Daily Devotional - 1481 - The Heart

Daily Devotional – 1481 – The Heart

Psalm 119:33-40 – Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your statutes, And I shall keep it to the end. Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; Indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies, And not to covetousness. Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, And revive me in Your way. Establish Your word to Your servant, Who is devoted to fearing You. Turn away my reproach which I dread, For Your judgments are good. Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.

Comments and Challenges

Have you ever wondered why, when you pray as this psalmist does; “teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end” that sometimes in the midst of the prayer you fail and by the end of the day; that not only have you failed the statutes of God, but you have also broken the laws of the land by speeding or some other misdemeanor within your community? 

I suppose there is an argument since the psalmist is a prisoner of war, that all he has to do is think of the word of God, I mean after all there are eight (watches) or periods of time in the Jewish day. The First watch: Sunset to 9pm; The Second watch: 9pm to Midnight; The Third watch: Midnight to 3am; The Fourth watch: 3am to 6am; The Fifth watch: 6am to Noon; The Sixth watch: Noon to 3pm; the Seventh watch: 3pm to 6pm, and the Eighth watch: 6pm to 0pm.

But that argument is very weak and if you think about this as I do; you may just be convicted in your heart that the soul which belongs and longs for God’s Righteousness, Mercy and Grace needs the nourishment of the Living Word God far more than we need the physical nourishment of the things of the world around us. 

So to answer the question of why we cannot get through a prayerful request of “teach me O LORD” without distraction; the answer is because we lack the discipline of being devoted to the LORD God who rescued us from the enemy’s camp.  THIS IS SERIOUS; in that hundreds if not thousands of us saints or children of God; if you prefer, who are redeemed by the Blood of the LAMB walk about in this country as defeated saints. 

I include myself since there are many days when I seek to live for the moment rather than living with the TRUTH. We desire the understanding of the Word of God, but we do not observe understanding with the WHOLE heart. This past Wednesday, one of the elders taught on the heart, soul and conscience of the saint. This subject for the children of God is as J. Vernon McGee would say; is where the rubber meets the road.

The heart is desperately wicked, (Jeremiah 17:9) the soul is desperately good (Ecclesiastes 3:11); the heart seeks to destroy the soul and it is the Holy Spirit that abides in the conscience of the child of God who battles between the heart and the soul (John 16:13-15). If I am giving in to the ways of my heart, my soul will become infected with the filth of the world and the end result will be worse than the first (Matthew 12:44).

So in concluding the heart of man that God references in His Holy Word is a three compartmented function; much like our physical heart. Moment by moment, hour by hour in each watch of the day our physical heart allows the tainted blood that circulates through the body to return. Yet and by God’s design this bad blood is filtered and cleansed with oxygen; but once filtered that same blood is returned for physical use to continue normal physical life. Poor physical condition of the heart results in failure and is sometime fatal.

The physical example of the heart is perfect for you and me to understand that God does expect us to live in the world, but He also expects us to utilize the HOLY SPIRIT to be IN US, WITH US and UPON US throughout the WHOLE day. Just a quick reading of any of God’s Word will not provide the Spiritual FOOD for the SOUL to focus on eternity.

Have a great day today and weekend: But if God is in your day or the weekend; while it may be great for the moment it will have no impact on eternity, nor of the JOY that God promises through His Word. Philippians 4:4-5 – Rejoice in the LORD always, again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men, the LORD is at hand.