The Sweetness of Accomplished Desire in the Soul

The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul.—Proverbs 13:19

Desire is the spring power of human activity. John Locke defined it as "the uneasiness which a man feels within him on the absence of anything whose present enjoyment carries delight with it." Our desires reveal our destiny. Goethe observed that desires are "the presentiments of the faculties which lie within us, the precursors of those things which we are capable of performing."

Soul pleasure consists in the gratification of desire, yet its quality and permanence depend entirely upon the object desired. If one desires an immoral thing, its attainment will be sweet to the soul temporarily, but afterward it becomes bitter as wormwood and gall. The triumph of truth, the progress of virtue, the diffusion of happiness, the honor of God—these are objects of desire that should give holy and everlasting sweetness to the soul.

Yahweh Himself must be the grand object of desire. The psalmist declares: "As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness" (Psalm 17:15).

Conversely, the fool finds abomination in departing from evil. There is soul pain in remaining connected with evil—conscience torments the sinner perpetually. There is equally fierce soul pain in severing that connection, a tremendous battle in the effort to break free. Yet the accomplished desire for holiness and reconciliation with God yields sweetness eternal.