I stopped in to see a dear friend this morning, a ninety-five year old widow whose husband passed away four years ago. They had been married for sixty-nine years, nine months and twenty-six days! Today, she said, “There’s something I want to show you.” She went in the other room and brought back a bronze plaque. “This was a wedding gift to us,” she explained. She paused to read it, then handed it to me and said, “People will understand this verse quite differently.” I read the plaque on which was engraved Psalm 37:4: “Delight thyself in the Lord and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart.” She gave me a few moments to ponder it and then continued, “When I was younger I was like a lot of young people; I desired a lot of things. But now that I’m older. . . .” Her voice trailed off in the remembrance of 90 plus years of desires—both met and unmet. “Do you know what it means?” she asked. I glanced down and like the sun coming out from behind a cloud it dawned on me. “Yes, I think so,” I responded.

Jesus is so winsome! He is kind beyond all measure! He is love embodied, who loves us with a love boundless and unfathomable, a love from which we can never be separated! He is gracious to a fault! The peace that He would give passes all understanding! His compassions are new every morning! He is the Good Shepherd who makes us lie down in green pastures and leads us beside quiet waters! In Him there is now no condemnation! He is the encourager who always seeks to build us up! His grace is sufficient! He doesn’t break bruised reeds nor quenches smoldering wicks! He is the One from whose hand our life can never be snatched! He is our only sure hope! He is the truth that sets us free! His yoke is easy and his burden light! He is the gentle teacher in whom we find rest for our souls! He gives rest to the weary and increases the power of the weak! He is the shelter from the storm! He is living water to the thirsty, the bread of life to the hungry! He is the comforter to those who grieve! He is the way to all who are lost, the truth to all who are deceived and the life to all who are living dead, the only One through whom we come to the Father! He is our righteousness and sanctification and redemption—who has forgiven us all of our sins! He is our light and salvation! If He is for us, then who can be against us!

Now at the end of her life, my friend has little room left for the desires of this life, but only the desire to see Jesus face to face, to be found in His arms with all the desires of her heart met in Him, and to run once again into arms long awaiting, husband and children and mother and father—and finding herself home at last!

“Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Psalm 37:4 (NASB)