The Meaning of Covet

When you hear the word "covet", what's the first thought that comes to mind? If you're anything like me, you can't really think of a senario where coveting would be a good thing. But what if you learned that the word "covet" in the 10th Commandment, is more accurately translated "desire". Well, then if you're like me you can think of several scenarios where "desiring" something could be a good thing. 

The Hebrew word "châmad" is commonly defined as "to desire; to take pleasure". This word is used 21 times in the Old Testament and of those only 4 have been translated "covet". And if you look at these 3 passages and how this word "châmad" is used in them, it starts to paint a different picture.

Genesis 2:9 (NKJV)

And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Psalms 68:18 (NKJV)

Why do you fume with envy, you mountains of many peaks? This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in; Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.

Psalms 19:9-10 (NKJV)

⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; 

The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 

¹⁰ More to be desired are they than gold, 

Yea, than much fine gold; 

Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

These Scriptures show us that desiring can be a good thing, or even a God thing. But how we desire, what we desire and when we desire is often the key to us not breaking the commandment to "not covet"... or maybe more accurately, to "not desire". Consider this verse that you may be familiar with from Psalms. 

Psalms 37:4 (NKJV)

Delight yourself also in the Lord,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Many Christians have misapplied this and thought it meant that as long as we "delight" ourselves in the Lord first, then we can have whatever we want. But a more accurate way of looking at this would be that when we delight ourselves, God gives us the desires, as in the new desires, as in the things we should be desiring in the first place, not those things we think we want.

DELIGHT
must always come before
DESIRE

Just like most things in our lives, it takes getting our priorities right and putting things in their proper place. We must pursue the things of God and take delight in who God is and what He's done for us, before we even start to think about desiring more. 

Additional Resources:

Watch: Click here to check out an excerpt from this sermon.

Listen: To listen to the full sermon, titled "The Principle of Loyalty", seach for Full Faith Church Sermons in your favorite podcast app, or you can click here.