Even if you or I genuinely love God and delight in him, which of us can put our hand on our heart and say that we do this perfectly? Which of us does not have times—sadly, many times—when what consumes our hopes and affections is not God but some blessing we hope God will give us? A job. A wife. A child. A healthy body. Or whatever it may be. And yet the moment I fall short of perfect delight in the Lord I disqualify myself from the promise that God will give me the desires of my heart.

Delight yourself in the LORD,and he will give you the desires of your heart. —Psalm 37:4
The Heart’s Desires
Doesn’t that sound terrific? Anything I want, and it will be mine! Until I think a little harder.
Suppose my heart desires for my boss to be sick or die. Will God give me that?
Suppose my heart desires, by some deceit, to get the credit for something I didn’t do. Will God give me that?
Suppose my heart desires my neighbor’s pretty wife. Will God give me her?
Of course not, for these break three of the ten commandments. Of course God will not give me things that are morally wrong.
But what about morally neutral things?
Suppose I really want a particular job. It’s a good job, a worthwhile job, and a job for which I feel I am equipped. Will God give me that?
Suppose I hope to date a particular person and hope I might marry them. This person is a believer. There’s no reason why I shouldn’t do this. Will God grant me this?
Suppose my spouse and I hope to have children. Will God bless us like that?
Suppose I long to be healed of some disease. Will God give me that?
The answer to all those questions is maybe. He might or he might not. But, someone objects, this verse tells me that God will give me the desires of my heart. May I not claim this as a promise? Why not?
Who Is “You?”
The big question is this: Who is “you” in this verse? To whom is this promise spoken?
The key to the second line is the first line. “You” is the man or woman who delights in the Lord, the covenant God, the God revealed to us in all the Scriptures. Here is a person who loves God with heart, mind, soul, and strength. One whose only desire and delight is the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. One who loves not primarily the blessings that God may give but God himself. Who longs for God’s glory, for God’s kingdom, for God to be praised and honored.
We may paraphrase the verse like this: If you delight yourself in the covenant Lord, if you love him, if you want above all else to know him and see his kingdom, if this expresses the deepest desire of your heart, then you may be sure that God will give you what you want. Do you want God? You will have God. Do you delight in God? You will enjoy God.
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The first person to be tortured was the senator Dativus who, due to his position, was thought to have been an instigator (Fortunatianus had placed the blame on him). While Dativus was being prepared for torture, another Christian, Thelica, stepped forward to clarify that the meeting was a collective decision: “We are Christians. It was we who came together.” As expected, Thelica was the next to be placed on the rack. While torn apart by iron claws, he alternated prayers for his persecutors with exhortations.

“Sine dominico non possumus” (“We can’t do without the Lord’s Day”). This was the answer of a group of 49 Christians (31 men and 18 women) who were arrested for participating in a Lord’s Day service. They lived in or around Abitina, a city in today’s Tunisia which was at that time under Rome. It was the year 304, and Emperor Diocletian had launched an empire-wide persecution against Christians, forbidding their meetings, destroying their churches, and demanding them to hand over (tradere) their Scriptures.
Defying the emperor’s orders, this group, led by their presbyter Saturninus, continued to meet secretly for worship in private homes. Discovered and arrested, they were sent to Carthage, about 50 miles away, to be tried by proconsul Gaius Annius Anulinus.
Commenting on this arrest, the author of the Acts of the Abitinian Martyrs[1] – most likely an eye-witness – wrote: “As if a Christian could exist without the Lord’s Day, or the Lord’s Day exist without a Christian celebration! Do you not know, Satan, that the Christian is based on the Lord’s Day, and the Lord’s Day is based on a Christian, so that the one cannot survive without the other? When you hear the phrase ‘Lord’s Day,’ understand that it means the assembly of the Lord. And when you hear the bell ring, recognize that it is the Lord’s Day.”[2]
On their way to Carthage, the Christians encouraged each other by singing hymns. Once there, they unanimously refused to renounce their faith. Imprisoned, they were denied food, while any supporter who tried to bring supplies was sent away. This measure gave way to a small brawl outside the prison.
A Collective Decision
When an eager relative, Fortunatianus, rushed to rescue his sister Victoria by claiming that she and a few other women had been deceived, Victoria rose in protest. She had attended worship of her own free will and with full knowledge of what she was doing, she said. Fortunatianus should have known better. She had previously refused an arranged marriage by escaping through a window.
Moved by this family exchange, Anulinus tried to convince Victoria to listen to her brother. “I am a Christian, and my brothers are those who keep God’s commandments,” she replied. “These are my convictions, and I have never changed them. If I have participated to the Sunday service with my brothers and sisters, it is because I am a Christian.”[3]
Augustine of Hippo, writing a century later, gives a specific date for their trial: February 12, 304.
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Through his word, Jesus is calling you back to your first love (Revelation 2:4). He is telling you not to give in to the sins of your culture. Do not fear what you are about to suffer (Revelation 2:10). Wake up and strengthen what remains. 

Remember from where you have fallen (Revelation 2:4). Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die (Revelation 3:2). These two phrases, the first spoken to the church in Ephesus, and the second spoken to the church in Sardis, summarize the condition of our spiritual lives from time to time.
For countless Christians, it is easy to reflect on our Christian life and remember a time when we burned bright for Jesus. A time when we looked forward to getting together with the saints on the Lord’s Day. A time when we could not get enough of God’s word throughout the week. But for many of us, something has changed. Our love for God has grown cold, and what remains feels like it is on life support.
This deadening of our spiritual life can happen in countless ways. Sometimes it is because we have begun to dabble with blatant sin. As we look through the letters to the seven churches, we see that sexual immorality is often a culprit. If it is not that, it is usually because some other earthly temptation has grabbed ahold of us, and we begin to give in (Revelation 2:14). Other times, we may avoid giving in to the sin ourselves, but we grow tired of standing against the culture, and we begin to support the sexual immorality or other indulgences of those who desire them.
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