Issue 166
The whole business of desire is very complex. As humans we seem to differ from other animals in that even when we have all we need, we still want. Animals appear to experience contentment when food, drink, shelter, mates and comforts are present. We, on the other hand, can have everything we need yet still crave that which we don’t have. We even enjoy ‘wanting’ itself. The anticipation of obtaining something can be much more rewarding than obtaining it. Some have tried to address the issue by philosophising that ‘happiness is not getting what you want, but wanting what you’ve got’. Wanting, of course, often tastes better when you crave what you haven’t got, but it also can provide the drive for all kinds of achievement.
It is possible to burn not just with anger, but also ambition: that desire to achieve, to acquire to arrive. Ambition can connect with the heat of envy, frustration or irritation to create a cauldron of dissatisfaction, masquerading as a reservoir of determination. Either way it can lead to our old friend – fretting.
David’s A-Z gives us an approach to this complicated junction with a clever suggestion. Suppose that what you enjoyed most in this life was God himself. Suppose you enjoyed talking with him, eating with him, thinking about him, figuring out his world, discovering his ways and marvelling at his brilliance. Suppose you are fascinated by his wisdom, creativity and mystery. What if his immensity and unfathomable complexity drive you to explore his mind, character and strategy? How about having so much fun with his wit and laughing at his irony as well as literally being stirred and aroused by his passion for you?
This mind-set would definitely affect your ambition. It would shape your wants and aspirations. You would want to enjoy him, please him and communicate with him. You would crave his approval and thirst for his love. You would surely strive to work using his wisdom, ways and strategies. Your pleasure in knowing him would shape your desires.
So David’s solution to this problem junction is to build a roundabout – a circular argument. “Delight yourself in the Lord” he says “and He will give you the desires of your heart”. If you delight in him, you will desire him and he will dispense himself – done deal.
The difference is that this process is satisfying now and simultaneously stimulates thirst for more of the same. It quenches thirst, yet craves more. What it doesn’t do is leave you burning with anger or selfish ambition. It is one more alternative to fretting.
Psalm 37
1 Do not fret because of those who are evil
or be envious of those who do wrong;
2 for like the grass they will soon wither,
like green plants they will soon die away.
3 Trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
4 Take delight in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will do this:
6 He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,
your vindication like the noonday sun.
7 Be still before the LORD
and wait patiently for him;
do not fret when people succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes.
8 Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;
do not fret—it leads only to evil.
9 For those who are evil will be destroyed,
but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land.
10 A little while, and the wicked will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found.
11 But the meek will inherit the land
and enjoy peace and prosperity.
12 The wicked plot against the righteous
and gnash their teeth at them;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he knows their day is coming.
14 The wicked draw the sword
and bend the bow
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose ways are upright.
15 But their swords will pierce their own hearts,
and their bows will be broken.
16 Better the little that the righteous have
than the wealth of many wicked;
17 for the power of the wicked will be broken,
but the LORD upholds the righteous.
18 The blameless spend their days under the LORD’s care,
and their inheritance will endure forever.
19 In times of disaster they will not wither;
in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.
20 But the wicked will perish:
Though the LORD’s enemies are like the flowers of the field,
they will be consumed, they will go up in smoke.
21 The wicked borrow and do not repay,
but the righteous give generously;
22 those the LORD blesses will inherit the land,
but those he curses will be destroyed.
23 The LORD makes firm the steps
of the one who delights in him;
24 though he may stumble, he will not fall,
for the LORD upholds him with his hand.
25 I was young and now I am old,
yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken
or their children begging bread.
26 They are always generous and lend freely;
their children will be a blessing.
27 Turn from evil and do good;
then you will dwell in the land forever.
28 For the LORD loves the just
and will not forsake his faithful ones.
Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed;
the offspring of the wicked will perish.
29 The righteous will inherit the land
and dwell in it forever.
30 The mouths of the righteous utter wisdom,
and their tongues speak what is just.
31 The law of their God is in their hearts;
their feet do not slip.
32 The wicked lie in wait for the righteous,
intent on putting them to death;
33 but the LORD will not leave them in the power of the wicked
or let them be condemned when brought to trial.
34 Hope in the LORD
and keep his way.
He will exalt you to inherit the land;
when the wicked are destroyed, you will see it.
35 I have seen a wicked and ruthless man
flourishing like a luxuriant native tree,
36 but he soon passed away and was no more;
though I looked for him, he could not be found.
37 Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
a future awaits those who seek peace.
38 But all sinners will be destroyed;
there will be no future for the wicked.
39 The salvation of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
40 The LORD helps them and delivers them;
he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in him.
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Geoff Shattock
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