Psalm 119: Focus On God's Word Pt. 116 Our Heart Needs Turned Toward God's Word.

Psalm 119:33  HE. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end. 34  Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart. 35  Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight. 

So far in this section of Psalm 119, the Psalmist has made three requests of God and made three resolutions in his heart regarding the things of God.

He asked Jehovah to teach him His ways, to give him an understanding heart and to make or guide him in the path of His holy commandments.

He has vowed to keep the way of Jehovah to the end of his life. He promised to keep the law of God and observe it with his whole heart. He expressed his great delight in learning and understanding God's commandments. 

Asking God to turn us to Him and away from self. 

Psalm 119:36  Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. 

The Psalmist is making another very specific request of Jehovah, one that God will honor when we ask the same petition. 

He asked God to incline his heart toward His testimonies and away from covetousness. This is an important truth that is emphasized many times in the Bible.

His requests have moved on from asking for understanding and direction to know God's will, to seeking God's help to help him obey or do His will. 

Many professing Christians know the will of God, such as the command not to commit adultery. Yet it is common for many professing believers to set wicked things before their eyes, via the anonymous internet. 

Rather than citing the statistics, let me just state that pornography is not just culture's problem anymore. It is a huge problem in America's churches. 

Therefore, what we are studying in Psalm 119 is potentially very helpful, for anyone struggling with such sin. The Psalmist is sharing light from God's word that will help all of us live for the glory of God. 

Our heart will always need help from God. We generally do not need any help becoming more worldly, for we do that very easily within ourselves. 

However, we cannot ever be heavenly minded and spiritually focused in and of ourselves. This is why the Psalmist continues making heartfelt petitions for help from his LORD. 

The Psalmist has confessed to Jehovah that the natural inclination of his heart is toward worldliness and evil. 

He asks for help in a positive way by seeking to have God turn his heart to His word, and negatively by asking for his heart to be turned away from being covetous.  

The word "incline" means to stretch out by pulling hard, turning the object or to bend it in a different direction. To have his heart inclined means Jehovah is going to reach into his heart and bend it toward the things of God, and away from self.

God is willing to turn us if we seek Him.

John 6:44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 

Jesus spoke to the religious leaders and made it clear that no one comes to Christ without the Father drawing them to Him. The word "draw" means to drag along, or cause to follow. It has the same idea as the word "incline." (See also John 12:32). 

The Psalmist's request implies that the Father will graciously and powerfully act upon his soul to set it toward that which is good.  

How can we know if God is inclining our heart toward His Word? We will know when we find ourselves preoccupied with the things of God rather than worldly things. When our desire is to obey God and do all things that please Him, then we know He has been working in us to turn our heart.

1 Chronicles 22:19  Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.  

King David commanded the princes of Israel to get on board and begin building the temple of God that he carefully prepared for Solomon to complete. We must be reminded to "set" our heart to seek Jehovah and then to do the work He gives us to do. 

God will persuade us to obey His will and He will use His power when needed to accomplish this good work in our hearts. 

God can use persuasion and power to turn us. 

Genesis 9:27  God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 

Noah gave the blessing to his sons and he said God will enlarge Japheth, which means He was going to persuade him, to do His will to populate the earth and spread out geographically. 

Ezekiel 36:26  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. 27  And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. 

Along with giving believers a new heart and a new spirit, God said He would put His Spirit in us and cause us to walk in His statutes. This is God using His power to help us conform to His will for us. 

SO far, we see that only God can set our hearts aright, by turning them in the way that they should go. Second We see that if we are covetous, this is a great hindrance to the work that God wants to do in us. 

Many turn away from God and live for self.

Jeremiah 2:13  For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 

Jeremiah lamented the deplorable spiritual condition of the nation Israel. They turned away from Jehovah who is the source of spiritual life and living waters (John 4 & 7). and instead, they followed their own evil hearts. This is what the broken cisterns refers to. 

2 Timothy 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

Paul described for Timothy the perilous times of the last days. Included in the vile behaviors of people, is that most will love pleasure rather than loving God.

Both of these texts are examples of our natural tendencies and natural inclination of our heart. This is why we need God's help. 

Our heart will not follow God without His help.

Jeremiah 13:23  Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. 

The prophet, speaking for Jehovah, asked rhetorical questions. Can an Ethiopian person change the color of his skin? No, of course they can't. Can a leopard get rid of the spots on his coat? No, he can do nothing about it. 

God says if you can change your skin color or if a leopard can get rid of its spots, then you would be able to do good instead of evil. 

In other words, without God's intervention to work on our heart, the situation would remain hopeless. 

This truth is the motivation for the Psalmist's request for Jehovah to incline his heart in a good direction, away from covetousness. 

We cannot serve two masters.

Matthew 6:24  No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 

Jesus taught us that we cannot serve two masters. We will love one and hate the other, or follow one and detest the other. Then Jesus made it clear the choice is between serving God or serving mammon.

Matthew 6:19  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21  For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.  

Mammon refers to treasure and joins with Christ's teaching about be careful where our treasure is. We must lay up treasure in heaven that endures, where thieves cannot steal and rust cannot corrupt. 

Our duty as Christians is to set our affection on things above not on earthly things. If we seek earthly treasure then our heart is focused in the wrong direction. 

We either love the Father or love the world. 

1 John 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

The apostle John also helps us see that we need to ask God to incline our heart toward His truth. We are commanded not to love the world, because all who love the world do not have the Father's love in them. 

Those who love the world cave in to the lust of their flesh and eyes and become filled with the pride of life. They never are content and always have to get something more than God has provided. 

In contrast, those whose hearts are set on God, seek to do His will and to please the Father and they gain heavenly treasure, in this case, eternal life.   

Thoughts to Ponder...

We are just beginning to think about the implications of this text, however, some things are clear already.

We must ask for God's mighty help to turn our hearts away from self and the world. Otherwise it will be difficult to seek first the kingdom of God. 

We also see the wicked tendencies of the human heart and are better equipped to pray earnestly about these things.

We know we cannot serve two masters, but we often want both Christ and the world.

I pray that the Spirit of God will help us and strengthen us so that we set our hearts on the things of God each morning when we arise. 

Bob