time is the best time of all.

From here, we move to Psalm 23. Great riches await us. Until next time.

May God bless you, help you to identify your heart’s desire, and grant you what you ask for.

No matter how low you may have fallen . . .

We continue with Psalm 51:12

               

Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew within me a steadfast spirit.

Remember that David was chosen by God, a fearless warrior, a great and powerful king and a virtuous one at that. His prayer was sublime and eloquent. He was the composer of most of the 150 psalms we have; in fact, this particular psalm was his psalm of repentance when he realized what wrong he had done.

And the great and almighty are fallen. David reached the heights of human perfection, but was brought down low by temptation to the point where he was guilty of adultery and indirect murder. (See II Samuel 11 and 12.)

If such a thing could happen to David, what might happen to us. Every single day, it is God’s grace that keeps us from falling into decadence and depravity, and we must always remember that, especially when we are tempted to judge people who have fallen prey to what is the worst in human nature. “There but for the grace of God go I” must be our constant prayer.

Notice in these verses that the first one speaks of the “heart” while the second one speaks of the “spirit.” These two words are used interchangeably in the scriptures. “Heart” generally refers to what is particular to the body while “spirit” refers to the supernatural part of our being. What David prays for in this verse, and we as well, one commentator says, is a “total renovation of his entire mental and moral nature, which he recognizes as corrupt and depraved.” (See www.biblehub.com/commentaries for excellent information about any passage of Scripture).

Do we sometimes perceive our natures as corrupt and depraved? If not, we still must recognize that no matter how “well-off” we think we may be in the spiritual life, it is possible for us to fall as David had fallen. And at that time, we need not lose hope, for God’s love is greatest for those who are most in need of his mercy. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” We can pray no more honest prayer than that. It also helps to consider Saint Peter, who also fell in a horrible way, but yet was restored by his Lord who asked him, despite everything, “Do you love me?”

One final observation: David prays for a “steadfast” spirit. The Hebrew word used here means “firm, constant or steadfast.” What David is praying for is a spirit so fixed and unmovable that it will not easily be shaken in time of even the most powerful temptations. Something for us to pray for as well, is it not?

God bless you.

Make me new, Lord

Our meditation today comes from Psalm 51:12a

                Create in me a clean heart, O God.

Sometimes when we look back over the past with the sensitivities and conscience of the present, we realize that we had done something perhaps years ago that now fills us with guilt and contrition. “If only I knew then what I know now!” we might cry. Times like that are times to turn to Psalm 51, which is David’s Psalm of repentance after the prophet Nathan had opened his eyes to see what sins he had committed: fornication, adultery and murder. (You can read the entire story in II Samuel, chapters 11 and 12.) And David’s psalm of repentance and contrition is asking not only for forgiveness of sin, but also a healing of the emotional, physical and social consequences of his sin. (And of our sins as well.)

Create in me a clean heart: This is asking for a lot. It’s not only a question of forgiveness or cleansing; it is begging for something completely new by an act of God’s creative power. We might pray, “Create in me a new clean heart.”

And God promises to do this. Ezekiel 36: 25-27:  I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts.

One last thing: We pray this psalm frequently, and in the monastery usually on Fridays, the day of Christ’s passion. Again and again and again we need to beg for God’s creative action in our lives, because again and again and again we fall into sin. And God never tires of giving us what we ask for.

But sometimes we tire of asking.