(P)Review Bible Study: Psalm 37:1-9 An iPhone 7 will solve all your problems...unless it blows up.

    The new iPhone 7 has come out and it is revolutionary!  How so you ask?  Well, lets see...it's about the same size....it has about the same screen quality...it's processor is about the same speed...surely this dang thing is revolutionary in some way...  OH! yeah! It comes in black!... Not so revolutionary.  I suppose they could always market it as better than their competition by pointing out that at least their product does not explode.  Sadly, Samsung can't say the same thing about their iPhone competitor the Galaxy Note 7.  

    In case you missed it in the news they had to recall all they Samsung Galaxy Note 7's because, apparently, the batteries have a nasty tendency to explode if you charge them too much. Maybe they could market it's likelihood to blow up while charging as some kind of special feature...Now With Special Fireworks Function!  Impress your friends with the sheer explosive awesomeness of the new Galaxy Note 7!  

Just to give you all a heads up on how technology is moving, since I began writing this there has been another round of phone fires but this time its iPhone 7's going up in explosions.  I am not sure if this proves that they are unsafe too, or is Apple just that responsive to the market that they heard me say that Samsung should market the explosion as a feature and not a bug so they decided to keep up.

    One way or another I am not buying either phone anytime soon. I have a perfectly functional phone that does what I need it to do. No item, no matter how fetishistically perfect, comes with a big 'ol side order of happiness and contentment. 

    "But!?" I hear you say, "What if I realllly, reallly want one... what if it is the dearest desire of my heart?"  Well then, I still don't think getting one will lead to longstanding contentment, but maybe it will produce a few moments of consumption fueled pleasure... At least until they announce the iPhone 7S (because you know that is coming next). 

    There's a funny thing about the "dearest desire of your heart": it actually says more than you think it does.  Now some folks would say that if you just have enough faith, pray hard enough, and believe with all your strength that God will give you the desires of your heart.  They may even quote Psalm 37 where God says he will...well, "give you the desires of your heart".  

   But hold on a second there Joel Osteen , slow your roll (sometimes I wonder if Osteen is actually made of straw, he is such a good straw-man).  Is that really what the scriptures are saying?  Are they really saying that if we just put positive faith out there by saying positive words and believing really hard God will give us the desires of our hearts?  Well, yes.  And of course, no. Sure the 37th Psalm does in fact say that God will give the faithful the "desires of their hearts" but after saying this the author, King David, says that we are to "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him" and right before he says the bit about the desires of your heart he says to "take delight in the Lord".   So...Context. Context always matters.

For a fuller context here is Psalm 37:1-6:    Do not fret because of the wicked; do not be envious of wrongdoers, for they will soon fade like the grass, and wither like the green herb. Trust in the LORD, and do good; so you will live in the land, and enjoy security. Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act. 

    So lets sort this out for a second.  Yes, God will give you the desires of your heart, but there are some conditions.  

    Yes, even God has a few caveats to add from time to time. You see God isn't interested in giving us iPhone 7's, he isn't interested in giving us a few moments of consumption fueled pleasure.  He wants more for his children than toys.  He wants to give us the desires of our hearts when the desires of our hearts sync up with the desires of His heart.  You see, God knows that the only way to keep us safe from our fickle, selfish hearts is to give us hearts like his...hearts full of love and hope.  Our hearts are shaped to look more like his heart through two things:  trust and love.  This is why David brackets God's generous giving between a line about trust and a line about love.  

    When we allow ourselves to accept the love of God we become empowered to love God back, when we love God back we become empowered to trust in his will, when we trust God's will we come to a deeper place of living that enables us to love even deeper.  I think you can see where all that goes. 
    I said that the "dearest desire of your hearts" says more than you think it does.  This is because it gives away where your heart actually is.  If the dearest desire of you heart is selfish, or wrathful, or petty, etc...it is because that is where your heart lives.  God wants to move the zip code of your heart to come and live with Him. When we live in accordance with God's love we find that God is anxious and happy to grant our deepest desires, because they are not only good and healthy, they are also His deepest desires.
So, yes God wants you to have the dearest desire of your heart, but first He wants to heal your heart and make it whole so your deepest desire isn't a broken thing that will only hurt you more.  So many things we long for are like defective phones, we think they will bring us unending joy, until they blow up in our hands.  God wants you to have so much more, starting with His love and guidance and leading to a heart made whole.