When God delights in in us, He will open the heavens to us (Matthew 3:17; 17:5). Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires.” Now some will take this scripture literally, however, David is not referring to the human heart because he knew all to well that the human heart is wicked and filled with evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander (Matthew 15:19). Fortunately, God does not abandon us in our struggles with hurtful tendencies and sinful propensities. Instead, He literally plants His own desires into the heart of man, the heart that, without Him, is desperately wicked and deceitful. This heart transplant can only happen when we come to Him in repentance and accept the gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. At that point, He removes our hearts of stone and replaces them with hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 11:19). He then implants the Holy Spirit into our hearts. Then our heart’s desires become His desires, our wills seek to do His will, and our rebellion turns to joyous obedience.
