What does God want? What are His desires?
God wants many things. Throughout Scripture we see God's will and desires for His people. We see Him want obedience. We see Him wanting His people to respond to Him, to worship Him, and to believe Him. We see Him calling His people and inviting them to be near Him. We see Him wanting for His kids many things: boldness, courage, joy, strength, trust, holiness, and steadfastness. God's will for His people is clearly laid out from Scripture's beginning right up to the end.
Today I was struck with one of God's desires for me. God's word spoke to my heart and told me what He wanted. In Psalm 51 it says that He desires truth in my innermost parts. (v.6) Deep down in that almost-untouchable me, He wants truth to reign. The Hebrew word for "innermost parts" means "the seat of the mind". More literally, this word means "the places covered by fat". He wants truth under my skin. ...my insides, my gut, the "deepest" parts of me. God wants truth to reign in those parts---the parts within me that I cannot see.
What does God want? My Father God wants truth to live deep down in those hidden recesses of me. ...within my gut, within my heart and mind. This is what He wants and this is what He is working on as He continues His sanctifying work within me.
Somewhere in the recesses, those inner parts, His Spirit moves and works and heals. What a blessing to know that He is living within and at work always. I can rest in that. I can trust Him and His continual work.
This surgery, of sorts, isn't without pain or labor. To get beneath my skin hurts. And, it seems that the work He does is somehow linked to the "work" we do. Sometimes it takes "work" on my part to submit to His work. My work is to seek Him as the only One who can heal. My work is to take Him in, to drink and eat His truth. My work is to invite and to "allow" Him in those deep parts. I have to allow Him to figuratively cut me open and get deep inside.
I don't think that this sweet verse describing God's desires for reigning truth within, are accidentally in the middle of a Psalm lamenting pain, humility, suffering, and confession of sin.
Surely, I was sinful at birth! ... the Psalmist says. Surely, I am a mess, Lord! In this Psalm, as in the heart-work of God, there is an opening up, a "diving in", and a deep trust which seems intricate in God's healing-gut work. David, in his words here, is relying... banking it all... on the unfailing love, the compassion, and the mercy of God! (v. 1) He is running to God, pouring out his heart and guts, and trusting that God Himself will forgive, cleanse, heal and restore. He is trusting that God alone can "teach wisdom" to those inner parts (v.6) and "create a pure heart" (v. 10). David is opening up and welcoming the hidden work of God within.
What does God want? He wants Truth to reign in my innermost being. I want this too, Father! O, Father in Heaven, Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven!