Proverbs 13:19

Desire Accomplished

19a The desire accomplished is sweet to the soul…

1. Desire: desire; wish; longings of one’s heart; the object of one’s desire; wish or want for something for the pleasure it brings.

a. These desires can be either selfish (lust) or proper.

b. Here it is used in a good sense… a proper desire.

2. The desires of our fallen, depraved, sinful hearts are always evil. However, when a person is regenerated he receives a new heart… a new capacity of mind and heart… new desires.

a. Prov. 11:23 – the desire of the righteous is only good.

b. The new man desires that which is good… he longs for righteousness… he craves for that which pleases the Lord.

c. Ps. 27:4 – the psalmist had a desire to dwell in the house of the Lord… because he loves the Word of God and the house of God.

d. Every man that is alive unto God is going to have a desire to DO that which is right… and to BE holy as He is holy… and to walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing…

e. Every man who is alive unto God is going to desire to accomplish things which are good and bring glory to God.

3. In the believer today, it is the LORD who produces these good desires in the regenerated heart.

a. Phil. 2:13 – it is God who worketh in you both to WILL and to do of His good pleasure.

b. Not all desires that come into our hearts are evil. What matters is the SOURCE of the desire. Is it the Lord working in us or is it the selfish, sinful flesh?

c. Don’t we often struggle with this in life… debating whether a desire is of the Lord or not? Isn’t it difficult sometimes sorting out our motives? Am I being selfish, or is this a desire from the Lord?

d. The key is to stay close to the Lord…
• keep your heart with all diligence…
• examine your heart and motives often…
• compare them to the Word of God…
• be renewing your mind…
• ask the Lord to search our hearts…
• so that if we do proceed on a desire that is not of the Lord—He is able to woo us away…

e. Sometimes desires that seemed good may not have been the Lord’s leading:
• Rehoboam who wanted to fight to keep the nation together, when it was of the Lord to let it split.
• Paul’s desire to preach the gospel in Asia Minor, when the Lord had other plans.
• But the one with a proper heart attitude is easily re-routed by the Lord back to the path of His will…

f. Even good desires must be kept in control…
• A man may have a good desire to take care of his body… but can go overboard on that good desire and become a slave to the gym!
• A man can have a good desire to serve in the local church… and spend so much time here that his family suffers.
• A man can also have a good desire to spend time with his family… and that good desire to spend time with his family turns into selfish doting… and he begins to forsake the assembly of the saints!
• A desire to play sports… or to do well at school… or to play music… — virtually ANY good desire can get out of control… and cause us to be off balance.
• We need to make sure our desires are balanced… and are Spirit led… and are not choking out other priorities.

4. The desire ACCOMPLISHED…

a. Accomplish: to be,; become; come to pass; exist; happen; occur.

b. 13:12 – when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life…
• Hope deferred makes the heart sick…
• There is nothing like seeing a goal, an ambition, an aspiration, a longing, a prayer request being fulfilled… answered… brought to pass.

c. This is the point of contrast in this proverb… the man whose desire is accomplished… and the fool, whose desire is NOT accomplished.

5. Is SWEET to the soul…

a. Sweet: to be pleasant; be sweet; be pleasing; favorable and welcome.

b. It is a tree of life…

c. The term is used in various contexts:
• My meditation shall be sweet…
• My sleep shall be sweet…
• Sacrifices offered to the Lord were pleasant… sweet…

d. This term speaks of a feeling of great satisfaction that is obtained from a desire accomplished. There is a sweetness to it.

e. This is true in ALL kinds of areas of life…
• A big project at work gets finished—there is a sense of sweet accomplishment when it is done…
• Seeing one’s children go on to live for the Lord…
• Finishing a building project… a sweet sense of satisfaction…
• Finishing paying off your mortgage… a goal accomplished… is sweet…
• After 4 long years in college, receiving your degree is sweet to the soul…
• After many years of praying, training, schooling, raising support, the missionary who finally sets foot on the soil of the country he desired to serve in… sweet accomplishment…
• Some folks may have had an ambition to DO something adventurous… climb Mt. Everest… run a marathon… swim the English channel… visit China… when the desire of many years is accomplished, there is a sweetness to it…
• After praying for many years, to see that loved one get saved… is sweet to the soul…
• Even after something simple like remodeling your kitchen—when the desire is accomplished, there is a sweetness… a pleasantness associated with it.
• And the more labor, energy, effort, and heart longing that preceded it—the sweeter is the accomplishment!

6. The concept of having good desires accomplished will have an eternal fulfillment one day for the believer in Christ.

a. Ps. 17:15 – “I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness!”

b. This is our ultimate desire… our true ambition…our goal… to one day be with the Lord and be LIKE the Lord!

c. One day that desire will be accomplished—and it will be sweet. Just imagine! Sweet to the soul!

19b But it is abomination to fools to depart from evil.

1. Fools do NOT end up accomplishing good desires. WHY?

a. Because they are too busy doing evil things…

b. They don’t WANT to leave what they are doing in order to accomplish something good.

c. The fool will continue in his folly, and his hopes and desires for good will never be realized.

2. Very often fools have desires for good things… just like wise men.

a. They want a happy family… but refuse to stop messing around… and their hopes for a happy family are dashed!

b. They want to do well at work and get promotions… but they continue to show up late… do sloppy work… because they refuse to get up on time… or put in an honest day’s work.

c. They would love to have a college degree, but will not depart from all their partying and night life to go to college…

d. They want to have friends too…but refuse to stop their gossip and bad behavior that causes their acquaintances to stay away…

e. They want good health too… but refuse to depart from their many habits that are hazardous to their health… they drive fast, smoke, drink, take drugs… etc… and good health seems to elude them.

f. And their desires are not accomplished… and it’s not because they couldn’t be. It’s because they refused to depart from their foolish and evil ways!

g. Prov. 21:25 – the slothful man desires all the things that the hard working man possesses… but he refuses to depart from his evil ways… from his slothfulness… and thus his desires are never accomplished!

3. The point here is that to be truly happy… experience this sweetness of soul that Solomon describes, it is necessary to depart from evil… which the fool is unwilling to do.

a. It seems so illogical to those observing…

b. A man with lung cancer who continues to smoke…

c. A man who just wrecked his family because of his drinking who continues to drink…

d. The homosexual who contracts aids, and refuses to depart from his lifestyle…

e. The big mouth who gossips and slanders wherever he goes and makes enemies and brings trouble on himself… who continues to blab…

f. Until the fool departs from his evil, he will never experience this sweetness of soul.

g. He will continue to have a desire for good things… but those desires will go unfulfilled… because of his foolish ways.
• Prov. 3:7-8 – depart from evil and it will be HEALTH…
• The fool is unable or unwilling to make the connection between the sweet soul and departing from evil.